mark martin destroys

8/6/2019 Mark Martin Destroys

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Mark Martin Destroys The NASCAR Corporate Sponsor Limited Longevity Experiment.

As I watched quite possibly the dullest race in the NASCAR schedule Saturday night, the snoozefest that

occurred around Mark Martins domination of the event took nothing away from his victory, but it sure

as heck wasnt for trying.

I dont know what the rest of you thought about the race.but to be honest with you, there were two

races held at Phoenix that evening; Mark Martins run, and.everyone elses. The rest of the race away

from Martin simply was quite possibly one of the biggest duds in NASCAR history, well, with what could

be seen of it around the bazillions of sponsor messages.

I might sound harsh, and a bit of a cheerleader for Martin.but I simply didnt give a flying

snickerdoodle about what else went on around the track. In fact, I was pondering whether or not I

should whip out my Harry Potter-Edition curses and hexes spell book, or Brian France-Edition Voodoo

doll, and do something, anything, just to make sure that the cameras focused on Martin.

Why was I so obsessed with Martin winning the race?

Because I think that both NASCAR and the corporate idiots that sponsor the teams have shaftedgood

drivers in favor ofyoung drivers. As cheap as it sounds, I think Martin winning the event was a sort of

sticking it to the Man moment, never mind I wish that everyone that Ive ever heard say it would end

up with a produce truck landing on them the moment after uttering so stupid of an utterance.

Yeah, Mark Martin is driving for the best-funded mega-team in NASCAR right now. And I really share no

love for the guy who owns Hendrick Racing. However, Mark Martin is the only recognized old man in

the sport right now; Everyone else of any note above the age of 40 is hardly ever mentioned, nor do

they have a full schedule on a prominent team.

Is it due to lack of ability?

No.

Whats the problem, then?

The problem is the marketing division of both NASCAR and its sponsors.

Think about basic marketing for a moment. If you cant get more business from a set amount of

customers, increasing the dollars spent by those same customers, what do you do to get more sales of

your product?

Why, you start marketing to kids.

Want proof? NASCAR and Fox Sports is (mistakenly) convinced that the older fan demographic is locked

up tight, so Digger was foisted upon the fans in order to generate more interest in NASCAR from the kids

watching at home.

Excellent idea?


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Not.

NASCAR seems to forget that kids dont want to watch three-chicken-bucket-long auto races. I have four

kids.not a single child wishes to watch an entire race with me, much less 10 minutes of it. And every

one of them pointed and laughed at the Digger character when it appeared, much like how NASCAR

fans would point and laugh at a NASCAR official being pushed down a flight of stairs. You dont reallywant to laugh at anothers misfortune, but in some cases, its too funny not to laugh at.

The problem here is that while children may laugh at Digger, what NASCAR doesnt realize is that the

kids, just like their annoyed parents, would love to see Bill Murray set off two tons of TNT and blow

Digger into his component atoms. Thatis why my kids are interested in Digger, hes become the new

Looney-Tunes version of Wile E. Coyote, but nobody feels sorry for Digger after hes been blown into

smithereens.

Digger is simply yet another marketing tool to bring more kids of all ages into the sport of NASCAR, and

get more money from them in the process. Think about it a moment; ever notice how much younger the

drivers keep getting? Joey Logano looks like my next-oldest son out there, someone I would normally be

cracking peach-fuzz jokes about, and Im having a hard time taking Logano seriously. Yes, I know he can

drive.but if you throw enough money at a kids racing career, I bet I could have been a pretty good

driver at age 18, also, had my parents had the resources to put me in race cars from the age of 5 until I

became an adult.

Heres the problem; Im having a hard time taking any of the kids in NASCAR seriously. While I dont

begrudge a parent investing heavily into a childs career (its your job as a parent), I really sometimes get

the feeling that certain parents live out their childhood.through their own children. I think something

is lost when a childs only sense of struggle is whether or not he wins a race, or comes in second.

Not to get off track here, but not only have the older drivers been shafted, the older fans have been

screwed, as well. Has anyone ever thought to examine the psychological implications of replacing a

favorite older driver with some young punk? How many older people reading this have been replaced

at their jobs by someone half of their age? And how many other people live in fear of being replaced by

an unskilled kid?

Hey, I just got replaced at my blanket-blank job by some half-wit 18-year-old who doesnt have a bit of

experience and who doesnt have the slightest idea as to what hes doing, oh, and look, Tony Stewart

just got replaced by an 18-year-old who doesnt look like he knows what hes doing, either! Didnt I turn

on NASCAR to escape from this sort of real-life crap???

How many people look at drivers like Bill Elliott, or Kenny Schrader; drivers who have been passed over

simply due to age.how many look and say; That could be me. Think of the older airline pilot who

recently set down the airliner in the Hudson river.that guy is approaching mandatory retirement age,

yet he pulled off a feat that only someone possessing years of experience or sheer stupid luck could

have accomplished.


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But NASCAR and their corporate shills have done their absolute best to quietly institute its own version

of mandatory retirement, with Mark Martin somehow slipping through the cracks. Martin looks like a

shriveled up prune due to his extensive exercise regiment, but at the same time, for some strange, odd

reason, his age and calm demeanor somehow produces a feeling ofrespectthat somehow escapes me

with the younger bunch out on the track.

