nascar alienating fans

Wells King is the research director at American Compass. The American Ideas Institute is a nonprofit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington, D.C. 2022 The American Conservative, a publication of The American Ideas Institute. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. WebRibbs noted NASCARs struggles with television ratings and attracting a broader audience. NASCAR seems less concerned about a reckoning. These personality differences were reflected in their driving. Maybe NASCAR was in a death spiral anyway and this just accelerated it. Wells King is research director of American Compass. Four days later, Kamara was at his very first race. Most of the true Nascar fans are the blue collar types who have been affected most by the economy. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Which probably means more hits to traditional markets. But in taking a hard line against the Lets Go Brandon phenomenon, NASCAR finds itself in the uniquely tricky position of trying to grow its brand by defying a die-hard, red-state fanbase with more pronounced political characteristics than its counterparts. He pointed out that the two races in Southern California haven't sold out and captured the market. Johannes Vermeer's treatment of love distinguished him from his peers. This led NASCAR to confirm this particular change for the Next Gen car. But NASCAR made a deliberate choice to discourage these types of sponsorships. While it remains to be seen if fans will actually quit watching the sport over a number placement change, one thing is for sure: the new number placement is real and will be effective regardless of opinion. Formula 1 fans will be treated to helmet camera views from all 20 drivers at some stage during this season, as well as multiple new graphic options. In 2003, Matt Kenseth won the championship despite having only won one race, while another driver, Ryan Newman, had won eight races. Right up there with golf and tennis. Found the internet! Now all manufacturers were subject to a single, exacting set of templates; the main differentiation was in the cars faade. NASCARs first move was on sponsorships. These were cookie-cutter tracks, all one and a half miles long, with luxury boxes and suites like youd see in an NFL stadium. 3/5 - 10:00 AM EST. None of the stereotypes Kamara had come to believe about NASCAR has proven true. But in 2005, it lost one of its races and was poised to lose the other. NASCARs attempt to tamp down an anti-Biden catchphrase reflects the sharpest divides in American culture. The concern is real, especially with NASCAR officials on record as saying they see the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest as underserved. Given NASCARs history it was, and remains, an astonishing scene. Fan reaction was predictable. Kamara, who is Black, was at Daytona, this time as someone with a car on the track. Long gone was the run what you brung ethic of early stock car racing. The people that gravitate towards NASCAR really enjoy sports, speed, and the unpredictable thrills that our races offer. Next came woman driver Danica Patrick, who never won a race but graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and was consistently spotlighted in NASCAR coverage. "Let's go, Brandon" became the If they take much more, we're not going to have nothing.". SUBSCRIBE NOW. NASCAR is stupid. They abhor the Nextel Cup arrival of foreign carmaker Toyota. The first was safety. Even during NASCARs prime, fans could go during the week and buy the car seen in Victory Lane that weekend. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. If you were TV, what would you want to do?". Latest Viewership Setback Paints Gloomy Picture for NASCAR as Recent Deals Threaten to Alienate Fans For Good. WebWhile its hard to imagine that NASCAR will be able to do that without alienating some of its existing fans and personnel, the sports leadership, its drivers and a new wave of young "As you can hear, the chants from the crowd 'Let's go, Brandon!'" However, it's not a very nice term to use any more, I don't think, because it's been stereotyped in such a bad way.". They had been dispossessed. One illustrative flash point occurred in February. Name one sport or business that has ever GAINED customers, fans, etc by going Woke and cowtowing to the Liberal mob. NASCAR introduced a new technological contraption to enforce standardization: a laser inspection system dubbed the Claw that fit over the new cars and regulated the chassis down to the thousandths of an inch. Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, NASCAR (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images). But little else remains. Dubbed the King, Richard Petty was the quintessential carburetor cowboy. Thats not how the Lib mob plays never has been never will be. But the car rated highly on all the metrics that the suits cared about. But longtime fans embraced NASCAR before NASCAR was cool. Especially Brandon. The culture war hit NASCAR most dramatically with the rise of Bubba Wallace, an African-American driver, who in June 2020 debuted a Black Lives Matter car with Compassion, Love, and Understanding on the hood. Somewhere, some fans were certainly grumbling, probably in the South. When 23XI Racing announced on Friday that they had signed current Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kurt Busch to drive the #45 Toyota for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, they also revealed that the car numbers will move from the door toward the front. As with any policy change, The Chase came with unintended consequences. So while the suits could cite indicators of increased competitionlead changes, laps led, and race-winning driversfans could see for themselves a different approach to driving. Pitbull was all over Daytona ahead of the Daytona 500, posing for fans and celebrating with Suarez. New graphics, helmet cams among F1 broadcast updates. Webtried to watch Busch Light Clash - couldn't get through pre-race circus old clip still relevant CLAY TRAVIS: NASCAR ALIENATING ITS OWN FAN BASE BY GOING WOKE NASCAR ALIENATING ITS OWN FAN BASE BY GOING WOKE . Working class institutions were taken over by suits and technocrats motivated by self-interest and the desire to appeal to the mainstream as opposed to their core constituency. No one ever had anything nega, A 37-year-old Buffalo firefighter died while fighting a four-alarm blaze on Main Street downtown that may have been sparked by work being done, A vandal smashed numerous statues overnight at a park honoring veterans and first responders in front ofRussell's Steaks, Chops & More, 6, While Amherst police were on the scene, a number of fights started among groups within the crowd in the mall lot on Alberta and in the Wegmans, "The questions, concerns and issues raised in The Buffalo News' reporting concerning Forest Lawn depict a nonprofit that has serious problems . This article appears in the May/June 2022 issue. Theres a common expression among such fans, to Raise Hell, Praise Dale. One hopes they put the former into practice. With just seven laps to go and Earnhardt in the lead, Elliott made a move inside, his #9 Coors car bumping Earnhardts #3 Wrangler off course and into the infield grasssurely spelling the end of his chances. Actually not very good, and quite self-serving. To Gossage, the increased attendance, revenue and TV ratings that come from expansion are signs of success. unlikely controversy over the joke currency, the experience had hurt his ability to attract sponsors, its existing fans to stop flying the Confederate flag at events. We didnt have money to buy groceries. He raced as an amateur, working on his cars in the garage in his mothers back yard. Cars were sponsored by consumer brands popular with the white working class: Wrangler jeans, Goodwrench, Budweiser. I think its a really bad decision.. In fact, the very incident that earned him his lasting nickname, The Intimidator, alienated as much as it endeared. Indigestion over politics has always been a feature of the sports world, with recent, high-profile examples like the NFLs national anthem protests or the NBAs ongoing China controversy. 3.) Advertisement Maybe the restructuring forced by the pandemic could win it back. Your favorite teams, topics, and players all on your favorite mobile devices. Statistics for NASCAR indicate that 63% are male, 20% are minorities and 47% are between the ages of Races to long with little ability to pass. I hope they dont take Martinsville. That would be nothing. Our whole navigation is, you want to appeal to everybody, because, all in all, everybody is a consumer, Brown said in his mid-December interview with the Times. Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina had held two races per year for nearly forty years. The scene would have been totally inscrutable to Wallaces gubernatorial counterpart of the same name; after the race, the driver told media confidently that this sport is changing.. A few attended the recent DirecTV 500 in Martinsville, Va. About 70,000 fans crowded into the half-mile oval, sitting on throwback aluminum benches. This having apparently not made enough of an impact, NASCAR turned the request into an imperative during the summer of 2020, amid protests over the death of George Floyd and an explicit call to do so from Bubba Wallace, the sports lone Black driver at the national level. "I'm proud of that. Ralph Earnhardts success was limited to the dirt track races of the Carolinas. The sport wasn't nationally televised until the 1979 Daytona 500. You knew there were major problems in NASCAR when after being presented with obvious evidence the noose in his garage was a door pull, Bubba Wallace refused to pull back on his paranoia filled comments. Teams whose car failed the Claw inspection were slapped