Why Does NASCAR stink?

Okay, so it didn't take me long to think of something to write about.

Way back in the day I was a pretty big NASCAR fan. I still remember the first race I every watched, the 1992 Daytona 500, won by Davey Allison, with Morgan Shepard coming in second. Over the years, probably about 2006 when I moved to Denver I stopped watching races for what ever reason. Since I'm often bored these days I decided to start DVR'ing the races to watch at my convenience (where was DVR when I was a big fan?). I have noticed that the races aren't as entertaining. I realize that if anyone actually reads this post they will say the the races were never entertaining, but stay with me here.

I've though up several reasons why things aren't as good anymore. Thanks to youtube, clips of old races are available to watch and analyze. So, in no particular order, here is what I think.

1) Increased popularity lead to changes. Back in'92, NASCAR was still pretty much centered in the Southeast. There were a few races up in the Northeast, and out West, but not many. As the popularity increased, I think some things happened. Ticket prices increased and as a read somewhere a while back, "the loyal fans that built the sport were priced out."

2) New tracks were built and old ones closed. As the popularity increased, there was more demand to have races in newer markets and new tracks were built. For some reason, the majority of these newer tracks are 1.5 miles in length. A lot of the shorter tracks had their races taken away because they didn't bring in a lot of money. I know a lot of people don't like short tracks, but I like the variety if nothing else. I'm not sure if there are still any tracks that have both front and backstretch pit lanes. I remember when Dale Earnhardt qualified so poorly at one track that it was the first time in his career he had to pit on the back stretch. Oh the horror.
Whatever happened to North Wilkesboro and Rockingham?

3) They decided to make this new rule where the top teams where guaranteed spots in the races regardless of their qualifying effort. I suppose this is good for the sport, ensuring the big names are present, but I king of liked the days of good drivers stinking up qualifying and not having a provisional spot. Better luck next week.

4) The instant caution, where the field is frozen when the caution is thrown rather than drivers being able to race back to the line. I can see the logic in this rule though. If you watch old clips and see drivers dodging stopped cars at 200 miles an hour, there were definitely concerns for driver safety.

5) The cars all look the same. Back in 1992, you could tell the Chevys from the Fords, Pontiacs, and Oldsmobiles. Now all the cars are basically the same shape with headlight decals being the only way to tell the different makes apart. It is also kind of strange that Pontiac and Oldsmobile are long gone from not only NASCAR but the world in general. The cars back then were nowhere near "stock" either, but I liked it better then.

6) The newer drivers whine too much. Enough said.

That's about it. I could probably think of other things, but I guess this is enough.