Is it time for timed races?

FLRacingFan

FLRacingFan

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http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASC...es/2014/07/Gas-N-Go-Time-For-Timed-Races.aspx
We've heard talk about the "format of the future" and perhaps it's time for timed races to fit that bill.

A Sprint Cup Series race that featured an opening 75-minute segment, a halftime break and a closing 75-minute segment would accomplish the goal of fitting into a three-hour window. Fans would know the green flag flies at 1 p.m. ET with the checkered flag coming right at or near 4 p.m. ET.

The midway break allows teams a chance to better their cars for the run to the finish while at the same time creating a built-in intermission for fans at the track to visit the concession stand, helping a promoter’s bottom line.

Television audiences also could step away for a snack or restroom break without missing on-track action. The idea may also provide networks a chance to run advertising and alleviate some of the commercial breaks later in the race that rob viewers of precious race time.

Additional nuances could include a mandatory caution flag after 50 consecutive green flag laps, stopping the clock for caution flags inside the last five minutes of the race or during red flags and even the possibility of overtime should a caution fly before the checkers, even on what may have been the final lap of the race.

It's radical for sure. But in today's world what's worked in the past is proving not to be 100 percent right in several instances. Why not try something that addresses many of the challenges the sport faces in 2014 and beyond?
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I like the idea of 400- and 500-mile races, but just as there are various types of ovals and even a couple of road courses on the Cup schedule, maybe it’s time for some timed races.

I’d be willing to have timed races last 2 hours and 30 minutes. Not sure if it would be good to shorten a race more than that, but I would be willing if enough people were for it.

Since the number of races on the schedule isn’t going to change, maybe it’s time to shorten some races to create more of an immediacy with some events. Seven of the season’s first 20 points races (35 percent) lasted more than 3 hours, 15 minutes. Is that really necessary?
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I'm against timed races; that should be exclusive to sports car racing. I wouldn't mind shortening the race distances minus the four or five most prestigious events, though. I do have a strong feeling that segmented races will become a regular thing within the next few seasons, possibly as early as next year.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I'm against timed races; that should be exclusive to sports car racing. I wouldn't mind shortening the race distances minus the four or five most prestigious events, though. I do have a strong feeling that segmented races will become a regular thing within the next few seasons, possibly as early as next year.
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Agree! Unless we're talking about LeMans, Petite LeMans, Sebring or the 24 hours of Daytona, races should be set by distance not time.

Also agree about the segments. Debris cautions, I'm not a black helicopter guy by nature but everybody on this message board knows that more often than not, a Cup race will have a late caution to bunch up the field with 20-50 laps to go, and maybe even another one with 8-10 to go, and maybe some GWCs thrown in on top of that. Are these intentional? Is Race Control making these calls? Are the individual track spotters making these calls? Who knows. It would still be absurd but I would respect NASCAR more if they just called them "competition cautions" for purposes of bunching up the field. They've already introduced the Chase to make the season-long race more exciting, why not just drop the pretenses if these debris cautions are fake and have prearranged cautions to bunch up the field.
 
new fox / nbc tv deal will prolly have biggest voice in this . ?

sure hopin for debris cautions sunday ! :D
 
hawg dawg said:
new fox / nbc tv deal will prolly have biggest voice in this . ?

sure hopin for debris cautions sunday ! :D
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ha dawg. I like Pocono. It has always been a very technically demanding track. Hope the drivers and crew chiefs are communicating. Whoever has the best drive in and drive off will win.
 
Timed races?

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KevinWI said:
ha dawg. I like Pocono. It has always been a very technically demanding track. Hope the drivers and crew chiefs are communicating. Whoever has the best drive in and drive off will win.
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or.......best debris caution / gas mileage.... guesser !
 
hawg dawg said:
new fox / nbc tv deal will prolly have biggest voice in this . ?

