dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
Is it time to shorten NASCAR races? Should they be shorter to produce some sense of urgency to the competitors? Pocono showed how that could play out with the threat of rain. It always seems like they start to race harder when faced with an early ending to the race.....
From SceneDaily.....
The Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend will continue a tradition of NASCAR racing on Labor Day weekend.
Though the tradition was built at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, it is now back in the South, with Atlanta hosting its second straight Labor Day weekend event.
It also will continue another tradition – both at Atlanta and on Labor Day weekend. A 500-mile race, which means fans will need to set aside four hours or more to watch the entire event.
The March race at Atlanta – also a 500-miler – took four hours to complete (3 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds to be exact). Aside from the Coca-Cola 600 (4 hours, 8 minutes), it was the longest race this season, edging Darlington’s Southern 500 by two minutes.
Though NASCAR has trended toward more 400- and 300-mile Cup races in recent years, it still has 16 500-mile events, with almost all of them taking at least three-and-a-half hours to complete.
In today’s short-attention-span world, many believe that’s much too long – both in terms of distance and the time it takes to run.
Of the season’s first 14 races, 11 took at least three hours and 20 minutes to complete.
In the second half of the season, eight of the past 10 races have been run in less than three hours, to the delight of drivers, teams and fans.
The recent streak of shorter races – including a tidy 2-hour, 41-minute, 500-lap affair at Bristol – has helped fuel the debate over whether most Sprint Cup races are too long.
“NASCAR has a tremendous entertainment value, but things are going to have to change,” industry consultant and former race promoter Humpy Wheeler told SceneDaily.com columnist Erik Spanberg. “Races are too long.”
Of NASCAR’s 36 Sprint Cup races – excluding the traditional Coca-Cola 600 – 16 are 500 miles, and 12 of them are run on big speedways that take longer to run. Of the 19 events that are 400 miles or shorter, 13 are run on speedways.
NASCAR’s new overtime rules – which allow for a maximum of three green-white-checkered restarts – also has increased the time-of-race numbers, which would be even higher on average if they reflected red-flag periods.
NASCAR tracks are beginning to take notice and considering shortening their events. Auto Club Speedway in California, which traditionally has run 500-mile races, has shortened its Oct. 10 race to 400 miles. Its lone Cup race next year will be 400 miles. The race it is losing will move to Kansas Speedway, which runs 400-mile races.
California’s two 500-mile events last year were run in 3:40 and 3:28. By comparison, the two 400-milers at Michigan International Speedway – which is the same size as Auto Club – were both run in less than three hours this year.
Atlanta, which has run all 500-mile Cup races since 1967, will lose one of its races next year. It will be replaced by Kentucky Speedway, which will run a 400-mile event.
Phoenix, which ran a 600k, or 378-mile, race in 3:48 in April, will cut its spring event back to the traditional 312 laps next year.
Driver Jeff Burton, for one, is glad to see NASCAR tracks reducing the length of their events.
"I think it's the right thing,” Burton said. “I love the fact that our races aren't sprint races; they're endurance races. But I'm not sure that a 400-mile race is a sprint race. So, it's still a plenty long race.”
Burton says that four-hour races are simply too long for most fans, particularly younger ones.
“From the perspective of the younger audience, I have a 9-year old that loves racing but struggles watching a four-hour race. Hell, I struggle doing a four-hour race. Maybe it's a family thing,” he says.
“It really depends on the race track. You could have a 1,000-lap race [at Bristol] and it would be a great race. I don't know why you would want a two-mile race track to run a 500-mile race. I love to race and I like the fact that they're long, but … I just think for the viewing audience, a little shorter time frame may not be a bad thing.”
Burton and others also believe the quality of racing is better in shorter races. The shorter the event, the more action during the final laps.
"It just seems to me that when you get to the point where you're starting to get closer to the end of the race, stuff picks up. I don't think it's a coincidence that we have more cautions in the last part of the race than we do in the first part,” he said.
