THREE DAY RACE WEEKENDS

Nascar continues to remodel tracks with designs that give fans more access to the garages and the drivers than ever before, and ironicaly COVID comes along and changes all that. :idunno:
 
It’s interesting though, most businesses have now been forced to adjust their business models... I think it’s a very safe bet NASCAR is done with the three day weekends. The drivers will probably become comfortable with arriving at many scheduled events in the seasons within 12 hours of the green flag waving
 
JGR_20 said:
It’s interesting though, most businesses have now been forced to adjust their business models... I think it’s a very safe bet NASCAR is done with the three day weekends. The drivers will probably become comfortable with arriving at many scheduled events in the seasons within 12 hours of the green flag waving
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And with the lower salaries few will have their own jets to get there.
 
StandOnIt said:
Nascar continues to remodel tracks with designs that give fans more access to the garages and the drivers than ever before, and ironicaly COVID comes along and changes all that. :idunno:
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They don't have to remodel. Change the way you manage the garages/conduct a race weekend...save $. Hot Passes should not be for the few. This part of NASCAR pisses me off. ChampCar....Portland in the early 90's....A paddock pass got you what Hot Passes get you now.....they could pull it off because the paddock was cold....When I started attending NASCAR events, I'm like....Wait! What?....I have to be pretty to get to see the guys work on the cars? WTF? Wrong....especially if you are taking away hot time. This isn't that hard.
 
Revman said:
Open the damn garages on Friday. Yeah, that might mean that crews have to get there early, but I really think that that would be cool....the track would be cold, so the numbers of people who would come in on Friday would be increased, but NASCAR wouldn't have to worry about limiting numbers...and it wouldn't be like a million people there anyway. One practice and qualifying on Saturday, race on Sunday. I have always hated the exclusivity of the garages. I don't want damn access to the drivers----I want car time! I would go a step further moving forward. NASCAR's excuse for limiting garage access is because the garages are hot during practices. Make them shut them down, and push them to the garages during practices if they need to work on them. That way, you cold have more people in the garages without the risk. Teams would hate that, but right now set up off of the truck is crucial.....keep it crucial so you don't have to wheel the thing back and/or change the way you make changes (at the end of practice instead of during).
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Yea, I agree with you about the exclusivity of the garage. Used to be an hour or so after the race on Sunday they would open the gates to the garage/pits for anyone. We almost always hung around for that and really enjoyed it. Not sure if they still do this at some tracks.
I think the problem with opening the garage up to anyone before racing is the additional policing/monitoring that would be required. No doubt you are respectful of the crews and drivers, but there are some real jerks out there that will try and do crap that most of us wouldn't even think about. With that said, the open garage at IMSA seems to work OK...at least at Mid Ohio.
 
Revman said:
They don't have to remodel. Change the way you manage the garages/conduct a race weekend...save $. Hot Passes should not be for the few. This part of NASCAR pisses me off. ChampCar....Portland in the early 90's....A paddock pass got you what Hot Passes get you now.....they could pull it off because the paddock was cold....When I started attending NASCAR events, I'm like....Wait! What?....I have to be pretty to get to see the guys work on the cars? WTF? Wrong....especially if you are taking away hot time. This isn't that hard.
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News flash..they have been and will continue to remodel and re-work facilities. It's a tax break thing. The rest of your rant I feel for ya.
 
StandOnIt said:
Nascar continues to remodel tracks with designs that give fans more access to the garages and the drivers than ever before, and ironicaly COVID comes along and changes all that. :idunno:
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That access costs money and the nearby accommodations are already raping fan’s wallets with weekend stays.
 
Team Penske said:
And that sir is why I quit attending races since 1992.
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I absolutely love going to the track, and IMO it has been worth every dollar....but I am not sure I am down with spending literally thousands to shape a mini-vacation around a one day deal.
 
