Category: my thoughts on

By David G. Firestone

With Talladega behind us, let’s discuss NASCAR TV ratings. Specifically The Cup Series. Talladega did a big number, it always does. But, sadly, ratings are down. Way down. Specifically, on USA. Why? Well, as many NASCAR fans are willing to agree on, NBC’s coverage sucks. It’s always sucked, and unless NBC is willing to make some wholesale changes, it’s always going to suck.

Turner’s coverage isn’t great, but it’s light years better than it was. Ditto for Amazon, especially for their pre-race shows. Seriously, who thought it was a good idea to have the segment explaining race strategy to a bar full of Temu Muppets? FOX is the best of all, and they understand it. NBC has been an anchor around NASCAR’s neck, going back to the NBCSN days. It’s not getting better.

So, what is NBC going to do? Probably nothing. NBC could spend the time and effort to actually make their coverage better. They probably won’t. NASCAR could force the issue with NBC, they probably won’t. Fans could lower their expectations, they probably won’t. Since nobody involved wants to actually listen to the fans and fix the issues, we will be in the same place we were when the TV deals were first announced.

When the fans are unhappy, TV ratings go down. When the fans are unhappy, ticket sales go down. When the fans are unhappy, merchandise sales go down. When the fans are unhappy, casual fans leave. When the fans are unhappy, profits go down. So, let’s try a new idea. Let’s try making the fans happy. Ask the fans why they are unhappy, and fix the problems. It works well in other areas, why not try this approach? It certainly hasn’t been tried yet.

Before the 2026 season, rumors were abound of a new playoff system. Many fans were hopeful it would lead to ends of the Chase, and stage racing. Sadly, the Chase was re-imagined not outright canceled, and stage racing still exists, despite fans almost universally hating the whole system.

In NASCAR’s attempts to fix what isn’t broken, and address the problems that never existed, it broke a lot, created even more problems, and lost tens of millions of fans and TV viewers. Way to go guys, way to go! If anything I was too optimistic! I seriously thought that they would at least try to address the issues. NASCAR didn’t. Look where we are all now as a result.

By David G. Firestone

So, somehow, I missed the announcement of the new media rights deal the NHRA signed. FOX Sports will still host the NHRA, but only up to the race before the US Nationals. From the US Nationals to the championship race, the CW will air races. Flo Racing will come on board as the new online streaming platform for the NHRA.

I agree with these moves. The move to The CW in the fall works for FOX Sports, as they are the broadcasters for the World Series, and one of the broadcasters for the NFL, and college football. Getting rid of the NHRA frees up FOX for their biggest sports contracts. Adding a broadcast only network like the CW also makes sense, since anyone can access the station, the NHRA numbers will go up.

Adding Flo Racing as their online streaming partner is also a smart move. The in-house NHRA service was awful, and Flo Racing is a better platform on all levels. I like this move on all levels. Better services mean better telecasts, and this will help television numbers.

Speaking of better services, I discussed the Formula E deal with ESPN+. It’s been confirmed that Formula E will be broadcasting on the ESPN app. Thank God! Thank you our heavenly father for this blessing! Formula E on the CBS Sports Network was unwatchable. The races were cut down to a one-hour pre-taped telecasts with zero thougt given to editing. The race would cut to commercials when announcers were in the middle of a word for fuck’s sake!

For Formula E fans in the US, this means we will finally be getting good coverage! The uncut races will be a welcome improvement over the CBS Sports Network disasters. I’m happy and I’m looking forward to these new deals!

Sources Cited:

https://www.nhra.com/news/2026/nhra-announces-new-media-rights-agreements-fox-sports-cw-network-and-flosports

By David G. Firestone

So, after last week’s column, I decided to examine a news story I overlooked, but it does kind of prove a point. Brad Keselowski is leaving Roush Fenway Keselowski as a driver, and an owner. While the legal details are still being worked out, both parties really haven’t said all that much.

I do think, however, that this move proves something I’ve been saying for a while. I think Roush Fenway Keselowski racing would be better without Jack Roush. Jack is the primary owner and decision maker. This has proven itself very problematic over the years. In 1990, Roush Racing was the top Ford program in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. By 1998, Roush was the second top program in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. In 2003 and 2004, they were back on top, with Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch respectively.

