Is it Time For Brian France to Step Aside?
Photo courtesy NBCSN
Being at the top of an organization can result in a big share of criticism. Being at the top of a Sports Organization’s Chart can be even worse. Rightly or wrongly, Brian France’s tenure at the top of the NASCAR world has him smack dab in the middle of all the current problems and issues in the world of NASCAR.
So many races where many fans appear to attend disguised as empty seats. Television ratings which have sunk to levels just above what they are for the late night test patterns of yesteryear. And then we have that dysfunctional regular season ending race at Richmond which represents the sometimes inconsistent calls by NASCAR officials seen all too often at tracks near you.
To NASCAR’s credit they have tried to stem the tide of sinking attendance and Television ratings. Continued improvements on the cars have indeed led to some better racing on many Sundays. More improvement is needed but clearly NASCAR is on the right track here.
Like or hate the 3 o’clock starts, and most fans I know hate the late starts, it was at least an attempt to appease the West Coast fans and their affiliates and commercial sponsors. In other words, at least they tried something.
Steve O’Donnell, the NASCAR Vice President of competition, a stand-up guy, quickly addressed the issues at Richmond. “It was a rough night for Race Control Saturday night, O’Donnell said. “As a team you talk about wanting to put that behind you. We’re certainly going to have meetings and put are best efforts going forward in Chicago.”
Unfortunately for O’Donnell and more importantly it’s competitors and fans, the inconsistent officiating has been existing nearly every NASCAR weekend. Just the race before Richmond, at Darlington on Labor Day Weekend, Martin Truex Jr. slams the wall, his car shattering into pieces which laid all ov er the track, and no caution is waved. At Richmond, a driver, Derrick Cope, who was running a number of laps behind the leaders, barley scraped the wall, and more yellow lights came on than you’d see at an airport runway. Baffling to say the least. Unacceptable at best.
Good for Steve O’Donnell for coming out and offering a statement quickly. I hope he and his folks can indeed fix this. But doesn’t the question of “Where is Mr. France” seem legitimate? Is it too much to expect that the leader of the organization come out with some statement? At the very least saying something like, “I’m not happy and where gonna fix this”, even if he doesn’t mean it?
All too often we’ve been subjected to this type of treatment from France. He seems to run this organization with much the same secrecy as the US runs the C.I.A.. While I think it’s a bit unfair to place a majority of the blame for much of what ails NASCAR squarely on the shoulders of Brian France, I do believe the buck needs to stop there, at the very top of NASCAR’s ladder.
I suspect if NASCAR were a major bank, a major manufacture, and had the recent history which NASCAR has had, that CEO would have received a nice severance package and been set on his/her way. Perhaps it’s time for NACAR to do the same to its leader.
Thanks for reading. Listen to WTBQ radio on Monday and Friday mornings at 8:45 as I join Frank, Taylor and the Morning Show gang to discuss all the current happenings in NASCAR. 1110AM 93.5FM or online at WTBQ.COM. You can also follow me on twitter @JimLaplante
