[Xavier]

Here is my take on it;

The world is partial to Chevy's - get over it. Name something other than F1 that isn't? They, Chevy, will be introduced as a mfg. of engine for Indy next year, so you will hear it there too. I am not saying I like it, but the world has more Chevy's thus the people and fans like Chevys more and that's that. I am rooting for Ford, but that does not mean they are going to do well, and for the most part - they blew it this year. Only at the end did they get things dialed in. Now that Ford is pulling of of Camping World Completely in 2011, you will hear even more about Chevy and Toyota and that has little to do with Nascar. Even then, I hear far more about Toyota - and its purely because they are kicking a$$. I don't like it, but that is not changing the fact.

There are two reasons for the drop in attendance;
1. Economy.
2. No one likes to see the same guy win over and over and over again. Espescially new comers to the sport. People want to watch under dogs win. There becomes little interest in watching the same guy win the same thing.

I think on the contrary Nascar is doing a lot to keep things interesting. I think the commentators are good, better than any other sport I watch - but they have blown it more than a half dozen times on the cameras keeping on to something. I really enjoy watching everything on the Speed channel, but the down side of the Speed channel is many people do not get the channel. So if the majority of the hype, advertisements and commentary are on a channel few get (less get it in a bad economy) - how could you really promote it well? The channels that host the race coverage do not promote Nascar, where as Speed promotes Nascar heavily (they kind of have to) but its a channel that few percentage-wise get.

NASCAR has also let drivers push back at one another and compete hard without major infractions or fines and that is a good thing.

On the down side, I think it is hard getting into the swing of Nascar if you are new to the sport. There needs to be a Nascar 101 for new viewers; phrases like "lucky dog" - "green white checkered" - "marbles" - "stickers" - and a variety of other terminology is used frequently by the commentators during the race as ex-crew chiefs or drivers, but the new viewers don't have a clue as to what those things are, what they mean and how they impact the outcome. I can watch a rugby game for the first time and within 15 minutes get it - but when I hear new viewers watching Nascar they walk away with more questions about the terminology and thus the race; "I thought drivers were just racing and who wins, wins" one person told me "I did not know I was required to have lap top during the race to Google the terminology." People who don't get it, turn the channel.