Wheeler envisons radical changes in racing

By Bob Henry

ThatsRacin.com Editor
We’re finally catching back up to the field with more from Humpy Wheeler’s “Growing Up NASCAR.” But let’s first acknowledge a couple of things unrelated to the book:

1. Like Daytona’s Turn 2, our schedule’s got a hole in it. I really had hoped to run this second installment about a week ago.

2.  I am not just a customer of Road to Hell Paving Co., I’m the president. That doesn’t give me any inside line on paving contracts at Daytona. But at least I’m trying to underscore my best intentions.

The soon to be released “Growing Up NASCAR: The Humpy Wheeler Story” is pretty straight with readers. Which is why Wheeler would probably want you to know this: The cover art wasn’t his idea.

Life in racing has schooled Wheeler well in the art of give and take, so he let the publisher's people win that round.

But having his say about Charlotte Motor Speedway and his former boss, Bruton Smith? Not negotiable.

Some of that was detailed in earlier excerpts from the longtime and legendary racing promoter’s book.

The book is available online and hard copies are expected to be in stores in mid-March.

This time, the man who choreographed a mock invasion of Charlotte Motor Speedway’s infield, plotted the trajectory of a flaming school bus and even blew up an outhouse to entertain fans during pre-race shows looks ahead. He writes of a not-too-distant future that he believes will reveal racing and racers to be radically different animals.

Excerpts from Chapter 31: Racing of the Future

We are going to see some massive changes in NASCAR in the next decade and beyond. Right now the two controlling companies are the International Speedway Corporation, owned by the France family, and Speedway Motor Sports, owned by Bruton Smith.

Jim France recently announced his retirement, leaving the business to a third generation of Frances, and Bruton is eighty-two, and eventually he will be leaving his company to his son.

The Indianapolis Racing League is itself in a third generation of ownership.

What I envision is a time in the not-too-distant future when major media companies or equity investors buy all the existing companies. When that happens, we will see majestic changes in racing, because it will then be fueled by the people who run entertainment companies who don’t patiently wait around when ratings start to drop and attendance falls.

They make changes. That’s why Westerns went south and adventure/action films became popular. It’s why sitcoms have lessened and reality TV has upstaged them.

Once media companies take over, the executives won’t abide boring races. They won’t stand for drivers who are satisfied with finishing seventh in order to win points.

Instead, the entertainment czars will change the game so that the emphasis is placed on passing. Drivers will get a lot of points and prize money for passing and re-passing, so if a driver puts on a good show – even if he is knocked out at the halfway point – he will earn enough money to make his day worthwhile.

No longer will he be thinking, “I have to be around at the finish so I can finish fourth” and not excite anybody.

Another thing the entertainment people will do is take the lid off the behavior of drivers. Fans love fiery drivers.

They screamed and hollered when a Bobby Allison would get mad at a Curtis Turner and wipe out his car. They loved it when Dale Earnhardt would spin out a competitor, and then, when asked about it after the race, he’d grin and say, “That’s just racin.’

That sort of thing never happens anymore because the sponsors want their drivers to be squeaky clean and corporate. They have to be properly dressed, and they have to speak properly, and they have to behave themselves, and boy, that is so boring.

We need a return of the Bobby Allison-Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt-Geoff Bodine feuds that we used to have.

The single biggest change, though, will affect the race fan sitting on his couch at home. The fan of tomorrow watching from home will actually be able to participate in the race.

He will pay the entry fee of $29.95 for pay-per-view. He’ll sit in his seat with his computerized steering wheel, brake, and clutch – equipment that is available today – and he will watch himself on the TV actually driving in the race.

All the race cars are equipped with GPS, and as a result it would be possible to transform the existing live telecast into a situation where the fan at home could drive his car on the track anywhere the real cars weren’t.The fan’s car would be animated. He couldn’t put his car where Jeff Gordon Jr.’s car is, but he could put his car right behind him if there was a space. Come Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon, hundreds of thousands of race fans could pay their $29.95 entry fee and race against the real race cars.

Once the computer geniuses figure out how to determine the virtual winner, there would be two winners at the end of the race: the actual winner at the track and the virtual winner, and conceivably, the virtual winner would make as much prize money and earn the same trophy as the actual winner.

s I said, once the computer geniuses figure out the technology, this will come, and it will come because racing is one of the only sports where individuals compete against other individuals rather than teams competing against teams.