Back towards the end of October, I wrote of how I was shifting focus of the site because I was unhappy with the direction of NASCAR.  Well, who could have ever imagined what would happen over the past couple of months that have followed?  One of my biggest gripes is the multitude of big teams that were drowning out the smaller teams.  This was, of course, fueled by sponsorship dollars endlessly given by big business including the “Big Three” auto makers.

Well, that was yesterday’s NASCAR.  With the significant fall of the Stock Market and, the pending demise of the “Big Three”, sponsorship money has all but dried up.  Teams are starting to collapse and in the interest of surviving, are looking to merge with each other.  The saddest part of all of this is the massive lay-offs that have hit the racing industry.  Especially at this time of year.

Teams started by two of the biggest names in NASCAR/Winston Cup Racing are struggling for existence.  Dale Earnhardt, Inc. has already joined up with Chip Ganassi Racing to field a four car team.  Petty Enterprises is rumored to be looking to join up with Gillett-Evernham Racing in some type of a merger deal.  NASCAR, in an effort to save money, has even eliminated testing for 2009.

For these reasons, I will be remaining active in my NASCAR, Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series racing.  Not because of wanting to watch a train wreck but instead because this could be the be the beginning of a return to the roots by NASCAR and the teams competing in it.  Sure, it’s easy to be the best with unlimited money but what happens when you suddenly have a budget to contend with.  Whereas this is new for a lot of teams, there are some smaller teams that are no strangers to struggling to survive.  It’s in this environment where you may see some of these teams excel. 

I can’t help thinking of the Wood Brothers or even Petty Enterprises and how they are prepared to do better in this environment of having less.  This is indeed a new era in NASCAR racing.  Shoot, we may even start seeing hometown garages on the hoods of cars before it’s over.  Yes boys and girls, this may be what returns NASCAR back to the hands of the people who started it.  Without rockstar salaries, who’s going to want to be a driver except those who truly love the sport?

With that said, I am actually very excited to see what NASCAR looks like during Speedweeks and the months to follow.  I am looking forward to writing about this transformation as well here.

The RacingFaces podcast will be happening.  We are actually planning to produce an introductory episode this weekend with the first regular episode starting with the first week of 2009.  The podcast will be an extension of the blog with an opportunity for more news and interviews.  We’re going to do some prizes so be sure to listen as we’ve already got some really nice prizes lined up courtesy of Sprint and Toyota!

When I originally started blogging a few years ago, I swore that I was going to remain focused on the smaller series that don’t usually get the amount of press coverage that NASCAR’s main series receives.  Sadly, if you have followed this blog much at all, you know this has not been the case.

Starting next year, I’ll be returning the focus of the blog back to some of the lesser known series.  Look for more content on ARCA, ASA and the USAR Hooters Pro Cup.  Now, you’ll still see some content from NASCAR but probably not very much from the main series.  Look for more on the Truck Series and, some on the Nationwide series.

As this season winds down, and I think about next year’s goals, one thing I’d like to get growing next year is the racingfaces forums.  If you are associated with one of the lesser known series or shoot, if you like a driver in the Sprint Cup that doesn’t get a lot of press even, let me know and we’ll create a forum for that topic.  The only thing I ask in return is that you become a moderator of that particular forum and help manage it.

I have valued my readers over the past few years and hope that you will continue reading as we rededicate the blog to it’s original intention.

jc

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I am going to start posting the post-race interviews with the winner and other notables.

We’re gearing up to do a pretty special show to kick off the Racingfaces podcast.  Right before the Chase begins, we’re planning on getting a few people together to reflect on the season so far as kind of a recap.  In addition, we’ll be taking a look at who’s in the Chase and make a few predictions.

This special show will be kicking off the RacingFaces weekly podcast.  The podcast is a little pet project that I have been working on for a couple of years now.  Keep watching here for details on when the show’s going to be and to find out how you can participate.  We hope that you’ll join us and add take us with you on your iPod.

Jimbo

If you’ve ever been told that you have a face for radio and you love stock car racing, listen up.  I’m working on the final details for getting a weekly podcast together.  I have two hosts signed on (myself and another secret one) but I’d like to add a couple of more people to the roster for discussion panels.  You don’t need any big audio equipment to join in.  If you’re interested, post a comment to this article and I’ll get in touch with you with the details.

I usually check the website stats daily here at racingfaces.com and the last couple of days have been no exception.  After the Richmond race on Saturday night, I posted a couple of little pieces about the race.  Namely, I posted a piece about Jr and Kyle Busch getting together and, I posted one about Michael Waltrip losing his cool and pushing Casey Mears down the track.

I honestly figured that the Dale Jr. story would be the biggie but man, was I ever wrong.  The Michael Waltrip story has beat it in both search engine hits and story hit probably by about five to one.  I think I know why.  Every, and I mean every news highlight real that I saw after the race talked about the Kyle and Jr. incident.  I don’t think even one mentioned the Michael Waltrip incident.  I thought it was big news when a guy as easy going as Michael lost his cool so, as such, it was worth writing about and it appears that you the readers agree.  Be sure to use the comments to let me know if I’m on target or, off the deep end.

That lets me know that I’m on the right track here (no pun intended) so I’ll keep doing more of the underreported stories as they break.

In closing, thanks for reading and enjoy!

I’ve been working on adding some structure to the forums.  Check them out when you get a chance.  If you know of a driver, track, team, owner or even a fan group that is interested in a forum, have them contact me. 

Enjoy

Check out the new forums at http://forum.racingfaces.com.  If you know a driver or someone associated with the sport who would like a free forum or if there is a forum that you would like added, just email me.