The feel good vibes to start NASCAR’s 2023 season didn’t last very long.
But they did exist.
When covering the opening slate of races at Daytona International Speedway in February, you could feel them and literally see them
There was just more of everything, specifically the people.
The Craftsman Truck Series opener on the Friday night before the Daytona 500 boasted an eye-popping best attendance for the race since 2011.
Greg Van Alst added to the party on Saturday when the 41-year-old Indiana native managed to win the ARCA Menards Series race.
Then came Sunday and the main event: the sold out Daytona 500.
People. Were. Everywhere.
It took me and Fronstretch owner Tom Bowles about an hour to make it from the the off ramp to International Speedway Blvd. to the area of the strip in front of the fan zone.
I got out and walked the rest of the way to the interior of the track.
The good vibes started to end when the race did — when it ended not in a natural finish at the finish line, but under caution in turn 2.
It doesn’t matter who wins, a race ending under yellow dampens the mood (unless of course it’s 1998 and Dale Earnhardt wins).
Then came the first ratings report of the regular season: the “Great American Race” averaged a 4.4 rating and 8.17 million viewers on FOX, down 7% in ratings and 8% in viewership from 2022 (4.7, 8.87M) and the third-smallest audience ever for the race.
And it didn’t even rain.
So far, all eight points races this season have been down in ratings, culminating in Sunday’s (April 9) Bristol Dirt Race averaging about 500,000 less viewers than in 2022.
Now let’s get to the bigger headlines, at least in the short term.
After Daytona came Auto Club Speedway’s final two-mile bow, a weekend plagued by — of all things — a historic snow fall in the area around Fontana.
Bad headline!
Kyle Busch won a decent race in just his second official start with Richard Childress Racing.
Good headline!
Five days later came the Chase Elliott news….
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