Hey NASCAR, can you say "Refund"?
July 27, Long Beach, NY--- I don't know how many of you were as disappointed as I was watching the Allstate 400 At The Brickyard.
I'm glad that I didn't have to fly out to Indy, pay to get through the front gate, and then be forced to watch the race. Thank goodness I didn't have to go there to cover the race. Was this really supposed to be one of the three or four marquee events for the Cup series?
I have no idea how much people had to pay for tickets at the Brickyard. But however much it was, the over 200,000 fans were simply ripped off. There's no other way of describing it.
It's not bad for the people that live locally. But what about the fans that fly in, get hotel rooms, rent a car, eat in restaurants, etc.? That's a big hunk of change to throw away.
When there are "competition cautions" every ten to fifteen laps because Goodyear brought a horrible tire to the track, you have to be thankful that none of the drivers suffered any type of injury. One writer called it a bunch of heat races in his column. I certainly can't and won't argue with that.
Don't just blame Goodyear though. Some of the blame from that paintbrush has to be slapped on NASCAR for not allowing any testing at the famed and historic track.
In fact, let's take that one step forward and blame the drivers also. Shouldn't one of those 43 responsible drivers say during practice to the other drivers, "Hey, this is too dangerous to race on this tire. How much is a championship worth to my wife and kids if I'm killed on these four worthless pieces of rubber?" And let's face it; those tires were crap.
We've all seen drivers that have been injured and killed through the years because of unexpected equipment failures. But if a driver had gotten hurt (or worse) in this race, can you really call it unexpected?
What happened this weekend was an aberration; something that you rarely ever see in this level of racing. But this weekend, it shows that it can still occasionally happen.
It's at this time when a driver has to make a stand, and say that he's parking it. The risks are not worth the rewards. NASCAR and Goodyear have to step up and admit that they blew it this week, instead of saying 'it happens', or 'we're making the best of the situation'.
The only question remains, is there a driver courageous enough to do it?
I'm glad that I didn't have to fly out to Indy, pay to get through the front gate, and then be forced to watch the race. Thank goodness I didn't have to go there to cover the race. Was this really supposed to be one of the three or four marquee events for the Cup series?
I have no idea how much people had to pay for tickets at the Brickyard. But however much it was, the over 200,000 fans were simply ripped off. There's no other way of describing it.
It's not bad for the people that live locally. But what about the fans that fly in, get hotel rooms, rent a car, eat in restaurants, etc.? That's a big hunk of change to throw away.
When there are "competition cautions" every ten to fifteen laps because Goodyear brought a horrible tire to the track, you have to be thankful that none of the drivers suffered any type of injury. One writer called it a bunch of heat races in his column. I certainly can't and won't argue with that.
Don't just blame Goodyear though. Some of the blame from that paintbrush has to be slapped on NASCAR for not allowing any testing at the famed and historic track.
In fact, let's take that one step forward and blame the drivers also. Shouldn't one of those 43 responsible drivers say during practice to the other drivers, "Hey, this is too dangerous to race on this tire. How much is a championship worth to my wife and kids if I'm killed on these four worthless pieces of rubber?" And let's face it; those tires were crap.
We've all seen drivers that have been injured and killed through the years because of unexpected equipment failures. But if a driver had gotten hurt (or worse) in this race, can you really call it unexpected?
What happened this weekend was an aberration; something that you rarely ever see in this level of racing. But this weekend, it shows that it can still occasionally happen.
It's at this time when a driver has to make a stand, and say that he's parking it. The risks are not worth the rewards. NASCAR and Goodyear have to step up and admit that they blew it this week, instead of saying 'it happens', or 'we're making the best of the situation'.
The only question remains, is there a driver courageous enough to do it?
Not only should NASCAR consider a refund to the fans, Goodyear should be forced to refund a good portion of the $1700+ that each set of these crappy tires cost the teams.
If the average citizen purchased a tire from Goodyear that performed as poorly as these 'race' tires did in this race, an immediate refund would be in order, not the purchase of another set of these inferior pieces of rubber! They had different tires on hand (800 of them!) and should have at least tried them out by giving a set to each and every team during any of the numerous competition cautions. It surely would have been a better option than placing the health and well being of these 43 racers in jeopardy.
Shame on NASCAR and shame on Goodyear. Maybe the time has come for a new 'Tire War', allowing competition amongst tire providers. It couldn't be any worse than what we sat through watching this racing fiasco!
The Indy 500 didn't have this problem, so why didn't Goodyear (and NASCAR) think of using a similar tire compound for the Cup cars?
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I agree! After paying $150.00 for my seat which the price increases every year for! I walked out after the last yellow and will not go back again if NASCAR and IMS and Goodyear doesn't make it right! Brian France should of went to races instead of getting his degree in marketing. I wanted to see a race!
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