It's Thanksgiving, traditionally a time to give thanks for all of the good things we have been blessed with.
Leave it to me (or to my assigning editor) to be a buzzkill.
Certainly, racing fans have much to be thankful for in 2014. Kevin Harvick (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series), Will Power (Verizon IndyCar Series) and Lewis Hamilton (Formula One) are worthy and popular champions in their respective fields, and Erica Enders-Stevens made history by becoming the first female driver to win an NHRA Pro Stock championship.
But NASCAR fans are still arguing about the latest changes to the Chase format. IndyCar is just plain looking for its fans.
Formula One has left its fan base confounded and confused by overcomplicated cars. And drag racing is working hard to add complexity to its simple, age-old formula.
So let's celebrate the spectacular driving and technical achievement that fueled auto racing in 2014.
But let's also be cognizant that there are signs of potentially difficult times ahead for almost every form of motorsports.
Here's a breakdown of three key issues that NASCAR, IndyCar, F1 and the NHRA must resolve:
NASCAR
• Chase grumbling: NASCAR changed the Chase again, and emerged with a deserving champion in Harvick reflective of the season as a whole. But there was plenty of dissent among the fan base, especially when favorites like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski were eliminated from championship contention prior to the Homestead finale. Changes to the new-for-2014 elimination format are not expected in 2015, but you can be sure NASCAR will be looking for ways to close up any loopholes that might allow a controversial champion to slip through a system that was designed to promote winning.
• New cars, no testing: The Car of Tomorrow is a distant memory, the Gen 6 car has been well-received by drivers and fans and the tweaks made in 2014 resulted in some of the best stock car racing in the past decade. Yet major changes are being implemented for 2015, including a 15 percent reduction in horsepower (roughly 850 to 725), a shorter rear spoiler and a driver-adjustable track bar. The changes normally wouldn't be a problem, but NASCAR has also banned all private testing, subject to the harshest P6-tier penalty. Only NASCAR or Goodyear tests are permissible. The altered driving characteristics of the new cars, combined with the lack of testing, could significantly shake up the order from this year. Who will benefit -- or suffer -- the most from the rule changes?
• Are 43 cars still necessary or realistic? The furor over start-and-park entries subsided somewhat in 2014, but there's no question that NASCAR still struggles to put together a full 43-car field these days. The series that will be known going forward as Xfinity went to a 40-car field in 2012, and the Camping World Truck Series is making an additional cut from 36 to 32 starters in 2015. NASCAR's standard 43-car field size, established in 1998, is not a hallowed tradition like 33 in the Indianapolis 500. It may be time for a reduction.
IndyCar
• The schedule: If there's one thing that almost anyone with any kind of interest in Indy car racing can agree on, it's that ending the season in August is not ideal. But some big-city consultants told Verizon IndyCar Series boss Mark Miles that trying to compete with football in the fall hurts television ratings, so that's the direction the series is taking. Within a couple of years, Miles hopes to move the start of its campaign up to February to shorten the offseason, but that still leaves the IndyCar Series on the sidelines for three months in the fall while their real competition -- NASCAR and Formula One -- dominates the attention of racing fans. IndyCar is having a hard time finding tracks that can both fit its timeline and meet its asking price, and it looks like a rethink of the series' basic business model -- especially for oval venues -- is becoming a vital necessity.
• Introduction of aero: IndyCar is taking another small step away from full spec-car racing by allowing its engine manufacturers to essentially create a whole new aerodynamic package for the carryover Dallara IR-12 center section. Chevrolet and Honda, which supply Indy car racing's real economic horsepower behind the scenes, have put massive effort into their body kits; early spy photos suggest that aero tricks used in Formula One and Le Mans-style sports car racing will make their way to Indy cars, but series rules require Honda and Chevy to subsidize the program and sell the pieces for no more than $75,000 per car. This major step in aero, combined with progressive engine development, is expected to create substantially quicker lap times. But will it really increase fan interest and justify the expensive manufacturer development programs?
