Krista Voda: NASCAR’s progressive approach should pay off
Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., will play host to just one Sprint Cup race after NASCAR's recent realignment of the series schedule.
// Archive, NASCAR Illustrated
COMMENTARY
As we approach the end of an eventful 2010 season, there are plenty of reasons to be excited when looking ahead to where the schedule is taking us next year.
Looking at the changes NASCAR put in place, you have to applaud the sanctioning body for mixing things up. In today’s economy, and with everything out there competing for the fans’ attention and dollars, you have to take a progressive approach and that is exactly what NASCAR has done.
Let’s start out West. It’s no secret that Auto Club Speedway in Southern California has struggled with a lack of fan support. There are so many entertainment options in the greater Los Angeles area. To cite just one example, the track’s first of two Sprint Cup races was held the same week as the Academy Awards.
For a race team, success is measured by results. Simply put, if you don’t perform, then changes are going to be made. The same thing should hold true with the schedule. Auto Club Speedway didn’t perform, so I think it’s only fair it lost a race.
Teams will still travel across the country after the Daytona 500 with Phoenix International Raceway hosting the second race weekend of the season. That’s a tough trip for underfunded teams, particularly those in the Camping World Truck Series, to make without big budgets.
I think the Midwest has really come out a winner with the schedule changes … in all three series. As a native of Iowa, and in the spirit of complete disclosure, I must say this is very exciting!
Kansas Speedway was worthy of a second Cup date as it is centrally located and able to pull fans from Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. Iowa Speedway received an additional Nationwide event to go with its Truck Series race, and I can almost guarantee you all three races will sell out in 2011 (of course, I’m a little partial to the Truck race in July).
My only gripe is Chicagoland Speedway, in my opinion, was rewarded too much in this process. Chicagoland will now host the first race of the Chase and the track was granted a second Nationwide Series event.
I just don’t think the track deserved a second Nationwide race. One alternative would have involved moving a second date in that series to serve as a companion event to the Truck Series race in Darlington. That race was moved to March 12 next year and a Truck-Nationwide doubleheader during that Cup off weekend would have been fantastic.
The crowd at Chicagoland in July, for both Nationwide and Cup, was awful. I’m guessing some fans walked away after learning the track apparently was bundling tickets for multiple events, which I think is a ridiculous ticket-selling strategy.
NASCAR is giving Chicagoland all the help it can to sell seats with a Chase date and I hope the Windy City reciprocates with more than hot air. Hey, wouldn’t it be neat to see the final 10-race stretch begin at a place such as Bristol Motor Speedway? To start the “playoffs” at a short track would only spice things up during the most pivotal part of the season. Of course, Bristol doesn’t need the hype; Chicagoland does.
Kentucky Speedway will host a Sprint Cup race for the first time in 2011 and draw upon a region with major cities (Louisville, Lexington and Cincinnati) that has been largely untapped by NASCAR.
I used to work in that market doing weekend sports, and I’m really excited about Kentucky Speedway’s inaugural event next July. Not as excited as bluegrass native and FOX Sports colleague Darrell Waltrip, though. D.W. said it was like Christmas in August when the announcement was made this summer!
The April night race at Texas Motor Speedway adds another new dimension to the 2011 schedule. Texas always features great racing and the product will only be better under the lights. TMS President Eddie Gossage and his staff are second-to-none when it comes to promotion, so it will be fun to see what they come up with for the track’s first night race.
There was talk of Las Vegas Motor Speedway replacing Homestead-Miami Speedway as host of the season finale but that did not happen — yet. It would make sense with the Cup banquet now being held in Las Vegas at the end of the year, but it isn’t something that needed to be done right away. Ford has really built something special with its championship weekend to close the season for all three of NASCAR’s major touring series at Homestead.
Overall, I think the changes will be beneficial to NASCAR. For the tracks and fans that have benefited from the overhaul, the ball is now in your court. It’s time to step up and do all you can to make sure your new place on the schedule is justified.