“The quicker we can get the drivers into the position of, ‘Now's the time to go,’ the better the racing is going to be. [There’s] less opportunity for the long, long, long green-flag runs and all those kinds of things. Shorter races tend to have a little more action.”
The races that most drivers single out as being too long are at Pocono Raceway, the triangle-shaped, 2.5-mile track. Both Pocono races this year were run in about 3:45 while one of them last year ran 3:57.
"The ones that are too long need to be shorter,” Burton says. “Pocono would be a better event if it was shorter.”
Burton says shorter races also would favor more drivers. NASCAR’s very best drivers tend to excel in longer races, which is why many young drivers struggle when making the leap from the Truck Series or Nationwide Series to Sprint Cup.
“What separates the Cup guys is the fact that they can put it on edge for three hours, for three-and-a-half or four hours versus an hour and 45 minutes,” Burton says. “That's a major difference.
“You see it when really, really good race-car drivers come into this series, you see them struggle with that. There's an art to it and it's really what separates them.
"The fact that you have to do it more times in a 500-mile race than a 200-mile race is what separates the best. You cannot be successful in this series or any series without operating at close to 100 percent. And the best can operate at close to 100 percent more often than the guys that aren't the best.”
A look at the distance and time of race for the 24 Cup events run so far this year:
Track Distance Time of Race
Daytona *520 3:47
California 500 3:31
Las Vegas 400 2:49
Atlanta *525 3:59
Bristol 500 (laps) 3:20
Martinsville *508 (laps) 3:39
Phoenix *378 (miles) 3:48
Texas 501 3:25
Talladega *532 3:31
Richmond 400 (laps) 3:00
Darlington 501 3:57
Dover 400 3:06
Charlotte 600 4:08
Pocono *510 3:44
Michigan 400 2:33
Sonoma 218.9 2:56
New Hampshire 318 2:48
Daytona *415 3:03
Chicago 400 2:45
Indy 400 2:56
Pocono 500 3:46
Watkins Glen 220 2:23
Michigan 400 2:46
Bristol 500 (laps) 2:41
* Race featured a green-white-checkered finish that went beyond the scheduled distance.
From SceneDaily.....
The Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend will continue a tradition of NASCAR racing on Labor Day weekend.
Though the tradition was built at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, it is now back in the South, with Atlanta hosting its second straight Labor Day weekend event.
It also will continue another tradition – both at Atlanta and on Labor Day weekend. A 500-mile race, which means fans will need to set aside four hours or more to watch the entire event.
The March race at Atlanta – also a 500-miler – took four hours to complete (3 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds to be exact). Aside from the Coca-Cola 600 (4 hours, 8 minutes), it was the longest race this season, edging Darlington’s Southern 500 by two minutes.
Though NASCAR has trended toward more 400- and 300-mile Cup races in recent years, it still has 16 500-mile events, with almost all of them taking at least three-and-a-half hours to complete.
In today’s short-attention-span world, many believe that’s much too long – both in terms of distance and the time it takes to run.
Of the season’s first 14 races, 11 took at least three hours and 20 minutes to complete.
In the second half of the season, eight of the past 10 races have been run in less than three hours, to the delight of drivers, teams and fans.
The recent streak of shorter races – including a tidy 2-hour, 41-minute, 500-lap affair at Bristol – has helped fuel the debate over whether most Sprint Cup races are too long.
“NASCAR has a tremendous entertainment value, but things are going to have to change,” industry consultant and former race promoter Humpy Wheeler told SceneDaily.com columnist Erik Spanberg. “Races are too long.”
Of NASCAR’s 36 Sprint Cup races – excluding the traditional Coca-Cola 600 – 16 are 500 miles, and 12 of them are run on big speedways that take longer to run. Of the 19 events that are 400 miles or shorter, 13 are run on speedways.
NASCAR’s new overtime rules – which allow for a maximum of three green-white-checkered restarts – also has increased the time-of-race numbers, which would be even higher on average if they reflected red-flag periods.
