NASCAR exploring weeknight races

AndyMarquisLive said:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-me...ona-500-2012-second-most-watched-history.html

As far as 2013, it had Danica on the pole.

Ratings on a Monday night would be better than ratings on a Saturday night.
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Wait, are you talking total number of viewers or ratings share? You said "ratings blockbuster". Your article even points out the ratings share was down from 2011. You need to differentiate between total number and average number.

For what its worth, its obvious people rushed to tune in to see Montoya's jet dryer explosion and aftermath.

2012 was no celebratory ratings blockbuster.

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Charlie Spencer said:
I realize TV is the big source of money these days. Weeknight races may pull great ratings, but I don't see the tracks getting too enthusiastic about the probable drop in attendance.
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I agree with you but I say this, attendance keeps dropping as it is. I wouldn't be surprised to say a track say screw it our attendance is already dropping and volunteer to try a mid week race.
 
gnomesayin said:
Yeah, I'm sure this is focused on the fall races. Weeknight TV viewership during the summer is always low across the board. This is about scheduling around football, period.

I don't know whether it will work or not, but it's worth a shot. They have to be open trying new things.
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Who is actually going to attend a race in the middle of the week? Stupid idea, better idea would be to shorten the season so they don't compete with the NFL and NCCA football schedules. If they think attendance is low now for races, it would essentially be non existent during the week.
 
Mopardh9 said:
Who is actually going to attend a race in the middle of the week? Stupid idea, better idea would be to shorten the season so they don't compete with the NFL and NCCA football schedules. If they think attendance is low now for races, it would essentially be non existent during the week.
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Well I live 15 min from Chicagoland Speedway so count me in if they have it there ha ha but I dont think many on here would be enthused with a 1.5 mile mid week race.
 
Mopardh9 said:
Who is actually going to attend a race in the middle of the week? Stupid idea, better idea would be to shorten the season so they don't compete with the NFL and NCCA football schedules. If they think attendance is low now for races, it would essentially be non existent during the week.
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Throw a night Martinsville race in the middle of the week and I'd be there. I think they'd pack the place a time or two.
 
Mispeedway15 said:
And let me add this as a graduate of Bowling Green State University, it is disgusting how the MAC has its schools essentially play no Saturday games in November. Part of what makes college football so great is the whole spectacle of it, just like racing. Nobody looks forward to tailgating on a Wednesday lol, IMO it'll really be an attendance killer just as it is for MAC football. I really hope NASCAR doesn't sellout like this


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Totally get where you're coming from regarding attendance. Those midweek MACtion games look comparable to many high school crowds. In their case, though, they almost have to do it if they want to be on national TV. Bowling Green-NIU isn't going to be on ESPN/ESPN2 on a Saturday when there's sixty other games on. I don't think NASCAR's situation is that dire, although I guess NBC may think so.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I don't understand the refusal to do anything to shake up the stagnant schedule.

NASCAR has done a lot to change things in the past few years, some for the better and some for the worse, but they refuse to do anything with the schedule itself -- which fans seem to view as the single biggest problem.
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What about our outrageous and ridiculous playoff format?

There's no way the majority of fans think the schedule is NASCAR's single biggest problem.
 
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Maybe try a week night race or 2 during the summer as a test wouldn't hurt.
Would probably backfire during a school night.

I was a fan of Thursday Night Thunder. That's where
I first heard of Jeff Gordon.
 
I guess I'm in the minority when I read a lot of the posts in this thread. It seems many don't like the idea of a mid-week night race. Personally, I'd much rather sit down @ 8pm on a Monday through Thursday to take in a race. I couldn't care less how many people are in the stands when I'm watching a race from my recliner. If they were to actually put a weeknight race @ Martinsville on the schedule, I wouldn't think twice taking vacation days and heading the 450+ miles south to attend that event. As far as lack of attendance goes, I'll leave the empty seat watching crowd worry about that while I take in one helluva race.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I guess I'm in the minority when I read a lot of the posts in this thread. It seems many don't like the idea of a mid-week night race. Personally, I'd much rather sit down @ 8pm on a Monday through Thursday to take in a race. I couldn't care less how many people are in the stands when I'm watching a race from my recliner. If they were to actually put a weeknight race @ Martinsville on the schedule, I wouldn't think twice taking vacation days and heading the 450+ miles south to attend that event. As far as lack of attendance goes, I'll leave the empty seat watching crowd worry about that while I take in one helluva race.
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If I'm only attending a couple races a year, I would love to take a couple vacation days and enjoy a Thursday night race, and then enjoy the rest of my long weekend.

And if I were just a casual fan that doesn't watch much racing, there's a good chance that I'm more willing to tune in and watch a race on a Thursday night as opposed to the weekend when I'm busy with other stuff.

Let's not go crazy and have a ton of weeknight races. But one or two times a year.....why not?
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I guess I'm in the minority when I read a lot of the posts in this thread. It seems many don't like the idea of a mid-week night race. Personally, I'd much rather sit down @ 8pm on a Monday through Thursday to take in a race. I couldn't care less how many people are in the stands when I'm watching a race from my recliner. If they were to actually put a weeknight race @ Martinsville on the schedule, I wouldn't think twice taking vacation days and heading the 450+ miles south to attend that event. As far as lack of attendance goes, I'll leave the empty seat watching crowd worry about that while I take in one helluva race.
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Hey I'd do the same if I lived close to a venue that was racing in the middle of the week, but lack of attendance equals lack of dollars in Nascars' pocket. I just don't see attendance being good at a week night race, again once the novelty wears off people won't pay attention. Nascar needs to shorten the season, this is like 20 years overdo, trying to compete with football, the World Series, and the start of NBA and NHL seasons is a no win situation.
 
When Brian France saw the ratings from the Eldora races, he mistakenly thought the high ratings were because, the race was scheduled for Wednesday night. The reason for the high ratings, in my opinion, was because the race was on a dirt track. It was something that some fans had been asking to be added to the schedule for a long time. If NASCAR wants to increase ratings, maybe they should add some dirt tracks, instead of adding mid week races.
 
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