• How to raise interest level? Open-wheel unification in 2008 should have been a catalyst for growth for the IndyCar Series. It was typical of Indy car racing's bad karma that that end of the split came precisely when the economy tanked and the Hulman-George family was unable to continue the kind of spending that sustained the series in the late 1990s and well past the turn of the century. Sponsorship is still hard to come by, and Verizon's entitlement of the series should be more visible and active in its second year. But the IndyCar Series lags far behind NASCAR in terms of marketing and public awareness of the sport and its stars. IndyCar's struggle to draw television numbers is particularly troubling, especially when tape-delayed TUDOR SportsCar Championship races going up against NFL broadcasts are drawing better ratings than IndyCar's live, late-afternoon races in the spring and summer.
Formula One
• The cash crunch: America got a glimpse of Formula One's seamy underside when the Caterham and Marussia teams failed to answer the bell for the United States Grand Prix in Austin. With two teams already casualties, the next strata of F1's rich-usually-get-richer society (Lotus, Sauber and Force India) threatened to strike unless it got a bigger piece of the largesse at the top of the food chain. No need to panic, claims embattled 84-year-old F1 impresario Bernie Ecclestone. But Ecclestone, who has directly or indirectly ruled F1 for nearly 40 years, looks increasingly out of touch, and these days he must answer to investors at CVC Capital Partners first, anyway. More worryingly, there is no logical successor in place for the man who almost single-handedly put F1 in the still enviable place in the worldwide sporting marketplace that it occupies today.
• Too much technology? Ecclestone is one of many who does not care for the muted sound of F1's new gizmo-laden turbocharged V-6 engines. The new-for-2014 F1 cars, which utilize a variety of energy recovery systems in an attempt to make the series appear tech-savvy and eco-friendly, are outrageously expensive and haven't connected with fans, who prefer the shriek of good old-fashioned V-8s tuned for horsepower instead of fuel economy. Throw in tires that are designed to wear out in a hurry and adjustable wings to create artificial passing, and it's no wonder many fans are calling for the kind of simpler cars that would also help teams with their budget problems.
• Mercedes domination: The Mercedes-Benz engine, along with all of the other external energy recovery systems that accompany it, performed far better than rivals Renault and Ferrari all season. The Mercedes-Benz team also produced the best chassis, which, when equipped with two of the sport's best drivers, produced nearly total domination. With Mercedes still holding a huge engine advantage at season's end, how fast can Ferrari and Renault make gains? Perhaps equally important, how will Honda fare on its return to the sport, teamed with McLaren, after nearly a decade's absence?
NHRA
• Keeping kids into cars: If the biggest problem that auto racing as a whole faces is a diminishing interest in cars among younger generations, the NHRA is likely to be hardest hit. No other form of racing fosters such a close relationship between person and machine, a long and glorious history of hands-on tuning and engineering in a quest for horsepower, traction and speed. Modern cars are not shade-tree mechanic friendly, with even basic tasks like oil and spark plug changes best left to the experts. As that basic connection between people and their cars continues to dissipate, will the most basic form of racing be the most vulnerable?
• Money troubles? He had more than a year to prepare for it, but the double-whammy of losing his longtime sponsor Castrol and his manufacturer affiliation with Ford was still a shock to NHRA legend John Force. Still competitive at age 65, Force doesn't show any sign of quitting, and pledged to dip into his savings to keep his four-car John Force Racing stable operational. Force did land a one-year deal from Peak Antifreeze for his 2015 program and most of his other sponsors remain, including Auto Club of Southern California and Traxxas. But when a master salesman like John Force struggles to find sponsorship, how hard must it be for his rivals?
• Is there a next generation of stars? If an aging fan base is a problem for the NHRA, there's also a shortage of next-generation stars coming up through the driving ranks. Senior citizen Force is the extreme example, but many of the NHRA's top-line stars like Tony Schumacher and Jason Line are well into their 40s. Interestingly, three of the NHRA's top young stars are female: the Force sisters (Courtney, 26 and Brittany, 28) in nitro classes and Pro Stock champion Erica Enders-Stevens, 31. The one thing missing is a phenom in his/her late teens or early 20s.