NASCAR needs its next big breakthrough. When NASCAR CEO Brian France famously said, “Boys, have at it,” he was speaking in the interest of the fans. But that was just the first step.
With the conclusion of the 2011 season and 2012 just around the corner, here is some tricky tactics NASCAR can employ to increase fanship:
Turn right. Run a few races backwards. It would add an interesting twist, create plenty of drama, force new strategy, and probably lead to some tremendous bumper cars. Teams would need to adjust everything from pit strategies to spotter locations and car setups to steering ratios. Any NASCAR fan would be fascinated
Back-to-back races, doubleheader style. Instead of one race every weekend, why not two? To eliminate Sprint Cup Series drivers from dominating Nationwide Series events, keep them occupied with two Sprint Cup races at once. This is only possible if tracks are close to each other, such as Lucas Oil Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, less than 10 miles apart. Race one Saturday morning and the other Sunday night. It would be NASCAR’s equivalent of a doubleheader.
Put a track in the Pacific Northwest. On second thought, with the economic situation in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, this might be impossible.
Shorten the season. The season lasts 40 weeks (Feb. to Nov.), longer than any other sport. With 28 tracks, the season should last, at most, 30 weeks – one race at each track, one All-Star race, and one bye week. Drivers have fewer opportunities to makeup a bad race, thus creating more drama. And a longer offseason would add more anticipation to the start of the season making the Daytona 500 even more special (if that is even possible).
Ditch the Chase for the Championship, but keep the points system the same. This gives every driver a chance to win the title and a reason to run the race. Under the current format, only the top 12 drivers are considered the last 10 races of the season. The others still race, but for what? Empty victories. The champion is the driver with the most points at the end of the season, simple enough, period.
More road courses. With over 20 oval-shaped tracks, races become monotonous. They cannot completely nix the classic track, but road courses are delightful. The Sprint Cup Series only uses three road courses. They could use two more road courses: Road America (showcased in the Nationwide Series) and one TBD, perhaps our neighbors to the North: the Edmonton City Centre Airport (converted to a racetrack) or our neighbors to the West: the Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi, Japan. Yeah, it may be confusing and nearly impossible, but it might be fun to try once. Only once.
Keep the ovals, but add a hill. All current tracks are on flat ground (boring). Imagine a race on a mountainside. Cars heave up the hill at 110mph, crawl through the turn, then scream downhill at over 250mph, hit the 60? bank, fly around the corner, and lug back up the hill. Even describing it sends chills down the spine.
Go back to the glory days in car design. This day in age, there is no noticeable difference between the Toyotas, the Dodges, the Chevys, or the Fords. The Car of Tomorrow is safer and all that unexciting important stuff, but there is no uniqueness. Let manufacturers flaunt their models; let the Chargers look like Chargers (and the Camrys look like Camrys). There must be a way to add the safety equipment without sacrificing the cars’ distinctive curvature. At least, make it look like “stock car” racing.
Along those same lines, the “shark fin” looks stupid. It serves a very important purpose, but it looks stupid. If NASCAR ever finds a way to eliminate flying cars without a “shark fin,” do it. Until then, everybody has to live with the awful “shark fin.” (“Shark fin” sounds annoying to say. “Shark fin…”).
During televised broadcasts, there should be no commercial breaks. ESPN has done a wonderful job displaying the race and the commercials simultaneously. It makes sense for a nonstop broadcast for there are no timeouts in NASCAR. Every network should adopt the idea. Especially during a wreck cleanup or yellow flag laps, keep the cameras rolling. Throw the picture at the corner of the screen and show the commercials. More than anything, after a bad crash, everybody wants to see the result. It brings relief to see the drivers walking out of the medical hut.
Along those same lines, break the main picture up as needed. If there are two good battles, show them both. The commentators shut up and the race tells the whole story. When the battles are over, the commentators can resume.
If Tony Stewart wants to box after a race, give them gloves and a ring. Reminiscent of chessboxing, NASCARboxing would be freakin’ awesome. These guys are not very tall (or tough) (yes, that is a challenge, Stewart) and how great would it be to see two angry small men fight, probably after they crashed? Answer: indescribably awesome.
NASCAR is America’s co-pastime, but it could use a facelift. Next year, NASCAR turns 64. It is either time to think about retirement or hit the pedal to the metal. The green flag is waving.
On the count of…
3
The first Daytona 500 in 1959 took three days. Originally, Johnny Beauchamp was declared the winner, but after reviewing photographs and film for three days, NASCAR officials reversed the decision and determined Lee Petty had won. Fortunately, since that time, video replay review has monumentally improved. Yet, for some reason, officials (NFL) still get it wrong – a lot.