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Why did Kyle Petty turn on us?

2/15/08: SOZ Studios, MI - By Mike Harper "SOZ" (RaceTalkRadio.com)

As we prepare for the 50th running of the Daytona 500, I continue to hear NASCAR Chairman Brian France's voice ringing in my head saying "back to basics - back to basics - back to basics." That was a statement he made a few weeks ago during the Sprint Cup Series media tour at Lowe's Motor Speedway where he made a commitment of getting the series back to the basics. What it means, who knows, but to hear the executive management in Daytona Beach share a plan with the folks, does show an effort on their part. And in my opinion that's a good start.

When you freely provide opinions especially in this sport, people normally respond and I've come to appreciate the voice of my readers. At times, as with most columnists writing about NASCAR or ARCA we say or write something that we regret or is easily taken the wrong way. And based on my in-box, Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Petty seems to have stirred the pot a bit with comments made on his SPEED television show about the topic "back to basics."

Mike,

I'd like for you to ask Kyle Petty a question for me. Why did you turn on us Kyle? Been a fan of the Petty family for years and to hear Kyle say on Trading Paint to forget the old fans and move forward is proof why many older fans are leaving Nascar. All they care about is money. All they want is more more more and big markets with younger fans from Hollywood. What he said tells me he doesn't care about the people who got him and his father to where they are. He's taken fans for granted and the new fans see this. Fans keep their sponsors in business and what he said tells me many of these drivers are no different than football and basketball players. Cocky and a attitude that people can be replaced with other people to line their pocketbooks. They take from us and when there's no more to take they'll turn on us instead of looking at why we left. It's selfish and shame on him. I hope other drivers don't share his feelings.

Robert

Nashville, TN

While I don't agree with all of Robert's comments, one must stop and listen because he does bring up an interesting point of why fans have stopped watching. The perception of greed has seemed to play a role in the changing of this sport. It's no longer the working man's sport - it's corporate and big dollar entertainment. But to be fair to Kyle Petty, I'll address what he said on SPEED's Tradin' Paint with guest David Poole before the Budweiser Shootout last weekend.

"We don't race in Wilkesboro and I wish we did race in Wilkesboro. I wish we still raced at Rockingham," said Petty. "But at the same time I wish we raced in Seattle. I wish we raced in New York City. I wished we raced in Milwaukee. I wished we raced in a lot more major markets than what we race in because that's what really helped our sport grow."

I don't see how Petty is asking for the support of younger fans from Hollywood, but he is following the business plan of NASCAR by looking to larger markets in the United States to expand the sport. Expansion is the current goal of NASCAR and many of their drivers. As fans, whether a fan of a specific driver or a fan of the sport in general, it's hard to understand that NASCAR is still a growing sport. But at the same time many ask the question of how big does NASCAR want to get? The schedule and weekends are certainly full and the downside to expanding will have NASCAR leaving the older tracks and yes, some fans behind. Maybe France's comments from the media tour can be associated with their expansion plan and until they're able to secure a greater base of their older fans the plan has been placed on probation. Who knows?

I would like to point out that unlike other professional sports NASCAR doesn't get supported by a city. In other words, there's not a No. 13 New York, NY Chevrolet for New York fans to cheer each and every week. So NASCAR doesn't have the luxury that others have in the sporting world of a population in a city supporting them. If things go south for NASCAR they must act or it could cause major problems for their company. I understand this.

In the case of rule changes, blame NASCAR. I do! If I don't like a rule, I voice my opinion and move on. But as for NASCAR not returning to a specific track - being looked at as not caring about the old school fans, I would disagree because they're not the only ones to blame. It's up to the track promoters, local politicians and local businesses to make every effort to keep races coming back to their tracks and cities. They've got to be competitive in their market and if you're a track owner and/or promoter, you should be doing everything in your power to keep NASCAR at your track. Even working with local officials to lower costs for fans or being creative to make your race special. NASCAR can't be blamed for all of this.

Now, back to Petty. His second quote went like this:

"We need to focus on moving forward and making more fans than going back and trying to get the fans that we feel like we've lost, if we've lost them, " said Petty. "Sorry, we just need to move forward."

I can understand where Robert feels like Petty doesn't care about him because what Petty said does in fact sound bad. It sounds like a well-to-do athletic wanting more and snubbing his noise at the people that supported his efforts and past sponsors, that provided him a path to do what he loves to do - race. Do I truly believe Petty feels this way? Honestly, I don't know his heart, but I would like to think he doesn't.

NASCAR and Petty included, have this large desire to find a brand new fan base. At some point over the past several years they've been sold this bill of goods that expanding across the country and in some cases the world is a necessity. In reality and in my opinion, I don't see the sport finding a home in certain parts of the country because of different political interests. One can look at the issues surrounding the plan to have a track in New York as an example of this.

In my view, NASCAR and their drivers should be concerned about fan retention and going out looking for new fans. Not just one, but both. Bottom line, NASCAR has lost fans. And they need to pinpoint why they lost fans because if the issue isn't resolved they will continue to lose fans.

In the world of customer service it's taught that it's cheaper to solve a problem because it costs ten times more to obtain new customers. And if your problem was never resolved, you'll continue to lose customers even after spending more to get them.

In addition to solving the problem in the customer service industry, it's taught to create a customer for life. One major reason sponsors flock to NASCAR is because of fan loyalty. NASCAR fans are among the most loyal to drivers, manufacturers and sponsors. And to move forward and lose focus on the loyal fans that helped build NASCAR to what it is today would be dangerous. It's dangerous in the simple fact that people like Robert feel like they've been taken for granted by NASCAR and even their drivers. And if more fans begin to feel the same way Robert does, NASCAR will lose respect and loyalty from the very people they need to survive.

Robert your voice has now been heard along with my opinions on the subject. Has Kyle Petty turned on you as a loyal fan of NASCAR needing to be brought back? I hope not!

But don't allow emotions to distort the truth about NASCAR drivers. Don't compare them football and basketball players. Don't do that - because our guys are the good guys and most are class acts. As I mention fan loyalty, I will also throw out there the fact that drivers are loyal to their fans. They allow fans to have access and most have active fan clubs. Many will spend hours signing autographs even though more and more people take them and sell them for profit. It's a two-way relationship and lets not take it for granted either.

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