DIDIT said:
Yea, I agree with you about the exclusivity of the garage. Used to be an hour or so after the race on Sunday they would open the gates to the garage/pits for anyone. We almost always hung around for that and really enjoyed it. Not sure if they still do this at some tracks.
I think the problem with opening the garage up to anyone before racing is the additional policing/monitoring that would be required. No doubt you are respectful of the crews and drivers, but there are some real jerks out there that will try and do crap that most of us wouldn't even think about. With that said, the open garage at IMSA seems to work OK...at least at Mid Ohio.
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That's a great idea...and Sonoma has been playing with that on Fridays...granting at least some access after the track goes cold for the day. I have a pass at Sonoma that gives me awesome parking, and as an unexpected bonus, a couple of hours of garage access (they texted the invite on Saturday in 2019). Sonoma busts their asses for the fan. Skeptical when I went the first time, and now I love that place.

Fontana keeps you way back IMO. Even the pit lane access for practice has you plastered against the pit road suites behind a barricade. You used to be able to literally sit on the pit wall during practice and qualifying. When qualifying went hot, they shut everything down. Complete bull****. It freaking grinds me to crave that proximity to the cars--not get it--but watch pretty people stroll up and down pit lane with no clue about what they are looking at.

Now Phoenix, has it right with the remodel. I get everything I need there....but they (and now I) spent tons of money to do it. Some day, all tracks will be like this to @StandOnIt point....but if we reduce everything to one day....not sure how that will fly....
 
Revman said:
Open the damn garages on Friday. Yeah, that might mean that crews have to get there early, but I really think that that would be cool....the track would be cold, so the numbers of people who would come in on Friday would be increased, but NASCAR wouldn't have to worry about limiting numbers...and it wouldn't be like a million people there anyway. One practice and qualifying on Saturday, race on Sunday. I have always hated the exclusivity of the garages. I don't want damn access to the drivers----I want car time! I would go a step further moving forward. NASCAR's excuse for limiting garage access is because the garages are hot during practices. Make them shut them down, and push them to the garages during practices if they need to work on them. That way, you cold have more people in the garages without the risk. Teams would hate that, but right now set up off of the truck is crucial.....keep it crucial so you don't have to wheel the thing back and/or change the way you make changes (at the end of practice instead of during).
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Push from where? When you say more people in the garage do you mean unlimited? Insurance dictates a lot of what you dont like, NASCAR is trying to be more inclusive by building areas above the garage for fans to watch but its not possible at all of the tracks. I'm all for fans having access but you have to realistic Rev.
 
Revman said:
I absolutely love going to the track, and IMO it has been worth every dollar....but I am not sure I am down with spending literally thousands to shape a mini-vacation around a one day deal.
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Cost about #3,000. for a week from here in northern Canada for the Daytona 500.
 
Spotter22 said:
Push from where? When you say more people in the garage do you mean unlimited? Insurance dictates a lot of what you dont like, NASCAR is trying to be more inclusive by building areas above the garage for fans to watch but its not possible at all of the tracks. I'm all for fans having access but you have to realistic Rev.
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Push from pit lane....I think that those who want the access to the garages should be able to pay for it honestly. I wouldn't mind if tracks limited the amount of passes that could be sold, but Hot Passes should be for whoever can afford one. I get that insurance governs this to a degree, but I wonder what that insurance would look like if the garages were cold....I like the new access areas, but it will take eternity for this to be standard at all tracks as it should be.

I get that I am probably being somewhat unrealistic, but I get really tired of NASCAR promoting the drivers when the heroes I want to see are in the garages and behind laptops. I believe that there would be more appreciation for this side of the sport if it was more visible to the fans. My two cents...
 
Revman said:
Push from pit lane....I think that those who want the access to the garages should be able to pay for it honestly. I wouldn't mind if tracks limited the amount of passes that could be sold, but Hot Passes should be for whoever can afford one. I get that insurance governs this to a degree, but I wonder what that insurance would look like if the garages were cold....I like the new access areas, but it will take eternity for this to be standard at all tracks as it should be.