with $100,000 fines and multi-race suspensions. NASCAR has now aligned its core values with the corporate culture of one of its top stakeholders. As part of its 75th Diamond Anniversary season, NASCAR has launched NASCAR Fan Rewards, a free program that rewards fans for simply engaging with the sport they love. Their leadership is failing them; making the sport unwatchable. It is no coincidence these NASCAR newcomers followed the banning of the Confederate flag. Unwilling to save itself by offshoring, Pillowtex filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and caused the largest layoffs in the history of the state of North Carolina. As for Brown himself, although he wont be able to drape his Brandonbilt Motorsports chariot in Lets Go Brandon Coin livery, its creators are still planning to fund the operation. NASCAR has made many changes in recent years in an effort to remove itself from past stereotypes. Points from the final ten races determined the seasons champion. NASCAR president Steve Phelps has an ingenious solution to This article was gathered automatically by our news bot. Toyota, for example, competes at every level of NASCAR and has long championed its diversity and inclusion programs alongside a respect for people company pillar. Kamara saw Wallace, NASCARs only Black fulltime driver, race with a Black Lives Matter paint scheme and wear a shirt that read, I Cant Breathe.. Keep reading with unlimited digital access. Otherwise the war on NASCARs fan base will only continue. Additionally, other forms of motorsport such as IndyCar and Formula 1have even smaller number placements, considering the body style of their cars. "You have to look at it from the standpoint of sponsors and TV. In 2003, as NASCAR contemplated the rule changes, it hosted a public poll to solicit fan input and buy-in. Atlanta isn't the traditional "southern" atmosphere it used to be. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Become a member and enjoy the very best from The American Conservative in print & digital. When the New York Times announced the crash on its front page the next day, though, the headline didnt refer to him by name. A 9 foot, 900 lb. Enter Lets Go Brandon Coin, which offered Brown a sort of Faustian bargain by way of an all-important sponsorship: to overcome the danger the controversy had created for him he would have to forgive the phrase steer into it. The main drag is Dale Earnhardt Blvd. WebThe invisible sponsorship, the lingering resentment of fans toward the flag ban and even the concealment of the vulgar original chant itself all reflect the fracturing of the public square This July, NASCAR comes back to the Windy City for the inaugural Chicago Street Race on Sunday, July 2 (5:30 p.m. Web17 votes, 351 comments. Helton said NASCAR remains true to its roots even as it holds races in Chicago, Texas and Southern California. International Speedway Corp. official John Saunders said on a conference call that the throwback short track in rural Virginia will have two races next year and probably beyond, the Greensboro News & Record reported. Some of the things that NASCAR fans gripe about range from drivers, to teams, to rules, to tracks, to rain delays and the list goes on and on. We're proud of that, and we have no desire to leave that behind.". But when it failed to sell out its races, the track was bought up by International Speedway Corporation (ISC), a big conglomerate, and its fate was sealed. Web1.) But The Chase restructured points into a faux-playoff gimmick. Gary Nelson, then managing director of competition, was tasked with running the center and implementing new safety rules. A race fan is a race fan. "If we had stayed in the South, we would have still been a small player," Petty said. The decline and fall of NASCAR represents the pattern of dispossession that characterizes this class war. The two biggest series used to be the Winston Cup and the Busch Cupcigarettes and beer. Gossage said. Jeff Leech looked like the lifelong NASCAR fan he is, wearing a red No. 3-5, 2023. ", "He had his whole future in front of him, an exemplary firefighter and employee, just a great all-around person. For small towns like North Wilkesboro and Rockingham, having a track was a draw that brought in revenue from tourism and hospitality. New users can lock in this offer NOW by clicking this link. Last nights hit with @IngrahamAngle on NASCAR & the NFL. Derek Robertson is a contributing editor to POLITICO Magazine. NASCAR has been on the downward hill for some time now and the way to get everybody back I think is by having great, entertaining races and incredible stars to build around, Travis said. When they allowed a car with BLM painted on the side to run in their races, I shut off the TV. An open face helmet and a lap belt seemed to be safe enough. Something dear had been taken from them. Start and finish are the only parts worth watching. Cup veteran Jeff Burton