Why’s Everybody Always Picking on NASCAR
Posted by dmicJan 5
(January 5, 2013…RaceTalkRadio.com)
After all these years of seeing my favorite sport of auto racing get bashed in the mainstream media it dawned on me that the perfect theme song for NASCAR would be “Charlie Brown.”
NASCAR should be asking, “Why’s everybody always picking on me?
The only time the news media has anything to say about NASCAR is when there is a horrible crash or someone gets killed or there is something bad to report. This week many in the media, including some of the NASCAR media, were quick to report that NASCAR was getting a special deal as part of the “Fiscal Cliff Avoidance” bill.
Who cares if NASCAR doesn’t own any race tracks?
If you dig a little deeper you can find out that NASCAR’s favorite congresswoman Betty McCollum started this idiotic rumor and the media accepted her word as gospel.
Yes indeed NASCAR fans this is the same lady that made a big deal about military sponsorships. Technically NASCAR does not own a single race track but Ms. McCollum didn’t let that simple fact hold her back. The press was quick to rub in the fact that mean old NASCAR was laughing all the way to the bank.
Last week on RaceTalkRadio.com’s “Track Source Radio Show” Tim Frost of the National Speedway Directory did an excellent job of explaining how this tax break came about and how it impacts race tracks all over the country.
“What was done was extending a depreciation law that has been around since 2004,” said Frost. “Race tracks got the same breaks as amusement parks and other businesses by shortening the length of time they have to write off an investment made. This directly affects the racing industry and incorrectly refers to this as a NASCAR tax break.”
In other words every single race track in the country can write off their investment over seven years on their taxes instead of the next fourteen years. That will not save a race track on their taxes but it will mean more of an impact on the local economy from coast to coast at over 1000 race tracks!
Hey Ms. McCollum…you have six race tracks in your congressional district and those tracks are responsible for helping keep some of your constituents employed!
I am all for tax reform and doing away with the IRS picking the winners and losers. But calling this latest tax deal the “NASCAR Tax” is a joke! What is coming next… a report on how much carbon dioxide NASCAR adds to the environment causing global climate change?
Why’s everybody always picking on NASCAR?
I assume you are aware that for all practical purposes Nascar and ISC are interchangable. Many of the same people are involved in both. Since they got a sweetheart deal that the people in the street wouldnt they are fair game. And the old “everybody else gets it” isn’t an excuse.
As for Ms. McCollum, while I seldom, and thats being generous, agree with her politics shes right on these two. I transport military recruits every week. Motorsport sponsorship isnt what brings them in. Its a way out for kids who see no other option in todays economy.
Given the financial pressure the country is under, it makes no sense to reward those who dont need it, while penalizing those who do.
NASCAR and ISC were founded by the same companies, and the people in charge are from the same family, but I would hardly say they are interchangable. NASCAR has approximately 20,000 employees, ISC has about 1000 employees (based on numbers I just googled). Very few (if any) of those employees work for both companies, and as far as I’m concerned the workers at the bottom are what really drives any company — not the fact that the two CEO’s happen to be brother and sister.
“Everybody else gets it”. I don’t feel any company should be receiving these enormous tax breaks, or for making more long-term business plans, but the fact of the matter is that ISC is hardly the only company benefitting from this deal. The fact that anyone even brought up the fact that NASCAR (ISC) stood to benefit from this is selective targetting. Why not make a list for everyone to see of every single individual company that will benefit from this deal?
Lastly — the whole military sponsorship deal. Have you ever seen a “Global force for good” commercial? What about “Army of One”? “The few, the proud, the Marines”? It’s called advertising, and the money that was spent sponsoring NASCAR is a drop in the bucket compared to what is spent on advertising for the military each year. I’m a nuclear machinist mate in the Navy, and from what I’ve observed nukes are actually the only job not over-manned in the military right now (hence, we are the only rates along with the special forces that are still getting bonuses). In all reality, the military really should cut back on advertising (and spending in general for that matter), but if you’re going to attack NASCAR sponsorships you damn well better be attack the commercial advertisements, and the letters that are sent out every day to hundreds of houses. We should probably just close down about 80% of the recruiting offices, after all they are a form of advertising in and of themselves.