I get that I am probably being somewhat unrealistic, but I get really tired of NASCAR promoting the drivers when the heroes I want to see are in the garages and behind laptops. I believe that there would be more appreciation for this side of the sport if it was more visible to the fans. My two cents...
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Rev, some of these garages would be a quarter mile from pit road, time is of the essence especially if we are talking having 1 practice. Cold passes are more available for a reason and thats no activity is on track and its safer to move around the pits, hot passes are for when the track is active and is why they are so hard to come by. You have to be keenly aware of where you are at all times and have your head on a swivel and letting a bunch of fans walk around who have more then likely been tipping the bottle is beyond risky. NASCAR is probably the most fan friendly sport in the country as far as accessibility to the drivers and crews.
 
Fans can be a liability. Putting them in harms way can get really expensive quick when looking at it from the other side.
 
Spotter22 said:
Rev, some of these garages would be a quarter mile from pit road, time is of the essence especially if we are talking having 1 practice. Cold passes are more available for a reason and thats no activity is on track and its safer to move around the pits, hot passes are for when the track is active and is why they are so hard to come by. You have to be keenly aware of where you are at all times and have your head on a swivel and letting a bunch of fans walk around who have more then likely been tipping the bottle is beyond risky. NASCAR is probably the most fan friendly sport in the country as far as accessibility to the drivers and crews.
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I hear you man. Here's my thinking....right now, there is no practice....give them one, and they will have to approach it differently. Set the car up only for changes that can be made on pit road. We wouldn't be looking at the in and out of the garage thing anymore. It wouldn't be possible. I am getting my terminology all mixed up...there wouldn't be Hot Passes anymore...just Cold Passes. There is no question that as things are, fans could be allowed to flood the garages....we have to change our thinking about what garages should be. As for the lit fans....toss them if they are too lit to comply....just like in the stands. I don't care about driver accessibility. I want to watch the crews work....and really, I mostly see pit crews...I want to see the under car heroes.
 
Revman said:
I hear you man. Here's my thinking....right now, there is no practice....give them one, and they will have to approach it differently. Set the car up only for changes that can be made on pit road. We wouldn't be looking at the in and out of the garage thing anymore. It wouldn't be possible. I am getting my terminology all mixed up...there wouldn't be Hot Passes anymore...just Cold Passes. There is no question that as things are, fans could be allowed to flood the garages....we have to change our thinking about what garages should be. As for the lit fans....toss them if they are too lit to comply....just like in the stands. I don't care about driver accessibility. I want to watch the crews work....and really, I mostly see pit crews...I want to see the under car heroes.
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I'm not sure what you could do to the car on pit road to make changes unless you move all of the garage equipment out there. If you change a spring or shock or move some weight you have to re-scale the car. I'm all for being able to get a cold pass if you want to watch the guys work but I can see the tracks point when they have to user everyone out before it goes hot again.
 
I thought some tracks had a glass wall where you could stand and watch them work on a car and also see the driver IF he has the time.
 
Spotter22 said:
I'm not sure what you could do to the car on pit road to make changes unless you move all of the garage equipment out there.
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Isn't that what they do at Bristol? I would say that my other point is that right now, they don't have practice at all....if they only had one....and they knew what it would take to work on it....they would figure it out. Nobody thought they could race as they did with the one day shows. They did. Everything is now possible IMO.
 
Revman said:
but I get really tired of NASCAR promoting the drivers when the heroes I want to see are in the garages and behind laptops. I believe that there would be more appreciation for this side of the sport if it was more visible to the fans. My two cents...
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This ^

Being part of the fan council I occasionally am asked to opine on some NASCAR commercials. The ones that I give the most negative response on are those that unrealistically show fan interaction with the teams and drivers. I am sure some people go to the race anticipating to see their favorite driver out and about and expecting to get a picture or autograph only to find out it rarely happens at the track.
 
