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I do not always agree with Monte Dutton, but I always respect his opinion and admire his writings.
An excellently written article on the move of Winston Cup races to Saturday nights. Some outstandingly quotable lines.
ROCKINGHAM — Another night race. Hip, hip hooray.
Every week brings another release detailing the rescheduling of another major NASCAR event for Saturday night instead of Sunday afternoon. The latest precinct to fall in this landslide election is the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. It joins the Charlotte fall race, which NASCAR allowed to succumb to the trend in 2003.
There are two reasons I oppose night races with every ounce of my being. One is selfish; one is not.
Night races stink for reporters because deadlines make it unable for us to cover the races. There, I’ve said it. Night races might be exciting. I really wouldn’t know because I’ve got my nose in my laptop screen all night long, describing the race as it occurs so that I can throw a few pseudo-descriptive paragraphs on the top of it and ship it electronically within five minutes of the checkered flag falling.
All stories of night races stink. The craftsman — not that I’m one — can come off less nonsensical than most. A quality race story is not an option. The goal becomes describing the race in a manner that might expose one not as a blithering idiot but merely as an idiot. The only good writing about night races occurs a day late and a dollar short.
I also oppose them because they are killing the weekly short tracks of this land. The Coca-Cola 600 is at night. The Winston is at night. Two races at Richmond are at night. One race at Bristol is at night. The best that can be said for the Budweiser Shootout is that, since it occurs in early February, it will only ruin attendance at dirt-track races in Florida and not the rest of America.
I know this is free enterprise and survival of the fittest and all that.
I also know what the Bible said in Proverbs 21:13: “He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered.”
Major night races are killing the sport at the local level. Recent years have seen the closing of innumerable historic short tracks. Many simply skip the Saturday nights when Winston Cup races are available for fans to watch on TV at home. Precious few Saturday nights remain in the mid-spring-to-mid-fall season that exists in much of the country.
When the short tracks are gone, from where are the racers to come? The Legends track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway? Do we really want to gentrify this sport to the point that is solely comprised of the affluent and their privileged young? If so, we will be remaking American motorsports in the image of the rest of the world, where it is descended from nobility, not moonshiners.
Night races also prevent fans from enjoying the areas where the races are held. Do fans not enjoy nightlife that is apart from the spectacle at the track? Whatever happened to going out to dinner or taking in a show? Does every single dime have to be spent with NASCAR? I understand why that is the plan, and I understand why NASCAR yearns to be seen, a la “Monday Night Football,” in prime time.
For the life of me, though, I think a lot of this rush to Sunday nights is accomplished with a brainwashing of sorts. So many people talk about how cool the night races are that fans start to believe it. Excitement is in the air at night, sparks fly and flashbulbs pop. Excitement used to be in the air on Sunday afternoons until apparently we became so difficult to please.
The danger is that NASCAR, by paying complete attention, as usual, to the wallet, is going to cut out its own heart. To say that the heart of racing is under the dimmer lights of local short tracks is more than a cliché. In the glitter of the big time, there is, in fact, really no heart at all.
Oh, sorry, I forgot. That happened already, didn’t it?
An excellently written article on the move of Winston Cup races to Saturday nights. Some outstandingly quotable lines.
ROCKINGHAM — Another night race. Hip, hip hooray.
Every week brings another release detailing the rescheduling of another major NASCAR event for Saturday night instead of Sunday afternoon. The latest precinct to fall in this landslide election is the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. It joins the Charlotte fall race, which NASCAR allowed to succumb to the trend in 2003.
There are two reasons I oppose night races with every ounce of my being. One is selfish; one is not.
Night races stink for reporters because deadlines make it unable for us to cover the races. There, I’ve said it. Night races might be exciting. I really wouldn’t know because I’ve got my nose in my laptop screen all night long, describing the race as it occurs so that I can throw a few pseudo-descriptive paragraphs on the top of it and ship it electronically within five minutes of the checkered flag falling.
All stories of night races stink. The craftsman — not that I’m one — can come off less nonsensical than most. A quality race story is not an option. The goal becomes describing the race in a manner that might expose one not as a blithering idiot but merely as an idiot. The only good writing about night races occurs a day late and a dollar short.
I also oppose them because they are killing the weekly short tracks of this land. The Coca-Cola 600 is at night. The Winston is at night. Two races at Richmond are at night. One race at Bristol is at night. The best that can be said for the Budweiser Shootout is that, since it occurs in early February, it will only ruin attendance at dirt-track races in Florida and not the rest of America.
I know this is free enterprise and survival of the fittest and all that.
I also know what the Bible said in Proverbs 21:13: “He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered.”
Major night races are killing the sport at the local level. Recent years have seen the closing of innumerable historic short tracks. Many simply skip the Saturday nights when Winston Cup races are available for fans to watch on TV at home. Precious few Saturday nights remain in the mid-spring-to-mid-fall season that exists in much of the country.
When the short tracks are gone, from where are the racers to come? The Legends track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway? Do we really want to gentrify this sport to the point that is solely comprised of the affluent and their privileged young? If so, we will be remaking American motorsports in the image of the rest of the world, where it is descended from nobility, not moonshiners.
Night races also prevent fans from enjoying the areas where the races are held. Do fans not enjoy nightlife that is apart from the spectacle at the track? Whatever happened to going out to dinner or taking in a show? Does every single dime have to be spent with NASCAR? I understand why that is the plan, and I understand why NASCAR yearns to be seen, a la “Monday Night Football,” in prime time.
For the life of me, though, I think a lot of this rush to Sunday nights is accomplished with a brainwashing of sorts. So many people talk about how cool the night races are that fans start to believe it. Excitement is in the air at night, sparks fly and flashbulbs pop. Excitement used to be in the air on Sunday afternoons until apparently we became so difficult to please.
The danger is that NASCAR, by paying complete attention, as usual, to the wallet, is going to cut out its own heart. To say that the heart of racing is under the dimmer lights of local short tracks is more than a cliché. In the glitter of the big time, there is, in fact, really no heart at all.
Oh, sorry, I forgot. That happened already, didn’t it?