Since then, it’s all gone downhill. Roush has gone from one of the most powerful Ford teams to an afterthought. Team Penske has succeeded them as Ford’s number one team, and they may be either second or third, depending on how you see Front Row Motorsports. Who is to blame? Jack Roush is to blame.

Having lived in Chicago, I get that the reason sports teams are bad, the owners are to blame. Every bad decision comes from the owners. Every bad personnel decision comes from the owners. The team is bad because of the owner. Jack Roush has gone from gold standard to afterthought in the 36 years I have been a racing fan. Sure, they win races every now and again, but it i a shell of its former self.

Getting rid of Roush as an owner and manager would help. Many supervisors and owners don’t really realize that they are bad. Jack Roush is a perfect example. You get rid of him, and maybe there is some hope, but I really don’t see Roush changing his ways, despite the obvious evidence.

Granted Jack Roush will be in the hall of fame someday, but you can’t look at the last few decades and tell me that he is still championship caliber. I could also say the same things about Richard Childress Racing, but they have more race wins in the last few years.

In short, only way to fix Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing is without Jack Roush, however that happens.

By David G. Firestone

Over the years, I’ve discussed my feelings on the new companies that sponsor racing. Examples like DC Solar and Zloop Electronic Recycling are examples of racing being used to launder money, or other flat out fraud. I understand the idea of vetting sponsors, but for the most part, I’m against it. It hurts many small teams. Unless it’s clearly fraud, I hate the idea of vetting sponsors.

As the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals however, sometimes vetting is good.

During Friday Night Qualifying, the top drivers in the four professional categories will split $7,500 between them in the “inaugural “Top Dog” competition, presented by UsedHotDogs.com.” When I first heard of “UsedHotDogs.com” I sarcastically said that it’s a place to buy and sell half-eaten hot dogs. Well, to my shock and horror, that’s exactly what it is.

I’m not joking, UsedHotDogs.com buys and sells hot dogs from racing venues, sports venues, theme parks, and…celebrity hot dogs. Ok, the celebrity hot dogs are jokes, but the other three are very real. Apparently they’ve found people who are willing to buy and sell half-eaten hot dogs…how?

Seriously, who in their right mind would either buy or sell a half-eaten hot dog? How is this legal? Does the FDA know about this? How is this profitable, and where did they get $7,500 to sponsor the NHRA? I refuse to believe that they’ve sold $7.50 worth of used hot dogs, let alone $7,500. That’s just the NHRA. They have also advertised at a number of events in the St. Louis area.

Their website is also a piece of work. It looks like the best web design that a mid 2000’s custom MySpace page could generate, with quite a bit of AI images. Looking at the website, there is no shred of professionalism or integrity. This almost looks like a joke website, but they claim they are real.

This has to be a front for something. Again, I refuse to believe that they sell enough to cover the cost of the website, let alone the ability to advertise on the level that they do. It’s either a front for something and/or money laundering. How could it not be? This whole thing screams “SCAM!”

If sponsors like this keep permeating the sport, we will soon see more rules and more vetting. This is just as bad as Rich Energy, but Rich Energy actually does produce energy drinks. DC Solar and Zloop Electronic Recycling were frauds, but they were made to look like real businesses. This…holy hell! What more can I say?

Sources Cited:

https://www.nhra.com/news/2026/top-dog-competition-highlights-friday-night-qualifying-st-louis

https://usedhotdogs.com/index.html

By David G. Firestone

Being both a racing fan and a wrestling fan has given me an interesting look at how rivalry and tribalism play out in the course of tragedy. Tragedy can strike at any moment. When it strikes, the way the fans react is really telling. Sadly, both NASCAR and AEW have had tragedies this year. The way the fans reacted is telling.

When Kyle Busch died earlier this year, fans, crew members, drivers, and team owners came together to show support for Kyle and his family. Every race, at lap 8, the fans hold eight fingers in the air as a tribute. That tells you who racing fans are. We come together to support our favorite drivers, but we support the loved ones of a live tragically lost, and that makes me proud to be a racing fan.

Then, there are wrestling fans. There’s a saying that wrestling fans make it very hard to be a wresting fan. September 2026 has been a very difficult to be a wrestling fan. Two wrestlers, Andy Williams “The Butcher” and Benjamin Satterley, who was PAC in AEW and Neville in WWE passed away. Williams was 48, Satterley was 40. The tributes from their fellow wrestlers were touching and heartbreaking. Both were well liked and respected in the locker room and in the ring.

