Recently, it has come to NASCAR’s attention that there have been an increasing number of empty seats on the tracks and that their television ratings were in decline for the 2006 and 2007 Cup seasons. Through research they determined their most die-hard supporters were watching less time overall of the races, as well as attending half as many races as they had in earlier years. Can NASCAR turn back the tide and gain back their fans’ support? 
They are certainly going to make a valiant try. NASCAR feels that they have addressed the issues that they think are eating away at their foundation — the fans that have been watching the sport for decades. They have started with a new marketing campaign, “Our NASCAR,” which was essentially designed to thank their fans and remind them why they love the sport of racing cars so much. They also have relaxed the rules pertaining to driver conduct and did a 180 on issues like entertainment on race day.
So far it certainly seems to be working. The numbers look promising in the ratings for the first five races aired on television. While attendance was down for some tracks due largely in fact to the weather, they surmise, attendance at Daytona appeared to have increased slightly.
A lot of fans are nostalgic for NASCAR and race tracks of old, and while NASCAR will never be able to go back they are trying to find a middle ground to bring back the fans that left and keep the ones that didn’t. They have made quite a few changes in a really short amount of time, but most feel they were the right ones to make. Only time will tell if the fans feel that way as well. They have also enhanced the television offering with the NASCAR Ticket.
[...] is a great article by LJ Dovichi on our sister publication, Gas Pedal Addicts, about NASCAR’s efforts to [...]