The Frontstretch: What's the Call? Wrong Time For An Off Week? by Mike Neff and Tom Bowles -- Wednesday August 2, 2006

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What's the Call? Wrong Time For An Off Week?

Mike Neff and Tom Bowles · Wednesday August 2, 2006

 

Welcome to this week’s edition of What’s the Call? Each week, two of your favorite Frontstretch writers will duke it out in a debate concerning one of NASCAR’s big controversies. Don’t let us be the only ones to speak our minds, though…be sure to read both sides and let us know what you think about the situation in the comment section below!

This Week’s Question: This is the final off-week before the end of the season. Should NASCAR change the schedule for 2007 and beyond so there’s an off-week before the Chase instead, or is keeping the schedule the way it is the more important thing?

NASCAR Schedule Needs To Be Altered
Mike Neff

The Cup schedule is a marathon; it is not a sprint. Teams start out at Daytona in the middle of February and aren't done until the middle of November, making it the longest season of any major sport. During the 36 week schedule, there are just three off weekends (four if you count the weekend of the All-Star Challenge). Running the last 16 weeks of the schedule without a weekend off simply does not make sense.

First of all, 16 weeks is almost half the schedule. Having all of the off weeks in the first half of the schedule is simply not logical. Teams need a chance to recharge, to fix broken race cars during the season. Running 16 weeks straight does not give teams, especially the smaller outfits, any room for mistakes on the track during the second half of the year.

Secondly, there are no open dates to make up for rainouts in the second half. If an event is rained out during the second half of the season, and is rained out on Monday as well, then the season has to be extended beyond the final race. This hasn't come up yet in the era of the Chase, but it is sure to happen eventually. What happens if Dover's race weekend is rained out at the end of September? What will NASCAR do? They can't bump all of the other races back a week. Too much time, effort, and planning goes into a race weekend at a track. What if the race is forced to be run on a Tuesday? That would be disastrous for teams already burning out over the long season, knowing they have to travel back to the shop and then to the next race by Friday. I don't know what NASCAR's position is on such an occurrence, but I can't imagine a Wednesday night race a couple of weeks after the rainout is very practical for the track or the teams; they’d have to run it on that Tuesday in the above mentioned doomsday scenario.

The logical thing to do for the schedule is have the week before the Chase as an off weekend. If a rainout does occur in the weeks leading up to the final ten races, that would give NASCAR a weekend to make up that race and set the Chase field. It would also give teams a chance to recharge and organize their efforts in the run for the Championship, and give sponsors and teams a week to pull together advertising and promotional efforts focused on the teams that did make the Chase. The logic seems very simple.

Looking at the schedule, the more intelligent thing to do is split up the season into four quarters. Granted, the final quarter would be 10 races instead of nine, but it would still be a more balanced schedule. Run the Budweiser Shootout and the first eight races, then take a break. Easter does fall in there, but there is no reason they can't run the Phoenix race the Saturday of Easter week and be home in time for the family Easter Celebration. Then, run the next nine races and the All-Star Challenge, take another break, and run the final nine races before the Chase. The final week off would fall before the Chase and give the buildup to the Chase the same kind of hype that is given to other big events in major sports, like the Super Bowl.

Again, think of those marketing possibilities. The teams/drivers who make the Chase can be paraded around the country and do the talk show circuits to build up the anticipation of the Chase. All of NASCAR’s organizations and PR machines can get their ducks in a row, and the crew members will have a chance to recharge their batteries before making the stretch run to the Championship. Since NASCAR is changing the schedule next year to accommodate ESPN, they should adjust the whole schedule to more evenly distribute the weeks off. It is the fairest thing to do.

Moving Off Week Too Much Chaos For NASCAR Schedule
Tom Bowles

It all sounds so simple, doesn’t it. With only four off weeks throughout the entire NASCAR season, it would make sense to throw one of those off weeks directly after race 26 in September, giving both teams and drivers who make the Chase for the Championship one extra week to prepare for the toughest ten races of their lives. Why bother to use the last off week in…you guessed it…July?

The answer, boys and girls, is simply this : tradition.

OK. Calm down…some readers are screaming so loud the old lady down the block just woke up from her mid-afternoon nap. Yes, I know NASCAR and tradition go together like oil and water recently, with Rockingham, North Wilkesboro, and Darlington classic examples of track dates that evaporated in favor of the almighty dollar.

Changing dates on the schedule, though, doesn’t necessarily translate into major financial gains and losses. Because of that, NASCAR’s preservation of history won’t get distracted, and its best interests will always be served by keeping the schedule as similar as possible from year to year.

Still convinced you want to move that last off week? Let’s try it together. What race would you move into the last week in July? Keep in mind that you can’t just add a fifth off week before the Chase and push the final ten races back one more week…if you do that, the final race of the season will be run the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. No fans, no drivers, and no crews will stand for that.

So, I ask again, what race would you move up to the last weekend in July? Richmond? By doing that, you’re telling me the 26th race of the year, the one who decides which drivers get in the Chase once and for all, would be held on a Sunday night at California Speedway. Ha. Hahaha. Try again.

Alright, you’re saying move California to the last weekend in July, and then put Richmond on the Saturday night of Labor Day weekend. Well, if you think the traditionalists were mad about the Southern 500 weekend going away, how much worse will it be when there isn’t even ANY racing going on the Sunday of Labor Day. No, that weekend carries too much weight in the minds of even the most casual of NASCAR fans to be messed with any further.

Your third and final option would be to move each of the final six races prior to the Chase up one weekend. So, does that mean you’re OK with moving the Bristol night race from its comfortable perch in the final Saturday night in August? How about taking the Brickyard 400, arguably becoming the second most important race in NASCAR each season, and changing it to the last weekend in July? Not to mention you’re still going to have that Richmond race running the Saturday night of Labor Day weekend. Oops!

Yep, saying you’re going to move that off weekend is one thing…actually doing it is another. Unfortunately, the current Cup schedule is maxed out, and unless you want to cut out some race dates and chop down the 38 event grind per year, each racing season is going to be stuck with this type of 16 race stretch to close out the year. It’s just part of the sport; all the teams know it, all the drivers know it, and everyone deals with it accordingly. Why cause more trouble than it’s worth by attempting to shift all these dates?

So, which side has the better argument? Let us know by voting in our weekly Frontstretch poll here. Remember, you need to be a message board member to vote, so don’t delay; join now!

 

©2000 - 2008 Mike Neff and Tom Bowles and Frontstetch.com. Thanks for visiting the Frontstretch!

M. B. Voelker
08/03/2006 07:24 AM
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Mike is right and Jeff is being silly.

There is nothing sacred about holding certain races on certain dates. Truly, the entire Cuo schedule needs to be reset in an intentional fashion that would spread the off weekends evenly through the year and, even more importantly, design the Chase to properly represent ALL of the track tpyes that Nascar races.

Conservatism is good. But when “tradition” is given as an excuse for not changing when there is a compelling reason to make a change then it become mere obstructiomoism.

There is no inherent merit to fossilizing a schedule that came together at random without any basis in rational planning in the first place.

Paul
08/03/2006 07:43 AM
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I have to agree with Mike and M.B. here. The whole schedule could use an overhaul, and putting the cutoff race on Labor Day weekend would be fine if the Southern 500 was returned to the schedule…guaranteed sellouts for the race, and an appropriate final test to determine the Chasers.

Lisa
08/03/2006 08:12 AM
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If I’m not mistaken haven’t they already planned to change the Brickyard date next year – for Television reasons?

Bill
08/03/2006 09:32 AM
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They don’t have the courage to take a week off during the football season.

More Side by Sides!