NASCAR died when Dale died.

They got too big for their britches, stars in their eyes, jets and money and big corporate PR crap, and forgot about their fan base while trying to be the country version of Indy and Formula 1.

At one of the first NASCAR races at Talladega I covered back in the late 1990s, the garages were still open and PR people weren't arrogant assholes. I was standing at one garage bay watching the guys work on Petty's car. King Richard walked up beside me, we chatted for a moment and shook hands, and he walked on into the bay. I didn't whip out my notebook or anything - we just had a nice, casual chat.

Another time, I saw Bill Jordan in the garage area. We chatted a moment. "C'mon, I'm going to the hauler to watch Dale qualify." I followed him and climbed on top of Earnhard's hauler with Bill and stood there with him, Richard Childress and 2-3 other people watching the 3 car. No PR lackies, no fences or KEEP OUT "Who are you?" crap. When he finished, I climbed down and went on my way.

Now? Maybe 10-15 minute media interviews and no substance to them. If you walk around a garage bay it's like you're a Commie spy. Corporate "friends" clogging up areas and all the pre-race falderol trying to hype it up along with concerts and crap. Meh. It's not racing and innovation anymore. It's entertainment, glitz and money.