NASCAR just doesn’t get it when it comes to independently created content. In a move similar to the faceoff between Hasbro and the ever-popular Facebook application Scrabulous, NASCAR has shut down an iPhone application by Michael Stambaugh called iNASCAR.
If you didn’t have a chance to check out the app when it was still available, iNASCAR provided users with a plethora of information about upcoming NASCAR races in a well laid out form.
It included information such as the date, time, and TV network of upcoming races; pictures of tracks; and an upcoming race schedule. It even included facts about the racetrack, and you could also click on your favorite driver to get a bio.
So why I am I criticizing NASCAR? Because instead of embracing the iPhone app and trying to work something out, they sent Michael Stambaugh a cease and desist notice and made him pull the application.
Why? I’m guessing they either felt like they were losing visitors to their own website to get the same information, or they were extremely jealous of how well his app was created.
Okay sure, the app may have used some photos from their website, but what is it with organizations and companies when it comes to using information and data in a unique way? Why not throw some money to developers and “buy out” these apps, or find ways to incorporate them into their own advertising instead of being the bully on the information highway.
Let me tell you what this does for me as a NASCAR fan. It gives me a less-favorable view of the NASCAR organization as a whole, and it certainly does not make me want to visit their over-cluttered and unusable website to get the same information.
Instead, it has caused me to forget when upcoming races will be on TV and the network they are on, which in turn does not help NASCAR or its advertisers.
I understand the need to protect intellectual property, but do a google web or image search on NASCAR tracks or NASCAR-related information and you will find there are a whole lot more sinister sites out there than what the iNASCAR app was providing.
And just to make sure NASCAR does not think they can come and bully criticism, NASCAR is a registered trademark of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and the views expressed in this website are not affiliated, associated, or approved by NASCAR in any way.