I’m not a “gear-head.” I wasn’t born with a wrench in my hand. I do not change my own oil in my car. I do not become giddy when someone pops open their hood and shows off their 1,000 hemi, quadruple turbo engine.

For awhile though, I was a NASCAR fan.

NASCAR had me at vroom vroom. I joined a fantasy NASCAR league, proudly taking last every year. Matt Kenseth became “my guy.” Not because I am a Ford guy or because I appreciated the way he drove aggressively. Kenseth was from Wisconsin, and so was I.

I cannot tell you why the track changes when the shadows creep in. I still have no idea what a wedge adjustment does; I have only asked 100 different people to explain it to me. I understand drafting, so much so it has affected the way I drive my car. I was hooked.

For several years a group of friends and I would road trip down to Talladega, Alabama and camp out for the race weekend in April. We made friends, talked smack to people that knew way more than I did about cars, and ate and drank all weekend long. We sat on lawn chairs on the straight-a-way between turns 2 and 3, and listened to scanners to hear about the other 80% of the race that we couldn’t see.

It was a highlight of my year for many years.

That traditional trip was replaced with watching the race on television at a corner bar, which turned into not even a mention the race was on. I found other things to watch and do with my time.

Jimmie Johnson won his 4th straight championship, and I didn’t watch a single race this year. Johnson has become the next one man dynasty in sports. Unlike Woods, Federer, Armstrong, or Phelps, Johnson is an unknown to the average sports fan.

NASCAR has lost its identity. As much as NASCAR executives would like to believe Jimmie Johnson can carry the sport, Johnson is not Dale Jr. The face of NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has become the butt of jokes.

So NASCAR executives have some over-hauling to do, and I’m not talking about the cars. With ABC/ESPN stuck with a struggling product, it’s important that NASCAR uses this off-season to tinker with the way NASCAR is displayed.

NASCAR has lost the average fan, i.e. me. Jimmie Johnson cannot carry the sport, and race teams are being forced to either merge with another team, or cut back considerably. Advertisers are going up in smoke like a blown engine, as well as the number of cars that line up each weekend for the race.

Whether fans lost interest due to Johnson’s dominance, or simply because they lost interest in the product, fact is NASCAR is not what it once was. It’s biggest name has been dead for 7 years, the champion hasn’t changed in 4 years, and the playoff system they implemented to grow the sports has only delayed the inevitable.

The lack of advertisers, the increasing budgets for race teams to remain competitive, and the sub-par product on the racetrack has put the brakes on NASCAR.

Danica Patrick is being touted as the newest marketing ploy by NASCAR. Unfortunately, I don’t believe sex appeal is going to rev up fan interest.