sure hopin for debris cautions sunday ! :D
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Back in 2011 when David Hill was still the FOX Sports chairman he called for shorter races - no more than three hours of racing. Too much opportunity for diversion for TV viewers. He also said he was particularly annoyed by the Coke 600. I figure that one is off-limits for most NASCAR fans. But I don't think many people have missed the additional 100 miles at Pocono and Fontana the last few years.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Back in 2011 when David Hill was still the FOX Sports chairman he called for shorter races - no more than three hours of racing. Too much opportunity for diversion for TV viewers. He also said he was particularly annoyed by the Coke 600. I figure that one is off-limits for most NASCAR fans. But I don't think many people have missed the additional 100 miles at Pocono and Fontana the last few years.
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I agree with this actually. A 500 mile race (or a 600 mile race) should be a special event. The Daytona 500. The Coca-Cola 600. The Indianapolis 500. Etc. A rank-and-file NASCAR race at Pocono or Fontana doesn't need to be 500 miles.
 
Hell no. There's not a thing wrong with the lengths of the races now. When I pay for tickets to go to these events, the last thing I want is less for my buck. When I watch at home, I've waited all week for that next race. I sure as heck don't want less of one. If the rest of you are suffering from attention deficit disorder then go take a walk during the race and come back for the finish or take a nap. Only in NASCAR would the fans ask for less.

2014 Race Times

3:26:29 - Daytona 500
2:51:23 - Phoenix - The Profit on CNBC 500
2:35:24 - Las Vegas - Kobalt 400
3:11:23 - Bristol - Food City 500
3:05:53 - Fontana - Auto Club 400
3:38:38 - Martinsville - STP 500
3:48:02 - Texas - Duck Commander 500
3:53:37 - Darlington - Bojangles' Southern 500
3:12:47 - Richmond - Toyota Owners 400
3:17:16 - Talladega - Aaron's 499
3:07:31 - Kansas - 5-Hour Energy 400
4:07:27 - Charlotte - Coca-Cola 600
3:23:52 - Dover - FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks
2:52:07 - Pocono - Pocono 400
2:47:19 - Michigan - Quicken Loans 400
2:51:30 - Sonoma - Toyota / Save Mart 350
2:51:59 - Kentucky - Quaker State 400
2:09:13 - Daytona - Coke Zero 400
2:58:03 - New Hampshire - Camping World RV Sales 301
2:39:41 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Crown Royal Presents The John Wayne Walding 400
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Hell no. There's not a thing wrong with the lengths of the races now. When I pay for tickets to go to these events, the last thing I want is less for my buck. When I watch at home, I've waited all week for that next race. I sure as heck don't want less of one. If the rest of you are suffering from attention deficit disorder then go take a walk during the race and come back for the finish or take a nap. Only in NASCAR would the fans ask for less.
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Races are more TV events than anything else now and it sounds like execs might want them shorter for that purpose. This is actually a pretty common complaint across baseball and college football.
 
I think it would be a good option to be able to use in certain occasions. I think Nascar stalls sometimes on tracks that don't have lights on rain delays and they call it off until the next day. Just shorten the race, to so in so laps are halfway and until a certain time for the full race.
 
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FLRacingFan said:
Races are more TV events than anything else now and it sounds like execs might want them shorter for that purpose. This is actually a pretty common complaint across baseball and college football.
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Common complaint from who, execs or fans? I don't understand why or how any fan of any sport would want a shorter event for their buck. Heck, if that's what the execs want than nix the preshow on the network and move it to the sister channel. Then they could have time for another Sunday infomercial.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Common complaint from who, execs or fans? I don't understand why or how any fan of any sport would want a shorter event for their buck. Heck, if that's what the execs want than nix the preshow on the network and move it to the sister channel. Then they could have time for another Sunday infomercial.
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Both. Shoot, there was even a Nats player a month or so ago who said he can't watch any other baseball games outside of his own because he finds it too long. Completely agree on the pre-race show.
 
I really have no desire to see timed races in NASCAR. My fear is that they would cut them to like 2 hours. No need to time them if they're doing 3 hours. As dpk mentioned earlier, most races are checking in right around the 3 hour mark anyway.
 
Clearly we should have timed races because timed races are so amazingly popular.
Nascar needs to copy sports car racing to tap into that huge fan support for timed races.
 
I swear sometimes these ideas just come from lazy sounding media members who don't want to work an extra hour.
 