NASCAR tracks are beginning to take notice and considering shortening their events. Auto Club Speedway in California, which traditionally has run 500-mile races, has shortened its Oct. 10 race to 400 miles. Its lone Cup race next year will be 400 miles. The race it is losing will move to Kansas Speedway, which runs 400-mile races.
California’s two 500-mile events last year were run in 3:40 and 3:28. By comparison, the two 400-milers at Michigan International Speedway – which is the same size as Auto Club – were both run in less than three hours this year.
Atlanta, which has run all 500-mile Cup races since 1967, will lose one of its races next year. It will be replaced by Kentucky Speedway, which will run a 400-mile event.
Phoenix, which ran a 600k, or 378-mile, race in 3:48 in April, will cut its spring event back to the traditional 312 laps next year.
Driver Jeff Burton, for one, is glad to see NASCAR tracks reducing the length of their events.
"I think it's the right thing,” Burton said. “I love the fact that our races aren't sprint races; they're endurance races. But I'm not sure that a 400-mile race is a sprint race. So, it's still a plenty long race.”
Burton says that four-hour races are simply too long for most fans, particularly younger ones.
“From the perspective of the younger audience, I have a 9-year old that loves racing but struggles watching a four-hour race. Hell, I struggle doing a four-hour race. Maybe it's a family thing,” he says.
“It really depends on the race track. You could have a 1,000-lap race [at Bristol] and it would be a great race. I don't know why you would want a two-mile race track to run a 500-mile race. I love to race and I like the fact that they're long, but … I just think for the viewing audience, a little shorter time frame may not be a bad thing.”
Burton and others also believe the quality of racing is better in shorter races. The shorter the event, the more action during the final laps.
"It just seems to me that when you get to the point where you're starting to get closer to the end of the race, stuff picks up. I don't think it's a coincidence that we have more cautions in the last part of the race than we do in the first part,” he said.
“The quicker we can get the drivers into the position of, ‘Now's the time to go,’ the better the racing is going to be. [There’s] less opportunity for the long, long, long green-flag runs and all those kinds of things. Shorter races tend to have a little more action.”
The races that most drivers single out as being too long are at Pocono Raceway, the triangle-shaped, 2.5-mile track. Both Pocono races this year were run in about 3:45 while one of them last year ran 3:57.
"The ones that are too long need to be shorter,” Burton says. “Pocono would be a better event if it was shorter.”
Burton says shorter races also would favor more drivers. NASCAR’s very best drivers tend to excel in longer races, which is why many young drivers struggle when making the leap from the Truck Series or Nationwide Series to Sprint Cup.
“What separates the Cup guys is the fact that they can put it on edge for three hours, for three-and-a-half or four hours versus an hour and 45 minutes,” Burton says. “That's a major difference.
“You see it when really, really good race-car drivers come into this series, you see them struggle with that. There's an art to it and it's really what separates them.
"The fact that you have to do it more times in a 500-mile race than a 200-mile race is what separates the best. You cannot be successful in this series or any series without operating at close to 100 percent. And the best can operate at close to 100 percent more often than the guys that aren't the best.”
A look at the distance and time of race for the 24 Cup events run so far this year:
Track Distance Time of Race
Daytona *520 3:47
California 500 3:31
Las Vegas 400 2:49
Atlanta *525 3:59
Bristol 500 (laps) 3:20
Martinsville *508 (laps) 3:39
Phoenix *378 (miles) 3:48
Texas 501 3:25
Talladega *532 3:31
Richmond 400 (laps) 3:00
Darlington 501 3:57
Dover 400 3:06
Charlotte 600 4:08
Pocono *510 3:44
Michigan 400 2:33
Sonoma 218.9 2:56
New Hampshire 318 2:48
Daytona *415 3:03
Chicago 400 2:45
Indy 400 2:56
Pocono 500 3:46
Watkins Glen 220 2:23
Michigan 400 2:46
Bristol 500 (laps) 2:41
* Race featured a green-white-checkered finish that went beyond the scheduled distance.
That ..right there...is the third stupidest thing. Tell that to Lowes . Maybe they would like to take their sponsorship millions to someone who will try .Like maybe Kenny Wallace?