But wrestling fans can’t stop being wrestling fans.

The ugly fan tribalism that manifested on social media was disgusting. Using the tragic deaths of two beloved and respected wrestlers to promote your tribalism is disgusting, and those who did should be ashamed of themselves. Sadly I know that they aren’t. They are proud of themselves. I’m not going to show any of it here, because I’m not giving these assholes a platform.

As much as I enjoy wrestling, this kind of behavior makes it difficult to be a wrestling fan. Between fans showing up to wrestlers houses, stalking, threats of violence, and various other acts of selfishness, I can’t call myself a wrestling fan. I would be aligning myself with them.

To sum it up, after the tragedies of 2026, I’m proud to be a racing fan, I’m ashamed to even call myself a wrestling fan.

By David G. Firestone

So, I was going to talk about this sometime later. However circumstances made me accelerate this story. Yesterday, I went to the grocery store for food, as one does, and I noticed that the entire deli section was down. It was the result of an issue with internal systems. I wasn’t really in the market for cold cuts, so it didn’t affect me.

I had gone down a bit of a rabbit hole these last few weeks. Growing up, whenever our family had cold cuts, we ALWAYS went the deli section. I can never remember prepackaged cold cuts in out house, or if we had sandwiches made on a trip. My parents, even to this day, will ALWAYS get fresh cut cold cuts from the deli. To me, it really doesn’t make that much of a difference.

One other brand that my family never had growing was Oscar Mayer. If we had hot dogs, we always went with Vienna Beef or Best Kosher, we are in Chicago. I really didn’t eat hot dogs for almost 10 years, after some really awful turkey dogs made me sick. I also can’t remember us ever having Oscar Mayer in our house.

Apparently, I really missed out. During the 1970’s to the 2000’s, Oscar Mayer had a line of lunch meats that they were trying to market as “upscale.” To me, some of them, like Beef Cotto Salami, and New England Brand Sausage sound kind of good. But then there are the loaves. I’m not against meat in a loaf form, I do love me some meatloaf. Cold cuts with the name “loaf” just sounds awful to me. While there are some loaves still being made, most of the Oscar Mayer loaves just sound awful. These are some of the loaves that were marketed in that time:

-Bar-B-Q Loaf

-Ham and Cheese Loaf

-Honey Loaf

-Jellied Corned Beef Loaf

-Luxury Loaf

-Old Fashioned Loaf

-Olive Loaf

-Peppered Loaf

-Pickle & Pimiento Loaf

-Picnic Loaf

I will admit that Bar-B-Q Loaf, Luxury Loaf, Old Fashioned Loaf, Peppered Loaf, Picnic Loaf do kind of sound interesting, but Ham and Cheese Loaf, Olive Loaf, and Pickle & Pimiento Loaf sound kind of off-putting. Here are the descriptions that I was able to find on these loaves:

-Old Fashioned Loaf,Picnic Loaf,Peppered Loaf,Honey Loaf

-A blended cold cut made from a combination of finely minced meats (typically pork, chicken, and beef) and seasonings, pressed into a rectangular loaf shape easy for slicing and sandwich-making.

-Bar-B-Q Loaf

-A sweet and tangy cold cut featuring notes of brown sugar, honey, smoked paprika, and garlic. Looked similar to processed ham or square lunch meats with thin swirls of fat, but with hidden barbecue seasoning mixed directly into the meat rather than visible chunks.

-Luxury Loaf

-Made from a finely ground molded mix of pork, beef, and chicken. Modeled after the traditional German and Bavarian meatloaf known as leberkäse (liver cheese), though it was positioned as a deluxe lunchbox option in the US rather than a high-end gourmet item.

But the grosses sounding loaf? That honor goes to Jellied Corned Beef Loaf. First off, the name alone just sounds gross. I like corned beef, I recently had an amazing corned beef and pastrami sandwich at Mensch’s Deli in Evanston. I might be able to stomach a corned beef loaf, but a jellied corned beef loaf as a name is off putting.

But aside from the name, how did it look and taste? Well, this is the description from Google:

“Jellied Corned Beef Loaf-A deep-pink meat loaf speckled with spices and glistening bits of savory jelly. Designed to lock in the rich, fatty flavors of slow-cooked corned beef in a cold-set slice.”