Revman said:
Isn't that what they do at Bristol? I would say that my other point is that right now, they don't have practice at all....if they only had one....and they knew what it would take to work on it....they would figure it out. Nobody thought they could race as they did with the one day shows. They did. Everything is now possible IMO.
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They do because there isnt a garage. Sure you can bring all that stuff out on pit road but you sure are creating a lot of work lol. Those haulers park by the garage for a reason. ;)
 
DIDIT said:
Being part of the fan council I occasionally am asked to opine on some NASCAR commercials. The ones that I give the most negative response on are those that unrealistically show fan interaction with the teams and drivers. I am sure some people go to the race anticipating to see their favorite driver out and about and expecting to get a picture or autograph only to find out it rarely happens at the track
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Driver appearances are everywhere.
 
Spotter22 said:
Driver appearances are everywhere.
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Yeah right, where other than a corporate tent would I been able to meet Kyle Busch during a race weekend? What if I wanted to meet Ryan Preece, where would I find him? This isn't the 80s and 90s any more.
 
DIDIT said:
Yeah right, where other than a corporate tent would I been able to meet Kyle Busch during a race weekend? What if I wanted to meet Ryan Preece, where would I find him? This isn't the 80s and 90s any more.
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Thats what driver appearance means , tent or not. Thats where you can get an autograph, unless you want to stalk the driver bus lots that are still outside the track.
 
Three day weekends were always a waste of time and money since they went to the one round of qualifying format. It could be justified when a second round of qualifying was held on Saturday. But now to have some type of practice on Saturday, teams would still have to arrive on Fridays. That's another day of lodging for crews. It needs to be 2 days, but I don't know if they could make that work even with one round of practice and qualifying.
 
If the hotels have 3 and 4 day minimum stay rules and you are not near something else that can entertain the family I can see it contributing to less butts in the seats
 
MRM said:
Three day weekends were always a waste of time and money since they went to the one round of qualifying format. It could be justified when a second round of qualifying was held on Saturday. But now to have some type of practice on Saturday, teams would still have to arrive on Fridays. That's another day of lodging for crews. It needs to be 2 days, but I don't know if they could make that work even with one round of practice and qualifying.
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I think NASCAR has lost sight of just how cool it is to even witness them cranking the motors...even more awesome to see them go around the track--even alone. I don't know how you can attract new fans when we can't even seem to appreciate what we have. I am not so sure that we have to change what we have, but we sure as hell need to change how we share it. Why wouldn't the casual fan ask about why NHRA can give such complete access when to get the same access in NASCAR you have to be pretty.

....and another rant....I don't buy that the one day shows improved the racing--spare me the analytics. The leaderboards looked the same. The players at the end of the season looked the same. I think that is a narrative that NASCAR pushes like hell....and the owners don't mind because it saves them bucks. At the end of the day, we have whittled down the product to race day, and that is a damn shame because this sport should be about work over a weekend. Hell, even from a logic standpoint is doesn't add up...the bigger teams will have better sim stuff to prepare (I can't explain the KB stuff--nobody can) for one day shows.
 
Whiskyb said:
If the hotels have 3 and 4 day minimum stay rules and you are not near something else that can entertain the family I can see it contributing to less butts in the seats
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To some extent I agree. But as long as they still run the trucks or Xfinity cars on the other days there is some racing to see. For some of us hardcore racing folks, there is usually a local track or two in the area that can be checked out too.
 
Revman said:
Why wouldn't the casual fan ask about why NHRA can give such complete access when to get the same access in NASCAR you have to be pretty.
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You know, you bring up a good point here. I remember when I bought my first NASCAR tickets a few years ago and inquired about adding on a hot pass and the guy on the phone basically laughed at me and said that that wasn't an option, I was a little put off. I did add on the pit pass (I dont remember what the actual name of the pass was) and I was so underwhelmed at the access I have never purchased one since.

Coming from a dirt track background, this is one space NASCAR should improve. And like you said, the NHRA does it right. I went to the NHRA event in Indy some years ago and was thrilled with the access we were given. It added another level to the atmosphere of the event.

Just give us the option to purchase a hot pass and I think that is a win. Set the price at a level where it is a substantial increase over the base pit lane access and that would for the most part insure that you are only attracting fans who value the access and who wouldn't want to jeopardize the privilege/investment they have made.

