Best Stocks: Why are NASCAR's ratings dropping?

So, why aren't you watching NASCAR? According to USA Today, NASCAR "solicited opinions from drivers and team owners in a 'town hall'-style meeting" earlier this week on why attendance and television ratings have dropped.

I know that I haven't watched NASCAR since Rusty Wallace made his last call and pulled off the track into the broadcasting booth. So, why am I not watching?

It is simple, I am now a tad busier (with a 4-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a newborn) on a daily basis, and I can't (and won't) carve out the time to spend a Sunday afternoon watching a NASCAR race. I'm not alone, as Fox has seen ratings drop 13% compared to a year ago.

So why has NASCAR nation contracted? One theory is that the poster boy for racing isn't doing that well. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has not won a race in a while and some believe that this is impacting NASCAR viewership. Fox Sports chairman David Hill noted, "I'm told by our research guys that if Dale won, more people would watch . . . I guess in a way because he hasn't, Elvis has left the building. I would love to see him win at Dover [this weekend's race]."

Want the funniest and, possibly, most absurd theory? Blame it on Digger. Digger is Fox's animated gopher who pops up in Fox's pre-race programming, and some believe that disdain for the gopher has hurt ratings -- seriously. Hill said that he received a recent email from a "high-ranking NASCAR official" blaming Digger for the poor ratings. Hill said the email claimed, "It was because of Digger that people were turning off in droves because they couldn't stand it . . . I said, 'I'm so sorry. If I'd known, I never would have created him. I didn't realize how insidious he was . . . It's the biggest crock of (stuff) I've ever heard."

Yes, some want to blame the drop in ratings on an animated gopher. I don't think that is the case, and I truly pray that was a joke.

In fact, Hill notes that the gopher (who was created during a rain delay a year ago) has sold $500,000-worth of items at its 53-foot merchandise trailer. This would rank Digger among the top 15 drivers in terms of sales. Does a gopher really impact whether or not you watch a NASCAR race?

One suggestion was to keep a consistent start time, beginning every race at 1 PM Eastern Time -- though this could cause some confusion on the West Coast.

Hill then turned philosophical, "Nothing goes up forever . . . Every sport has a correction. We've had the most unbelievable run with NASCAR. Because of that, and maybe quite rightly, people think it'll keep going. If it had gone down 50 to 60%, there's something wrong. But 13% is no time (for) alarm."

It isn't time to panic, honestly, as NASCAR Cup races continue to pull in more than the average network audience for the NBA postseason -- and I don't see NBA Commissioner David Stern blaming the problem on any animated gopher. Of course, the NBA doesn't use an animated gopher.