Look, I love corned beef, but there hasn’t been enough money minted in the course of human history that would convince me to try it, let alone eat it on a regular basis. While there were other products in this line, no other product sounded as awful as Jellied Corned Beef Loaf. I would be willing to try any other Oscar Meyer loaf once, but I was so repulsed at Jellied Corned Beef Loaf, I would get sick at the sight.

So that was an interesting rabbit hole to go down, but hopefully, I’ll have some cold cuts next week.

Happy Labor Day!

Normal operations will resume next Friday.

By David G. Firestone

So the Freedom 250, full name Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington D.C is behind us, and I hope it is never in front of us to begin with. I knew this was going to be a bad race, but, even I couldn’t have predicted how bad it would be.

Let’s be honest, this was never about the racing. This was always about the ego of Trump. Of course Trump’s face and fingerprints were all over this race. True to form, Trump did not hold back. According to attendees, there were a total of seven, yes SEVEN military flyovers. Even the fucking SUPER BOWL only has one, this race had SEVEN! This resulted in Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport being shut down for over three hours.

Between that, the Beast on track, the VIP section filled with rich “fans,” and Trump waving the green flag, it was an event that could be described as a tacky race. Even the name, “Freedom 250” is a perfect representation of the tackiness that Trump creates. Grand Prix of Washington D.C would have worked just fine.

While the race was well attended, with an estimated 140,000 fans in attendance, they didn’t get a great race, or even a good race. The track and the racing were mediocre, and I’m being a little generous. The track layout was thrown together, and drivers had a harder time than normal.

Now, I was under the impression that this was a one and done, but there are some in IndyCar who feel that this might be coming back for 2027. Dear God, I hope not! I’m against politicians in racing, no matter what side of the aisle you are on. It alienates fans, and sponsors. But this utter disaster and tacky waste of money should never have happened, let alone happen again.

Sadly, this is Roger Penske’s IndyCar. When the $1,000,000 Thermal Challenge failed, it was rebranded and brought back. This was a PR nightmare for IndyCar so Trump could feed his massive ego at taxpayer expense yet again. There is a real fear that they could bring this back next year. Be afraid, be very afraid.

By David G. Firestone

So I was going to discuss this last week, but then the Formula E news broke, and I was happy. This week, I need to discuss my thoughts on this week’s IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix from Washington DC.

Originally, I wasn’t going to discuss this, but then I had a conversation at work, with people who follow the news but aren’t racing fans. The question they had for me was: Why IndyCar? I thought about it, and I realized, that there was only one answer: Who else could it have been?

To answer that question, we need to look at the man who willed this event into existence, President Donald Trump. Trump is very controversial, even by modern political standards. This is why it was going to be IndyCar, because most other major racing series have no desire to work with him, given his track record of controversy.

NASCAR has felt this before. Between the PR issues with his appearance at the 2020 and 2025 Daytona 500’s, and the PR disaster that was Let’s Go Brandon, NASCAR wants nothing to do with Trump. This, by default, also excludes ARCA and IMSA, as both are owned by NASCAR.

The only other major series that Trump could have gotten was Formula 1, but the war in Iran forced the cancellations of not one, but TWO F1 events in 2026, which have caused legal and financial issues. Even F1 doesn’t want to do business with Trump.

The rest of the possibilities include Formula E, which doesn’t get live covergage in the US. The NHRA, which wouldn’t work on a street setting, due to safety issues. Aside from that, there isn’t anyone else. So, since all other options have been depleted, IndyCar gets the DC race.

What makes this even worse for IndyCar is the fact that this will turn off some viewers. Since Indycar is getting better numbers with the FOX deal, this is another problem. Fans of racing stopped watching because of how the various series were being run over the years. Is it really a stretch that a controversial politician involved in a race will turn people off? Ask NASCAR, they certainly know!

Also, is it really hard for IndyCar to have a season without a race that causes issues? I praised IndyCar for getting rid of The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix, which added nothing and subtracted a lot. But adding the The IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix is much worse, given the issues I’ve discussed.

I won’t be watching live, I’ll be watching the Dollar Tree 301 from New Hampshire, and I’ll watch the Freedom 250 on the DVR. I hope nothing goes wrong, but I’m a realist, not an optimist.