Time has come for NASCAR to shorten races
The final 10 laps of Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race was about as good as it gets.
You had a three-wide battle for the lead, daring moves, cars banging into the wall – and each other – and Jeff Gordon spinning out and crashing.
And it was capped by Tony Stewart charging to the front in the final laps, stealing the win for his first victory with his new team.
It was the type of thrilling action you see often on short tracks or in restrictor-plate races, but rarely on the 1.5-mile tracks that dominate
the Sprint Cup schedule.
The fantastic finish, of course, was a direct result of the 10-lap shootout for $1 million – the highlight of the annual all-star race.
Maybe the finish was manipulated by the unique, quirky rules of the event. Maybe it was a bit contrived.
But it was still one of the most thrilling, dramatic finishes of the season.
It makes you wonder why NASCAR doesn’t tinker with the rules of its points races to somehow make them a bit more thrilling.
It could start by making them shorter, turning the 500-mile races into 400 miles and the 400-milers into 300 miles.
Throw a mandatory caution flag with 10 or 20 laps to go, forcing the field to line up for a double-file (lead-lap cars only) restart and setting up shootout similar to the all-star race.
Such a move would ensure that nearly every race has a dramatic finish.
The two May races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway usually offer proof that more is not necessarily better.
The 100-lap all-star race typically offers plenty of action and close racing, usually capped by a wild finish. The Coca-Cola 600, by contrast, is a long, drawn-out endurance test that typically comes down to pit strategy instead of a shootout.
The sport is going through a tough time. Attendance is down, sponsorship is hard to come by, and TV ratings have declined by double-digit numbers for every race this season, continuing a three-year trend that seems to have picked up steam.
NASCAR is investigating the current trend, looking for ways to better engage fans and stem the tide. It plans to look at all sorts
of things, from different start times to dictating when the networks can take commercial breaks.
But the easiest way to get fans to watch again is to produce better racing.
When asked why they have lost or are losing interest in the sport, the majority of fans cite two things: NASCAR’s new car and the quality of racing.
NASCAR must quickly address problems with the new car, tweaking its rules to make it more adjustable for teams and drivers and more raceable.
But maybe NASCAR also needs to take a look at the format of its races.
Perhaps its time to take a serious look at shortening all of its Sprint Cup events.
A 400- or 500-mile race that takes three to four hours to complete may be too much for today’s fan. Many admit that they watch the start of the race and then tune out for the next two to three hours, coming back only to catch the finish.
The 11 Sprint Cup races this year have taken an average of 3 hours, 17 minutes, with only three finishing in under three hours (and one of them was the rain-shortened Daytona 500).
Few professional sports events today take more than three hours, and most leagues are looking for ways to shorten their games. Even the popular National Football League, which often has more penalties than caution flags at Bristol, plays its games in about three hours.
NASCAR has had six Cup races this year that have taken nearly three and a half hours or more, including the four-hour Southern 500 at Darlington.
This week’s Coca-Cola 600 will take more than four hours while the two upcoming races at Pocono will come close.
That’s a long time to keep fans engaged. And when the finish is anticlimactic, that provides little incentive to watch again the next week.
For years, NASCAR has resisted shortening its 400- and 500-mile races. But maybe its time to revisit the issue.
Both Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are proponents of shorter races.
“I think there’s a very good argument to shorten all the races, especially the Dovers and Poconos that are just like pulling teeth … ,”
Johnson says. “For the better of the sport, we probably could shorten all our events.”
Gordon even thinks the prestigious Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race, has outlived its rich tradition.
“I wish it wasn’t 600 miles, to be honest,” said Gordon, who has won the race three times. “I think it takes away from the race. It’s not as exciting a race at 600 miles. In fact, 500 miles is too long to me. I think the 400-mile races are the most exciting we have.”
Shorter events would likely lead to better finishes, keeping the drivers, teams and cars fresher at the end and reducing the chance of someone pulling away and dominating the race.
Drivers would likely race harder in shorter races instead of pacing themselves and saving their equipment and themselves for the end.
And shorter races would be more likely to keep fans engaged, enticing them to stick around until the finish.
As Saturday night’s 10-lap sprint proved, less is sometimes better.
Jeff Owens is a writer for NASCAR Scene, which is published weekly, 46 weeks per year. Visit www.scenedaily.com for more information.
