NASCAR Start Times

1:30, 3:30..... Whatever. Doesn't make a difference to me. Attending a race from the distances I drive is a mini vacation. I always make arrangements to stay the extra day or more if needed.

There's always another reason around the corner for the lack of fans in the stands. This week, start times. Next week, who knows? Shifting the blame to later start times is BS IMO.
Good for you.
Many people have bad PTO employee policies & cant afford take an unpaid day off. Couple that with fuel costs & lodging and its simply unaffordable. The heart of the NASCAR fan base always has & will be the lower tiers of middle class America.

IIRC you have an RV so you do not have to worry about lodging. Again, good for you.
 
Good for you.

Many people have bad PTO employee policies & cant afford take an unpaid day off. Couple that with fuel costs & lodging and its simply unaffordable. The heart of the NASCAR fan base always has & will be the lower tiers of middle class America.

IIRC you have an RV so you do not have to worry about lodging. Again, good for you.
Seriously, @ChexOrWrex, I don't really get the 'Good for you.' context of your quoting my post but whatever floats your boat I guess.

I speak for myself and not the country. I posted my thought's on the late start times as being an reason for dwindling fan attendance. Every week, there's another excuse. This seems to be the flavor of the moment.
 
It will be interesting to see if the later starts do impact viewership in a positive way. I don't understand why waving the green at 3:30 instead of 1:30 is better but I am sure there are studies that back it up.
There are a lot of potential viewers to try to grab out west. Not many of them are going to watch at 10 AM. Those London NFL games that start at 9:30 AM on the East Coast always get terrible audiences. And the late window with the 4:05/4:25 games is often the most-watched window the week for the league.
 
I think that depending on the type of work you do, your age and the time you have to get up in the morning the starting times could have a big impact. If I know that I will likely get home from a race between 10-11PM I can deal with it. If that becomes midnight and 1:00 AM then it becomes a problem.
Exactly why I don't go to Charlotte any more unless it's rain-delayed to the next day.
 
I actually like the 3pm starts if I'm not at the race. I can get errands done and then settle in for the rest of the day.

We went to Atlanta and the 2:30 start was at the edge of doing a day trip and we only live on the north side of Atlanta. By time we waited for traffic to clear out it was around 9:30pm before we got home. For the Talladega races we do day trips and the 2pm ET start times are better even with the 2 hour drive home. We don't have to leave the house super early and can still get home by 10pm. We make Darlington into a 3 day weekend with the holiday.
 
I actually like the 3pm starts if I'm not at the race. I can get errands done and then settle in for the rest of the day.

We went to Atlanta and the 2:30 start was at the edge of doing a day trip and we only live on the north side of Atlanta. By time we waited for traffic to clear out it was around 9:30pm before we got home. For the Talladega races we do day trips and the 2pm ET start times are better even with the 2 hour drive home. We don't have to leave the house super early and can still get home by 10pm. We make Darlington into a 3 day weekend with the holiday.

I drove from Stockbridge to Ball Ground not long ago and I could have flown to London faster or so it seemed.
 
The 7:30 Saturday night start at Kentucky in 2.5 weeks makes for a perfect weekend trip. I'll make the 9 hour drive Friday, play golf Saturday morning, leave my hotel in Cincinnati around 3 PM for the race then casually drive back mid morning Sunday. Weather permitting of course....:eek:
 
Nothing was greater than getting to Martinsville at 9AM and slugging beers until Noon. One year my buddy had his cooler loaded and right as we walked by a cop, the damn cooler broke away from the handle. We were of age, but that cop was laughing his @ss off at my buddy. He said, "A little heavy ain't it" to which my buddy replied, "It'll be light as a feather when we leave."
 
I don't really care for the later start times but... If you're really a NASCAR fan, like I am , you will Adapt! I just don't get this complaining about every thing that they do. I'm a fan and have went to races from Pocono to Dover to Talladega to Charlotte and that's all that matters. I don't really sweat the start times. Just plan and have a great time , and if the weathers not good or something else happens just know that you're not the only one it happens to.

Mike
 
If I was on the West Coast I would love early start times. green flag at 9, race ends at 1230. got the whole afternoon
Yeah, that is nice, but I like to sleep in on Sundays( well everyday) , so the later EST start time is perfect for , race starts around Noon.

Either or, I really dont give a rats rear end what time the race starts, DVR's , the gifts from the TV gods.
 
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