NASCAR lacks rivalries
HAMPTON, Ga. — Jeff Gordon says NASCAR needs some rivalries. It might help if someone could beat Jimmie Johnson.
Already the winner of an unprecedented four straight Sprint Cup championships, Johnson is off to another fast start with two wins in the first three races heading into Sunday's 500-miler at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
A struggling economy and Johnson's dominance has dampened enthusiasm for a sport that once appeared on the verge of carving out its place among the Big Three of American sports: NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball.
"Yeah, you recognize it," Jeff Gordon, a four-time champion himself and teammate of Johnson's, said Friday before qualifying for the Kobalt Tools 500. "When you go through driver introductions and wave to all those people, it's hard not to recognize where we're at."
Empty seats at the track. Fewer television viewers at home. Not to mention potholes and errant caution lights.
Gordon said the sport would certainly get a boost from a riveting rivalry or two, but it's hard for anyone to get too mad at Johnson. He comes across as a genuinely nice guy who goes about his business in a workmanlike fashion, failing to stir either over-the-top support or raging animosity.
"I just think it depends on the rivalries and the stories," Gordon said. "If you're dominating, but you're battling a Dale Earnhardt Jr. or a Tony Stewart, maybe a Kevin Harvick, then you can build that rivalry. The good guy-bad guy kind of thing, the Ford-Chevy thing, all that stuff.
"I think the stories are still there, the interest is still there," he added. "But when you're out there dominating and no one is really you're enemy, then it pulls away from it a little bit. What we need is Kyle Busch and Stewart to be butting heads, banging one another and talking trash. That would be good television."
With eight Cup championships between them, a Johnson-Gordon rivalry would appear to have some potential. After all, shouldn't Gordon be jealous about bringing Johnson into the sport as a teammate, then watching him race right on by to become NASCAR's most dominant driver?
Apparently not.
"The problem with me and Jimmie is that, yes, we are rivals, but we are friends as well," Gordon said. "We never cross that line. That's good — and bad."
While the struggling economy had certainly affected all sports at the ticket office, NASCAR's once-booming TV ratings might be the most troubling trend.
The rating for the season-opening Daytona 500, the sport's biggest event, dipped more than 16 percent from 2009, hurt by two hours of delays caused by a pothole problem. California's numbers were similarly off (and the actual attendance was even worse). Last week's race at Las Vegas, where the caution lights came on twice for no reason, suffered a 37 percent plunge.
Of course, it must be recognized that all three races went up against the Winter Olympics, with Las Vegas facing the stiffest competition from a stirring U.S.-Canada gold medal hockey game on the final day of the Vancouver Games. But some major sports have actually seen an increase in television ratings, including a record audience for this year's Super Bowl.
"There's a lot more to watch on television," Gordon said. "But then you look at the NFL, they have the best ratings they've ever had. Obviously, there's something we can do. We've got to try to tap into that."
