On second thought, NASCAR got it right
Bob Pockrass
Bob Pockrass began covering NASCAR in 1992, primarily covering short-track racing and events. He has worked for Street & Smith's Motorsports Group since 2003.
CONCORD, N.C. – Last night, I advocated starting the Coca-Cola 600 at 10 p.m. on the theory that there was a decent chance of no more rain and that NASCAR could run until maybe 1:30 a.m. or 2 a.m. before calling it a race. Even if the fans didn’t get home until the sun rose, most had the holiday to sleep.
Good thing NASCAR didn’t listen to me.
First off, it did rain later in the night and the race wouldn’t have gotten in. If I’m a fan and I was soaked and had to battle traffic at midnight for a race I didn’t see, I’d be upset, especially knowing I’d only be home for a few hours before trekking back to the track.
With the limited number of roads surrounding the track, it’s difficult to clear everyone at once, and that was evident last night. The time it takes to get people home needs to be taken into consideration when making the decision to postpone an event.
It’s got to be a tough call to postpone a race and we can all second guess. But this time, NASCAR ended up making the right call.
