Wheeler: "We Got Too Fancy" with NASCAR

H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler knows NASCAR like few others do. For the past half-century, the former General Manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway has been moving among the movers and shakers of motorsports, and he's rightly regarded as one of the racing world's foremost promoters.

So one tends to listen when Wheeler talks about the sport.

Boy, is he talking.

In an 18-minute video, which can be seen here, Wheeler clearly paints a picture of where the sport went wrong. 

In short, Wheeler said that racing got "too fancy" and left its fans behind. 

"I think we've messed it up a little, folks," he said. "I think we got too fancy. I think as it soared back in the '90s a lot of people wanted to change it. They didn't like the way it was, they thought it was too country or too unsophisticated or whatever. And those people were dead wrong."

Wheeler said the main thing that will fill up grandstands all over the country is a change in emphasis.

"We need to put the emphasis on winning. And we need to put the emphasis on leading and passing people as the race progresses. Give points for passing, and for the repass People in the grandstand are gonna go crazy when we do that." 

He suggests that NASCAR give winners and leaders bigger bonuses. He says increases in the quality of TV broadcasting has hurt in-person attendance. "You've got to give them a reason to come back to the ballpark - whether the ballpark is a race track or whether it's a stadium. Gotta give them a reason to come back. Part of that reason is excitement. That's the whole reason!"

He has a point. During the recent race at Indianapolis, there was exactly one pass for the lead on the track. The remainder took place on pit road.

Part of that is a function of the speedway itself, but it makes the point rather well.

Wheeler related an amusing story about how this change came about.

"Back in the 1960s, one sponsor told me that we needed to send Richard Petty to diction lessons," Wheeler said. "I said, 'diction lessons? Why?' 

“‘Yeah, we get him to talk different. He’s too twangy,’ ” the sponsor said.

“My gosh. Richard Petty talking different than he does?” Wheeler said. “That makes him. First of all, he wouldn't do it, and second, his fans wouldn't like it at all."

It's a fascinating look into the thoughts of racing's last great promoter. Take a look, and you'll see I'm right.