Just my .02c
 
Revman said:
Push from pit lane....I think that those who want the access to the garages should be able to pay for it honestly. I wouldn't mind if tracks limited the amount of passes that could be sold, but Hot Passes should be for whoever can afford one. I get that insurance governs this to a degree, but I wonder what that insurance would look like if the garages were cold....I like the new access areas, but it will take eternity for this to be standard at all tracks as it should be.

I get that I am probably being somewhat unrealistic, but I get really tired of NASCAR promoting the drivers when the heroes I want to see are in the garages and behind laptops. I believe that there would be more appreciation for this side of the sport if it was more visible to the fans. My two cents...
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Team shops are generally open for tours.
 
Revman said:
....and another rant....I don't buy that the one day shows improved the racing--spare me the analytics. The leaderboards looked the same. The players at the end of the season looked the same. I think that is a narrative that NASCAR pushes like hell....and the owners don't mind because it saves them bucks. At the end of the day, we have whittled down the product to race day, and that is a damn shame because this sport should be about work over a weekend. Hell, even from a logic standpoint is doesn't add up...the bigger teams will have better sim stuff to prepare (I can't explain the KB stuff--nobody can) for one day shows.
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I agree 100% everything you’ve been saying in this thread. I truly hope when things get back to normal and the cash starts flowing again there is at least a 2.5 day weekend to have fans see these guy do a 45 min practice then qualify when they arrive say on a Friday, 1 hour practice after Xfinity race on a Saturday and then race day Sunday. I really miss the on track activities during a race weekend
 
Tim_Richmond_Fan said:
You know, you bring up a good point here. I remember when I bought my first NASCAR tickets a few years ago and inquired about adding on a hot pass and the guy on the phone basically laughed at me and said that that wasn't an option, I was a little put off. I did add on the pit pass (I dont remember what the actual name of the pass was) and I was so underwhelmed at the access I have never purchased one since.

Coming from a dirt track background, this is one space NASCAR should improve. And like you said, the NHRA does it right. I went to the NHRA event in Indy some years ago and was thrilled with the access we were given. It added another level to the atmosphere of the event.

Just give us the option to purchase a hot pass and I think that is a win. Set the price at a level where it is a substantial increase over the base pit lane access and that would for the most part insure that you are only attracting fans who value the access and who wouldn't want to jeopardize the privilege/investment they have made.

Just my .02c
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Yeah, when I first starting going to Auto Club, nobody could even tell me what my Pit Pass got me. Then, I figured it out, and it was awesome....sitting on the pit wall during practice and qualifying. When qualifying went hot, they pushed everybody back including the practices. Now, it is so restrictive, I didn't even bother going down there last February. I think that when "access" is discussed, everybody is on a different page. For many, it is about signed diecasts, etc.; for others, it is about proximity to the cars.
 
Revman said:
Why wouldn't the casual fan ask about why NHRA can give such complete access when to get the same access in NASCAR you have to be pretty.
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Funny, but good point. The few times I've been able to go shoot at Bristol there certainly is a lot of eye candy in the pits on race day.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Team shops are generally open for tours.
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Yeah, but that is senseless when what I want to see comes to every track I visit. I think NASCAR has a picture of what fans want, and the cars have nothing to do with it.
 
Revman said:
Yeah, when I first starting going to Auto Club, nobody could even tell me what my Pit Pass got me. Then, I figured it out, and it was awesome....sitting on the pit wall during practice and qualifying. When qualifying went hot, they pushed everybody back including the practices. Now, it is so restrictive, I didn't even bother going down there last February. I think that when "access" is discussed, everybody is on a different page. For many, it is about signed diecasts, etc.; for others, it is about proximity to the cars.
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I’m assuming this has to do with the safety of the fans as well as the crews. Especially in today’s age where the crazies come out more often.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
I’m assuming this has to do with the safety of the fans as well as the crews. Especially in today’s age where the crazies come out more often.
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and heaven forbid if one of them gets run over or hurt with 1500 lawyers out of work
 
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