BY STEVE MACKEY
-KARNAC.com

As a sporting event, Sunday's race at Talladega was a miserable failure thanks to bad officiating from NASCAR and bad behavior from a small number of fans. As sports entertainment, yesterday's NASCAR race was an unqualified success.

Tickets were sold, souvenirs were sold, lots of beer was sold, and lots of sponsors got media exposure. So, what is NASCAR Nextel Cup? Is it a sport or entertainment?

Like it or not, since NASCAR signed the TV deal with Fox and NBC, racing has changed from a sport to sports entertainment. NASCAR racing has become a TV show. I don't think people tune in to see a race anymore. They tune in to see their favorite TV show. And many of these people are not long time race fans.

When NASCAR signed with Fox and NBC, it made a deal with the devil. As a result, NASCAR is under pressure from the networks to put on a good TV show every week. The networks pay NASCAR millions of dollars for broadcast rights and they expect NASCAR to deliver ratings and advertising dollars. TV has become the master and NASCAR is its slave.

From an advertising standpoint, NASCAR is a huckster's dream. A race is in essence one big commercial. There is not one moment when a sponsor's logo isn't on the screen. The cars themselves are commercials and many of the drivers are clever corporate shills.

NASCAR has always been sponsor driven, but it wasn't as blatant before. Listen to how drivers and crew chiefs talk. It's all sponsor plugs when they answer even the simplest question. Why do drivers race? For their sponsors, of course.

Are racecar drivers athletes? Who cares? NASCAR drivers aren't as much athletes as they are entertainers. I'll wager that a driver's public speaking ability is as important as his or her driving ability to a sponsor. What sponsor would want a driver who couldn't sell its product or entertain its clients?

NASCAR racing is entertainment and sales tool in one TV friendly package. The line between the commercials and competition has become blurred. Where does the show end and the commercials begin?

NASCAR racing is a lot of people's favorite TV program and there's nothing wrong with that. But, next time you watch a race on TV you might ponder this question.

Do the commercials exist because of the racing or does the racing exist because of the commercials? Either way, that's entertainment!



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