likened the difference to his high school and his father's high school. | POLITICO Illustration/Getty Images. Skip to navigation. Wishing Chase Elliott a speedy recovery & successful surgery. That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!. Which would be fine if there were more consensus around what that world actually looks like: The Lets Go Brandon dilemma would be one of occasionally expelling a gaggle of inebriated yahoos from the racetrack, if said yahoos werent primed by cable news, social media, and politicians themselves to believe that it was actually proof of a society-wide conspiracy to eliminate political dissent. The points system meant that the seasons champion could be a foregone conclusion long before the final race. Correct F1 and MOTOGP thats racing nascar going around in circles good napping material. "Let's go, Brandon" became the insult of the moment for the president in early October, after Brown appeared on a NBC broadcast moments after securing his first major victory. "I have zero desire to be involved in politics.". Earlier Friday, drivers Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed stopped by the merchandise One had newer desks, a bigger gym and a science lab. WebThis year, fans get to pick from jackets, hats, koozies, baby bibs, key chains and so much more. But one last-minute 2021 development tested even the savviest (or most resigned) observer: The launch of Lets Go Brandon Coin, a meme coin for cryptocurrency enthusiasts who happen to have an affinity for the anti-Biden catchphrase (as well as patriotism and love for Flag of United States, according to its garbled Twitter bio). These modernizing forces accelerated after Earnhardts death, and partly because of it. NASCAR is actively looking to draw in more fans, but at the expense of its die-hard fan base, says OutKicks Clay Travis. One who consumes Pabst Blue Ribbon while watching aforementioned "sport". The previous points system, the product of decades of trial and error, had been in place for 35 years. Viewership for the Daytona 500 fell 34% percent from last year, and Sundays road course race was on one hand the most-watched sports event of the weekend and NASCARs most-watched road course race since 2014. There aren't as many fans between 18-35. On Campus; SBJ Atlas; SportTechie; The Esports Observer Humpy Wheeler, a legendary race promoter and track owner in the Carolinas, summed up Dales appeal: Earnhardt is the resurrected Confederate soldier. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER. To be sure, there are numerous examples of such less-than-earnest gestures. WebDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Mar. NASCAR, or the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, is a privately-owned American auto racing company based in Daytona Beach, Florida. Its season ended in the fall and had to compete with October baseball and the NFL, and it didnt have a playoff or postseason. Wishing Chase Elliott a speedy recovery & successful surgery. This year, fans get to pick from jackets, hats, koozies, baby bibs, key chains and so much more. WebOf course, that doesn't mean complaints have stopped. Look, NASCAR died with Davey Allison If you have to google that name, youre part of the reason NASCAR is no longer relevant. The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Pennzoil 400, the third race of the 2023 season and the second leg of its West Coast swing. This year, fans get to pick from jackets, hats, koozies, baby bibs, key chains and so much more. Over 17 million watched as his #3 car made light contact with Sterling Marlin, collided with Ken Schrader as he tried to regain control, and smashed into a wall at 160 miles per hour on the final turn of the final lap. This is not what I thought it was. Nostalgia reigns in towns like Kannapolis, perhaps because it has to. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. Bahrain Grand Prix. Such a stupid business plan. For some NASCAR fans, this marked a betrayal by the sport they loved. He just published his latest book "Haul A** and Turn Left: The Wit and Wisdom of NASCAR.". Ill wait. The 2021 installment, won by Michael McDowell, drew a 2.8 rating and 4.83 million viewers, the lowest rated and least-watched Daytona 500 of all-time. said that Biden was unmoved by the chant. By increasing the reward for winning, it increased the penalty for not winning or for failing to finish. The moment entered NASCAR lore as the Pass in the Grassthough it wasnt technically a pass. He has cited a recent brand tracking study that found 1,750 self-identified avid NASCAR fans overwhelmingly supported the sanctioning bodys stance on social justice in 2020. Richard Petty, NASCAR's all-time leading winner (200 Cup victories) and a North Carolina native, accepts the changes as progress. NASCAR driver goes from first to last in the playoffs, had been rumored for 2022 for several weeks, NASCAR: Chase