I have a lot of books at home. Im a bit of a reading nut, and I enjoy reading about past champions of all

types of motorsports. One thing I noticed is that there arent really a whole lot ofyoungsters in the

history books. The vast bulk of these former driving stars? Their careers seemed to peak in their 40s.

And if one takes a look at other current racing series, there are still a lot of older drivers on the best-

funded of teams, and gee, nobody is complaining about it. Heck, I think Paul Newman and the rest of his

team won his class at the 24 hours of Daytona somewhere in his late 60s, if I recall (no, I dont have the

exact race name or date handy).

And then we come to NASCAR.

Mark Martin is the only aged star still driving a full-time gig. That he won at age 50 seemed to be such a

shock to the bulk of the motorsports reporting world, with reporters having to check with statisticians

afterward about how many other drivers over the age of 50 have ever won a NASCAR race.like its an

impossible deed for a 50-year-old driver nowadays, or that old people are too dumb to win a NASCAR

event. It kind of reminds me of when news reporters condescendingly crow about the first time a

woman accomplishes something.like they were too stupid to do it otherwise.

Today, Janet Pringle is the first female driver to win a NASCAR race! Apparently, women are too dumb

to win races, so thats why todays win, and this offensive suggestion that women arent capable of

winning otherwise seem so much more.oh, I dont know.special!

I think the entire first person of (Fill in the blank)to do this! accomplishment racket is one of the most

offensive things Ive seen in the world of modern news reporting. The age angle to this story is just

another example. While I completely understand that certain segments of the population had one heck

of a time not too long ago in our nations history, I think that tremendous strides have been made to

ensure everyone is on equal footing now.as possible, anyway.

Yes, there are still some serious problems, but the biggest issue of all is how the most basic (and

offensive) of statistics are now being turned into front-page news.

The First ______ ever completed his sailing trip around the world today!

The First ______ ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize!

The bad part about this style of reporting? As it pertains to racing, these firsts! seem to forget that its

not exactly a cakewalkfor even a non-special individual to accomplish.and even for non-racing-

related accomplishments. I am amazed by what people can make happen, regardless ofanybackground.

These bogus firsts imply that certain people of different backgrounds, never mind how talented or


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gifted they are in the field of endeavor they represent are somehow.limited.in some shape, way, or

form, and they reek of absolutely shallow thinking, which only serves to divide us more.

Anyone remember Danica Patricks first win? What about Ashley Forces first victory in the NHRA? What,

do the men drivers have it so easy out on the track? Its absolute hellout there on everybody.

Im simply glad that they won. I dont look at it as if they somehow overcame some physical or mental

handicap to win, Im looking at it as that women are just as capable of driving a race car as the men are.

I want to hear how Ashley Force went all the way to the final round because she just happened to be a

better driver than everyone else out there. I dont want to hear a news story telling me about how

shocking it was that a woman somehow managed to win, in spite ofbeing a woman.

This relates to the older NASCAR drivers out there, who certain press circles make claims about how

they still have it after all these years of driving, whenever they win a race, or place really well. Yes, this

still having it has a name.its called experience.

Its not something you can buy.

Yes, certain kids out there have had experience front-loaded from the age of 5 or so, but at what cost?

I recall the movie Amadeus, and how it was suggested that Mozart was treated like a bit of a circus

monkey, being paraded around Europe by his father, as he showed off Mozarts musical skillsfrom the

age of four and up. Mozart is my favorite composer.but what did he lose with his father trying to cram

decades of training into a short ten years or so of childhood? Mozart died at the age of 36.broke and

miserable.

These kids are replacing capable drivers with decades of experience, just so a particular teams sponsor

has a young, pretty face to use to hawk products.never mind that the pretty face belongs to an

emotionless robot, or an arrogant ass that enjoys punting people into the wall.

And what happened on Sunday was that Mark Martin destroyedthe formula. You dont have to have a

driver with a baby face to win races. You dont have to have a cutie patootie youngster to generate

headlines. You dont have to be under the age of 40 to be a winner.

Please dont misunderstand me, however.

I dont think all 18-year-olds are idiots (kids dont hold a monopoly on idiocy), nor do I think that todays

younger drivers have no place in the sport. I think that if you are over 50, can still drive competitively,

and have a great connection with your fans (and potential customers), the dollars to the sponsors will

follow. But I know that with some products out there, having some young, fresh-faced teenager who

spends more time knocking people into the wall while trying to win than trying to win cleanly isnt the

best way to sell a product.

I think the problem here is that NASCAR has stepped, no, tripped over the over-commercialization

boundary here quite some time ago, and the older drivers were the first to go. In an age where guys in

their 60s can race competitively in other racing series, turning 40 is now considered over the hill in


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NASCAR. Its a brilliant plan, by the way. If you eliminate enough of the older drivers from the series,

then you can get away with saying that the younger drivers can win races, too!. Makes it a bit easier to

get away with it ifallof the drivers are younger, doesnt it?

Rant /off.

Please note: if you have been offended by anything Ive said here today, it was not my intention to do

so. If you are still offended, however.please send your flaming doggie doo bags to the email address

provided below.and see you next week.

mark martin destroys

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