As much as I love MotoGP, there's no denying that sound will lull you into nappy nap time. I usually have to watch it in two parts. The first part, then watch the last 5-7 laps again when I wake up. The sound is the perfect pitch to knock me out.
He's retiring because of the loud generators and lack of tire warmers. Unlike some people he can't go fast on cold tires.
This seems to be becoming a problem for NASCAR. Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, and now THE Jr. Hell, even reach back and add Mark Martin to the list of top-tier drivers who retired well before they were too damn old to be competitive. I would add Michael Waltrip to the list, but he never really was competitive except on the two tracks where you just hold it to the floor and hang on. Even Derrike Cope and Bobby Hillin, Jr could win on those tracks. (Who? you ask... Exactly! I reply) Looking at the stands for recent races, there are damn near as many empty seats as full ones. Can they get back to the boom days of the late 90s and early oughts? How? Especially with the biggest names leaving well before they begin to embarrass themselves (looking at you, DW).
NASCAR killed itself. Notice how they don't show the crowd anymore? It's because the lack of the crowd.
The entire breaking a race into segments and rewarding points based on this is stoopid. You could actually win a race and leave that weekend but lose position in the standings based on segment points. Sorry, but that's not racing. Don't get me started on the welfare corporate sponship dollars that have little to no ROI. But hey at least the CEOs and board members can get a company paid vacation at the expense of the shareholders and rub elbows with the other big wigs all under the guise of a business trip.
Thus the "genius" of Bruton Smith. He painted the seats many different colors so a fleeting TV view makes the empty seats look filled.
I watched regularly up until they started with the chase stuff... in my opinion, once they started messing with the points, chase, segments, ect... it became a joke. nascar didn't want racing, they wanted entertainment. well, they found out... their audience wanted racing, and it shows in the stands. have a few one off goofy points races that are for purse money (ie: all star events). leave the season title based on real points, and wins accumulated over the course of a long season. that IS racing. Ski