Elliott out indefinitely, more details revealed, NASCAR: 5 drivers who could fall out of the playoffs, NASCAR: Best sportsbook promo codes for the Pennzoil 400, NASCAR: 3 drivers who should already start to panic, NASCAR driver loses full-time ride, then gets it back, NASCAR: Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, and 'wasting playoff spots', Ed Orgeron to UCLA Fan: 'Bring Your Ass On In Your Little Sissy Blue Shirt', NASCAR: Tony Stewart reveals one of his biggest regrets. Associated Press Instead, it called him Stock Car Star. Editors did not think it was safe to assume readers would recognize the sports most beloved hero. This July, NASCAR comes back to the Windy City for the inaugural Chicago Street Race on Sunday, July 2 (5:30 p.m. Petty was friendly with the media and became a broadcaster himself in retirement. NASCAR alienated it's core fan-base in favor of some fancy johnny-come-lately's and has paid the price. The Chase is nothing more than a cheap gimmick. Michael Jordan made his debut at Daytona as co-owner of one of three new NASCAR teams. NFL running back Alvin Kamara heard about the flag ban, heard about Bubba Wallace standing up for racial equality and tuned in that same night to watch a rare midweek race. The Cuban-American entertainer wants Trackhouse, along with Mexican driver Daniel Suarez, to establish itself as a NASCAR team with a message of global unity. Except sometimes ladies tennis, but I digress. And Im sure F1s ownership group, Liberty Media, thinks the same way. WebNASCAR's Cup Series event on Sunday evening featured a pretty big crash. George Wallaces 1972 Democratic primary campaign in Florida. 2.) The Winston Cup became the Nextel Cup. Skip to main content. "Unfortunately, some of the people in some of the areas have lost the opportunity to see as many races as they had. Travis appeared on FOX News The Ingraham Angle Monday to discuss why NASCAR is failing at gaining new viewers. The earliest drivers bought cars off the lot and souped them up. Then the company that owned the biggest mill, Pillowtex, started feeling competitive pressure from Mexico. But it was quickly complicated, and recycled into yet another piece of culture-war fodder: An FBI investigation found that the noose in Wallaces garage was, in fact, a pull-down rope tied into a circular handle that had been there long before the garage was assigned to Wallace, and that the driver was therefore, conclusively, not the victim of a hate crime. "It was definitely much more southern, the Rebel flag and everything," said Pitts, who agrees with NASCAR's growth philosophy. she said. WebEven during NASCARs prime, fans could go during the week and buy the car seen in Victory Lane that weekend. ET, NBC, MRN, For those not up to speed with either right-wing slang or the frequently-incomprehensible world of digital stonks, it was easy lets be honest, desirable to roll ones eyes and keep scrolling. You know there are multicultural motorsports fans in this country, but a lot of them havent felt comfortable or welcome in the NASCAR space. BLM is a Marxist organization, no thank you. They are suspicious of NASCAR's diversity program. NASCAR officials continually refined and revised the format and the point values. "I hope they don't take Martinsville. It was a big wreck. NASCAR spokesman Andrew Giangola said further expansion is possible. Weve had some challenges with needing to rebuild the fan base with the pandemic. WebDeclining NASCAR Continues Alienating Their Fan Base NASCAR April 30, 2022 News Bot NASCAR TV ratings have been on a steady decline since 2008. Its kind of like getting hit when were already down, he told the New York Times. "Certainly through change, some people get their feelings hurt, there's no doubt about it," Burton said. Theres beenblowback toward NASCAR for drawing a firm linebut it fits Phelps vision for the sport. Nevertheless, fans and drivers grumbled that it handled worse, looked terrible, and completely changed the way drivers had to approach their races in terms of strategy. DISCLAIMER: This site is 100% for entertainment purposes only and does not involve real money betting. The crash marked the moment when NASCAR undertook a deliberate transformation to make itself more commercially appealing, more scientifically managed, and less distinctively Southernthe opposite of what Earnhardt stood for. In fact, NASCAR had just signed an unprecedented $2.4 billion television contract. What is your unpopular opinion about nascar? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. In the end, NASCAR had to publish a long FAQ just to explain the rules to its fans. One sent an anonymous death threat against Dale (you fucking people wont do anything about his dirty driving so someone else will have to) that the FBI took seriously enough to assign a protective detail to the Budweiser 500 at Watkins Glen and the Miller High Life 500 at Pocono in 1987. A 2020 Morning Consult poll found that a large plurality of NASCAR fans self-identify as Republicans. Sai Koppala The FBI investigated it as a possible hate crime, but eventually concluded what many fans knew from the start, that the supposed noose was a pull rope for the garage door, as would be found in any of the drivers stalls. It has dropped in popularity because of the lack of marketable personalities and continuous, confusing format changes. But is this displeasure really warranted? Victory didnt count toward the championship; only money and pride were on the line. NASCAR: Eating Its Young and Confusing Its Fans. As for last weekend, it is possible journeyman 500 winner Michael McDowell didnt give NASCAR the traditional bump in interest. I have zero desire to be involved in politics. NASCAR President Steve Phelps said in December that We do not want to associate ourselves with politics, the left or the right, and that the league had tremendous respect for the office of the president no matter who is sitting [in it].. "It's a little bit changed since they've move a lot of stuff out of North Carolina," Hill said. It signified different parts and components, a different construction, and a different set of standards. Wednesday, February 24, 2021, LISTEN: Asking good questions isnt anti-revival. "They've got character. Earnhardt was aggressive. as well as other partner offers and accept our. The bending of the knee was the kill shot of nascar. NASCAR has denied Brandon "Let's Go, Brandon" Brown and his team the right to use a sponsor that uses the initials of an anti-President Joe Biden slogan on its But reckoning with the deeply understandable anxieties of a Black driver in a professional league founded by a state chairman of George Wallaces presidential campaign or declining to invite massive (and increasingly diverse) crowds, ones that include families with young children, to chant Fuck Joe Biden any time a particular driver hits the track arent part of a nefarious corporate conspiracy; theyre simply attempts to reckon with the world as it is. Banning the flag ultimately opened up an aperture to a brand-new fan base, Phelps said. 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. football jersey. Yarborough was leading runner-up Neil Bonnet by four laps. I hope NASCAR doesn't forget who got them where they are and they make sure that everybody gets to come to the race. ISC moved its fall race slot to a sleek new track in Los Angeles and the following year moved its spring race to Fort Worth. It was a pointed example of the no-win position in which NASCAR finds itself today: A moment of outreach to the non-die-hards, immediately turned sour by the bias-confirming incentives of partisan media. March 13, 2017 by Jeff Kendrick Leave a Comment. But Earnhardt managed to regain control while in the infield and maintain the lead. "I don't think he spends much time focused on it or thinking about it," she told reporters. Both had fathers who were drivers, but Petty descended from NASCAR royalty. WebThe first 1.5-mile race of the NASCAR Cup Series season happens on Sunday with the Pennzoil 400, which will be the first race of two at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this year. It still plays in Green Bay, Wis. Industry sources put NASCAR's corporate revenue at $1.5 billion, more than the NFL Earnhardt had been in a heated battle with his long-time rival Bill Elliott all race, rubbing fenders at nearly 200 mph. With NASCAR wooing new fans, old supporters are feeling jilted Insiders believe expanding markets led to improvements. Mar. NASCAR had long wanted to enter the American mainstream and distance itself from Southern stereotypes and its Talladega Nights reputation. In the wake of George Floyds death in the summer of 2020, NASCAR announced the banning of all Confederate flags being displayed at races. But what we do is big business and what we do relies on a lot of people being able to see it.". Many of NASCAR 's fans are older than 35. Dale Earnhardt was a product of this rough-and-tumble era. (Note: The images shown here are prototypes and do not necessarily reflect the final implementation). We are living with the consequences today. This was the era of the Iraq War when NASCAR Dads were a political constituency. I like some of the drivers. One who has never heard of WRC, or otherwise He's heard about the culture clash. SUBSCRIBE NOW. We dont have to speculate what Dale would have thought about all this. Nearly every form of public entertainment has weathered an ongoing, tendentious debate in recent years over the extent to which said cultural artifact has or has not gone woke. The frequent implication from critics is that in pandering to social justice-minded audiences or progressive social mores in the pursuit of chasing revenue, the powers that be have betrayed the elements that once made such things great.

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