And On The Fourth Day He Tweeted

There he was, assuming the position that many of us know so well. That is Dale Earnhardt Jr. and he is on Twitter using his sponsor's account to interact with fans. Earnhardt used the National Guard account and the #DaleTakeOver hashtag to spend an hour Wednesday spontaneously answering questions from all kinds of fans.

This is how reporter Aaron Burns described the experience in the Mooresville, NC News:

Earnhardt has a Twitter account but he’s never used it, preferring to stick to Facebook despite fans’ repeated requests for him to join the Twitterverse. He’s one of only two Sprint Cup Series drivers – Carl Edwards is the other – to not tweet regularly.

Among other items, Earnhardt suggested his fans listen to “I’m on Fire” by Town Mountain. He also said his favorite television mini-series is Lonesome Dove and his favorite sandwich is a turkey burger. He didn’t commit to trying Twitter on a full-time basis, but said he enjoyed the experience.

“This is an awesome way to connect with my fans,” Earnhardt said. “(I) appreciate the involvement.”

Once again, it seems that Earnhardt and the entire PR and Marketing arms of both Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports missed the point. It's not about Junior.

"NASCAR Needs Junior On Twitter" was a TDP column from July. Click the title to read the full content. Here is an excerpt:

There is little doubt that if and when the official Earnhardt Twitter account becomes active it will quickly top one million followers. The marketing power for Hendrick, JR Motorsports and NASCAR in general would be tremendous. In a time when sponsors are looking for exposure and the sport is looking for a spokesman, cranking Earnhardt's Twitter account up would make a lot of sense.

It took a little encouragement for some personalities to join Twitter. Perhaps, this might be the encouragement for Earnhardt. Simply by asking folks like Mark Martin, Darrell Waltrip or Kevin Harvick about their experiences Earnhardt would find out just how much a simple app on a cell phone can accomplish.

If there was ever a time for the most popular driver to get in the social media mix, it is now. Perhaps with a little encouragement, Earnhardt can sign-on and discover what many of his celebrity friends, teammates and fellow drivers already know. Twitter is the ultimate way to say thank you to the fans.

It seems ironic that with only days left in the season fans get to interact with Earnhardt on Twitter at 3PM Eastern Time on a Wednesday. As a Twitter search of the @NationalGuard account will prove, even in this limited amount of time conversations were had and questions answered that generated interest and helped to open the door to this elusive personality.

Twitter has proven to be an effective tool for high-profile personalities from NBA star LeBron James to tennis star Rafael Nadal. Earnhardt actively using Twitter would enable that content to be posted on websites that integrate NASCAR tweets through software called widgets.

In other words, websites around the world would be adding Earnhardt's Twitter content to the existing list of drivers from the sport who are already featured. In much the same way that Twitter allows hundred of NASCAR personalities, facilities and media organizations to interact with NASCAR fans the sport would now be able to feature its most popular personality.

James reaches 6.49 million users each time he tweets. Nadal sends each message to 3.35 million fans around the world. It certainly would be interesting to see if an active Earnhardt Twitter account would wind-up having more users than the upcoming Homestead Sprint Cup Series finale has TV viewers.

Anyway you slice it, 2013 is the year of NASCAR taking control of its own digital efforts. It certainly would be nice if the most popular driver played a key role.

We welcome your opinion on this topic. Comments may be moderated prior to posting.

Familiar Topic: A Sport Or A Show?

A common theme of the fan comments on the Chase for the Championship has been the caution flags displayed by NASCAR without an accident, rain or fluid on the track. Once again this season the debris caution is on the minds of the fans.

Since 2007 and the start of this blog, it has been a topic visited several times. The issue always comes back to one burning question. Is NASCAR ultimately a true sport or just a show for the fans and TV viewers? There are strong supporters on both sides of the topic.

The Chicagoland race was a rough one for me. Debris cautions that were never paid off by the TV team in terms of showing the offending item were just tough to take. One one side, NASCAR is clearly handcuffed this season in terms of the lack of racing action on many tracks.

Click here to read a TDP post from 2010 where multi-car Sprint Cup Series team owner Michael Waltrip talks about an idea he has for closing up the racing action on the tracks. His comments came after a late caution flag for debris in a race at MIS.

Here is an excerpt:

"I am a huge fan of a late caution. In basketball they just call it what it is. A TV time out. In football its the break in change of possessions. In baseball its either a walk to the mound or the end of an inning. Its sports. NASCAR needs to have those too."

"The last caution today was well thought out by NASCAR. Everyone had pitted and no one was adversely effected by the caution. The 100,000 plus fans that drove to MIS to be entertained I'm sure appreciated the late race reset."

"Crews had to make the right calls on pit road and drivers had to get up on the wheel to close the deal. What's wrong with that? Thank you for buying a ticket and gas and a hotel and etc.."

Waltrip's comments drive home the point that the racing dynamic is very different than most sports because of the inability to stop the action. Sports like tennis and baseball contain natural breaks in the action, while NFL football is built around a made-for-TV commercial format disguised as four quarters of action.

SB Nation NASCAR reporter Jeff Gluck addressed the issue in May and featured comments from NASCAR VP of Competition Robin Pemberton. He was responding to a controversy after a late race questionable caution thrown at Richmond that basically cost Tony Stewart a win.

Click here for the full SB Nation story. Here is an excerpt:

"Sometimes, some people are a little more needy than others and they want to see that for whatever reason," Pemberton told reporters attending a function at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "And whatever their thought process and beliefs with the governing body (are), they think they need proof.

"Sometimes you see (the debris) and sometimes you don't, and that's based on TV coverage, basically."

