COMMENTARY: When It Comes To Marketing, Busch and Blaney Both Have Points

NASCAR rolled out its annual Preseason Media Tour in Charlotte, North Caroline last week, and it took Kyle Busch approximately 20 minutes to ignite the season’s first controversy.

Last Tuesday, Busch lambasted NASCAR for its marketing strategies, saying the sanctioning body is giving too much attention to young, unproven drivers, at the expense of established veterans like himself.

"It is bothersome,” said Busch of what he called a “stupid” marketing campaign. “We’ve paid our dues, and our sponsors have and everything else. All (NASCAR is) doing is advertising all these younger guys for fans to figure out and pick up on.

“I wouldn’t say (it’s) all that fair... but I don’t know. I’m not the marketing genius that’s behind this deal.”

Busch’s comments drew an immediate response from both the sanctioning body and his fellow drivers. Kurt Busch quickly jumped to his younger brother’s defense, saying young drivers are getting “a free pass” to stardom. Speaking on The Domenick Nati Show, Busch said, “…there is ‘zero’ in the win column for a guy like Chase Elliott, zero for Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones (and) all those guys.

Busch: Dont ignore established stars

“Larson’s out there; he’s young and he’s winning. They need to push him. I see him as a future champion. I think what Kyle (Busch) is saying is these guys have been given a free pass, so to speak, to become a superstar and we haven’t seen the success on track translate to what’s being shown to the world.”

NASCAR’s younger drivers were less supportive, with 24-year old Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney placing the blame directly back on Busch.

“If some drivers were more willing to do these things, they’d get asked more to do it,” he said “The reason why I get asked to do a lot is because I say ‘yes’ a lot; because I think it’s good for the sport and myself. I can tell you personally, (Busch) doesn’t like doing a lot of stuff, so they don’t ask him.

“That made me upset, how he bashed that part of it. But, to each his own. If he doesn’t want to do anything, so be it.”

Rookie contender Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., was more direct, calling Busch’s remarks “stupid. I love Kyle to death, but, dude, come on. He was in the same spot we are. He had some of the same treatment we went through.

Blaney: There's always more you can do

Like Blaney, the Richard Petty Motorsports driver accused veteran drivers like Busch of giving the cold-shoulder to appearances and promotions, saying “when certain drivers get to a certain level – and if I ever get to this level, you can pinch me and bring me back down – they stop doing stuff.”

In an exclusive interview with Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, NASCAR executive vice president and chief global sales and marketing officer Steve Phelps defended the sport’s current marketing efforts.

“It’s about our drivers, our crew chiefs and our crews and everyone that makes this sport go,” Phelps 

said. “Hall of Fame drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano… are such an important part of everything that we do. And they should be. 

"But we are also need to expose these young drivers, so our fans understand who they are. 

They’re authentic, they want to win on the race track and they’re fantastic drivers.

“It’s a mix of veterans and young guys.”

Phelps admitted, however, that drivers like Busch may have gotten the short end of the stick at the start of their careers, due to an abundance of older, more established stars at that time.

Wallace: "Dude, come on..."

The Busch brothers, Blaney and Wallace all have valid points. With established stars like Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Matt Kenseth all withdrawing from the sport in recent years, NASCAR has understandably begun to look for its next batch of superstars. Drivers like Larson, Blaney and Chase Elliott are clearly ready to fill that void, whether or not they have yet visited Victory Lane.

While popular, NASCAR’s new stars do not yet command the massive fan base enjoyed by frequent winners and former series champions like Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick, to name just a few. Kyle Busch is correct when he says that the sanctioning body cannot afford to ignore its established stars, in favor of the Young Bucks.

Blaney and Wallace are absolutely right, however, when they accuse some older drivers of doing less than they should to help promote the sport.

While running (and winning) multiple NASCAR Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series events each season, Kyle Busch seldom makes the customary Monday media appearances asked of those event winners. Instead, the former MENCS champion routinely passed those duties off to his NXS and NCWTS crew chiefs.

Veteran drivers may have more demands on their time than younger competitors, but it is hypocritical for Busch to complain about not being adequately promoted, while routinely declining promotional opportunities

Blaney has quickly established himself as a fan favorite, largely through hard work and extra effort. His “Glass Case of Emotion” podcast on NASCAR.com has developed a large following. He has made guest appearances appeared on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live,” lent his voice to “Cars 3” and will soon be featured on an episode of NBC’s “Taken.” He takes time to interact with fans, as evidenced by his impromptu Texas Motor Speedway “pizza party,” where he purchased and handed out pizza to fans attending a recent MENCS test session.

When’s the last time you saw an established star do that?

“I’ve been really fortunate to get a lot of great chances from NASCAR,” said Blaney. “And I’ve always been very open to do a lot of things they want. I think it is really important to have -- not only young drivers -- but all NASCAR drivers be pushing to get new demographics of the world… into the sport. I think everybody should be a little more open to helping the sport out.

“If I have to sacrifice time, it’s just time,” he added. “It really doesn’t mean much to me, personally. I’d rather do something meaningful to the sport than just sit on my couch because then I just don’t feel like doing anything.

“There’s always more you can do. You are never maxed out on your potential to make somebody’s day.”

With an aging fan base and a dwindling market share, Blaney’s approach makes perfect sense.