The 2017 season is 2 weeks old and the dominant topic is ... engine sound?
Once again, a big talking point after the second race of the Cup Series season has nothing to do with what’s happening on the track.
In 2016, much of the discussion leaving Atlanta — where Jimmie Johnson won to clinch a spot in the Chase on the way to his record-tying seventh championship — was about Stewart-Haas Racing and the news of its impending move to Ford. This year, it’s about another potential change. This time to the sound of Cup Series engines.
According to a Monday report by Sports Business Journal, NASCAR has considered making the engines in the cars quieter. Unlike the SHR move, this isn’t concrete or has a potential implementation timeline. But some fans are sure unhappy.
Yes, one of the appeals of heading to a NASCAR race is the assault on the senses. No sport stimulates four of the five sensory functions more than auto racing. But let’s be real here. The cars have become too loud. Turning down the volume a bit isn’t a crazy idea.
It’s impossible to walk through the garage as teams are tuning engines for more than a few minutes without having ringing in your ears. While hearing protection is highly recommended — and at some tracks almost mandatory — to watch a race, imagine being exposed to that level of noise for weeks, months and years even with earplugs or good headphones.
Yeah, loud cars are cool, but this is easily about safety. There is a distinct difference between loud and dangerously loud. But that’s enough discussion of a possibility more hypothetical than practical at this point and back to the point we’re intending to make. NASCAR’s season of change is two weeks old and the changes NASCAR has actually made have taken a (temporary) backseat to the changes fans have seen implemented over the past two weeks.
Perhaps it’s partially NASCAR’s fault. It hasn’t commented publicly on the report and the sport’s had so many changes over the past 12 years with such regular frequency that it can be hard to blame observers for wondering just what’s next.
Or is the hysteria over engine sound because the stages implemented in races for 2017 aren’t creating even more compelling racing? It’s conceivable, even if it seems a bit crazy. The Daytona 500’s existence as a wreckfest and Atlanta’s as a race without a spin at all doesn’t have anything to do with the new format.
The stages were added — at least in part — to make every event more compelling on its own. And in our view they have. The stage format helped Brad Keselowski fight back for the win at Atlanta thanks to the ability for his team to easily adapt strategically and it’s why Kevin Harvick leads the points standings despite a best finish of ninth.
NASCAR’s new rules have some fascinating implications for the next 24 races as teams jockey for the best playoff seeding. Yet the possibilities of the 2017 season or anything that’s happened during it isn’t what’s lighting up phone lines and social media. That’s a problem.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