But Pemberton said he doesn't mind TV not showing the reason for debris caution because, "I don't have an issue with (the reason for the caution)."

He also said NASCAR does not keep the debris as evidence of why it called the caution.

"We don't inventory it, we don't tag it and put it a library anywhere or anything," he said. "It's just trash."

Ultimately, the man pictured above is responsible for the officiating in the sport. The calls of his staff shape the event when a caution is waved and fans start searching for the reason why.

Click here for a good read from Jeff Owens at The Sporting News on this topic. Here is an excerpt:

The problem is that it’s not fair to the competition on the track—namely the leader—and it looks bad, damaging the sport’s credibility. Throwing a phantom caution is like an umpire suddenly shrinking the strike zone to make a baseball game move along faster, or football referees ignoring pass interference to create more offense and make the game more exciting.

Manipulating the competition to produce a better show is crossing the line between sports and theatrics, making games a bit too much like professional wrestling (for which, ironically, Stewart once got into trouble for comparing NASCAR to).

But NASCAR can’t get itself into a position where its credibility is constantly questioned because of an overabundance of debris cautions. What it must figure out is why there has been a decline in close racing, leading to fewer natural cautions and taking away from the excitement of close competition. If it can solve that dilemma, there won’t be a need for questionable caution flags.

As the Sprint Cup Series heads to Phoenix, this issue will once again be in the spotlight. Stewart's issue at Richmond where a late caution was thrown seemingly to bunch the field up for the finish proved that it's not only the 1.5 mile tracks where this happens.

The sport is looking for some drama, more storylines and better competition this weekend. It should be interesting to see if the selective use of the caution flag becomes a tool to accomplish this goal.

We welcome your opinion on this topic. Comments may be moderated prior to posting.

The Spin Room

Update: The election is over, but the comments are still coming on NASCAR's new approach to controlling the content that is released in the media. Certainly been that way this week.

Originally published 11/5: It's that time of year. After a lot of money and a lot of talk, the race for President is about to be decided. Along the way, most Americans have been exposed to a whole lot of what the media calls "spin."

It is vitally important in today's political world to have a strong contingent of dedicated marketing professionals who only speak to designated points. What they address has been decided in advance and rarely reflects reality. That does not seem to be a problem.

The spin in the media at first is entertaining. It's fun to watch marketing types use catch phrases and talking points to try and influence opinion. Then, the backlash begins. Citizens without an agenda and with their own independent thoughts begin to bristle at being told what to think.

Now, with the Presidential election looming, a key issue is just how much damage the effort at spinning the truth has caused both candidates. Ultimately, each individual has their own perception of what reality is and a set of reasons for their own political views.

This year, we NASCAR fans have seen a shift to the same style of marketing from the sanctioning body. Instead of offering a realistic view of what is actually happening, the message being sent through a wide variety of media outlets is shaped and arranged in advance.

A key piece of this philosophy is to brand anyone who dares move off-message. Buzzwords like hater, complainer and the ultimate scarlet letter of being called anti-NASCAR are quickly thrown at anyone who steps out of line. From on-air personalities to amateur bloggers, anyone with media access is now under scrutiny.

NASCAR is actually constructing a "Fan and Media Engagement Center" in the Hall of Fame building that will continually scan the digital media world and work to influence conversations not in line with the talking points of the sanctioning body. Click here for the TDP post on that topic from July.

Anyone who doubts this can reflect on the published goals of NASCAR's Integrated Marketing Communications group. "The IMC will provide overall thought leadership in the communications space," said the sanctioning body's news release. Well, there is just one little problem.

In today's social media world NASCAR fans are free to voice their own views with the same level of exposure as media members, Sprint Cup Series drivers and even NASCAR executives. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook don't care who you are, they just post the content delivered by the user.

All of this has led to a very interesting dynamic that came to a head this Sunday during the race in Texas. The pre-race chatting on Twitter and Facebook quickly moved from cheering to downright surly once the race began. Following the postings to the #NASCAR hashtag on Twitter and the comments on NASCAR's Facebook page became an exercise in watching pent-up frustration boil over.

Some of the targets were familiar ones. Mysterious caution flags for debris where none was shown on TV. The dominance of Jimmie Johnson in a sport where cars are supposedly equal. The lack of passing when the cars were racing at speed. The frequency of TV commercials shown under green flag conditions and, of course, NASCAR's Chase playoff format.

What is perhaps important to keep in mind is that this is the time of the NASCAR season when the focus should be on the racing. Sunday, it was once again a race that looked a lot like practice. Single cars were spaced out and once in a great while, carefully passing each other. Pit stops and two-tire calls made for the only storylines until late in the event.

The problem is that none of this makes a dent in the marketing spin. What will be sent along through channels is the final lap mini-drama of two drivers actually racing. In a nutshell, that type of basic racing action is what NASCAR fans want to see throughout the race. It is what NASCAR and the tracks promote as being at the heart of the sport. This season, nothing could be further from the truth.

This week pay attention to what you hear on NASCAR's SiriusXM radio channel. Keep an eye on what topics are raised on SPEED's daily Race Hub show. Check Jayski's media links page and scan the headlines for the reality of what you saw on Sunday. It should be an interesting exercise.

Tackling issues head-on and getting public feedback was once said to be a priority. The NASCAR Fan Council was going to change the sport and opinions from the fan base were going to be the primary influence. It seems ironic that efforts this season are to control the message, spin the reality and slap a happy face on what so far is a sport desperately in need of fundamental change.

We welcome your opinion on this topic. Comments may be moderate prior to posting.