The only reason a race should be "timed" is when rain is in the area and the race is more than 50% completed. In that situation, the clock should hit 0:00 when the checkered drops for a rain out.
 
I don't like timed races. Save that for the open wheels.

I do think some races need to be shortened. Not strictly because they are too long, but to eliminate some of thise riding around and waiting until the end be more aggressive. One of the best races of the year is the truck race at Pocono. It's only 50 laps and they get after it once the green waves.
 
No!. Worst idea ever. Yes, Nascar races do take a long time sometimes but unless you're going to show every lap (they won't) it makes no sense for timed races. Plus, weather plays too much of a factor.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
If the rest of you are suffering from attention deficit disorder then go take a walk during the race and come back for the finish or take a nap.
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I got my favorite nap of the year last weekend. :)

dpkimmel2001 said:
Only in NASCAR would the fans ask for less.
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Less is more. Motor Mile Speedway cut 100 laps from their Late Model races this year and the purists who went to that track because they enjoyed 250 laps of single-file racing raged. The races went from long, boring single-file races to epic thrillers where dead head photofinishes have become the norm.

Like someone else said, I don't think anyone's missing the extra 500 miles at Auto Club Speedway.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Less is more. Motor Mile Speedway cut 100 laps from their Late Model races this year and the purists who went to that track because they enjoyed 250 laps of single-file racing raged. The races went from long, boring single-file races to epic thrillers where dead head photofinishes have become the norm.

Like someone else said, I don't think anyone's missing the extra 500 miles at Auto Club Speedway.
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I don't go to late model races but I do go to Cup races. I also pay for my ticket and I don't want less racing for my money. There are fans, like me, that would not bother paying for one of those tickets anymore.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I don't go to late model races but I do go to Cup races. I also pay for my ticket and I don't want less racing for my money. There are fans, like me, that would not bother paying for one of those tickets anymore.
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But television pays the bills. You and 60,000 other people who go to the race might want to see 500 miles of racing, but NASCAR has to think about the five million people watching the races. NBC's paying $4.4 billion to be there, so... :idunno:
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I don't go to late model races but I do go to Cup races. I also pay for my ticket and I don't want less racing for my money. There are fans, like me, that would not bother paying for one of those tickets anymore.
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It might be time to have one of the support races run on the same day of the Cup race. Earlier this year Martinsville let Cup ticket holders stay afterwards for the postponed Truck race. Or have qualifying run the morning of the race, as not many people can make it out to the track on Fridays. Several drivers have recommended condensing the race weekends recently.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
But television pays the bills. You and 60,000 other people who go to the race might want to see 500 miles of racing, but NASCAR has to think about the five million people watching the races. NBC's paying $4.4 billion to be there, so... :idunno:
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those people are "watching" the race. I know more "fans" of NASCAR who only watch the first and last 10 laps of a race than those who can sit down and watch it's entirety.
 
FLRacingFan said:
It might be time to have one of the support races run on the same day of the Cup race. Earlier this year Martinsville let Cup ticket holders stay afterwards for the postponed Truck race. Or have qualifying run the morning of the race, as not many people can make it out to the track on Fridays. Several drivers have recommended condensing the race weekends recently.
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This is yet another area where IndyCar has NASCAR beat. Imagine that. Race day in Baltimore, there was a morning warm-up for IndyCar plus the Lights, USF2000 and Pro Mazda. USF2000 and Pro Mazda ran before American Le Mans and IndyCar Knockout Qualifying as well.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
those people are "watching" the race. I know more "fans" of NASCAR who only watch the first and last 10 laps of a race than those who can sit down and watch it's entirety.
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I don't know many of those types. I guess it's because I block idiots on TwitFace.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
This is yet another area where IndyCar has NASCAR beat. Imagine that. Race day in Baltimore, there was a morning warm-up for IndyCar plus the Lights, USF2000 and Pro Mazda. USF2000 and Pro Mazda ran before American Le Mans and IndyCar Knockout Qualifying as well.
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NASCAR is literally the only racing organization I can think of that doesn't do this. Even on F1 race days fans are treated to some combination of GP2, Porsche GT3 Cup, Ferrari Challenge, and vintage races in the morning.
 
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