Fan Commentary

My Stab at Winston Cup Scheduling

by Grandstand Bob

I come from a big family, and while the wide variety of characters with my bloodlines makes family events interesting, it also causes scheduling problems. Just recently, yet another one of my cousins got married for yet another time. Of course, this event has huge significance to her and her family, but to me, it was just another event for which I had to cough up a gift and/or make an excuse for my absence. Only by completely changing my lifestyle to accommodate all of these family requests would I be able to keep everyone happy.

NASCAR finds itself in a similar situation. They have a year jammed packed with race weekends, and new spectacular tracks competing with older, traditional tracks for the valuable race dates.

Like my cousin and her much-anticipated wedding, each track believes that it completely deserves the attention of two race weekends, and would squeal loudly should a race weekend be taken away. It would be nice to give everyone what they wanted, but there are only so many raceable weekends in a year, and it is important to expand the market by expanding races to other parts of the country.

On the other hand, every decision has consequences. Just ask North Wilkesboro. The track is now literally overgrown with weeds, and the local economy is still feeling the effects of losing a huge event in an area with little else to attract the kind of crowd a Winston Cup race attracts.

You just know that executives from nearby Martinsville, Rockingham and Darlington have driven past Wilkesboro and had recurring nightmares of the same thing happening to their tracks. There is nothing in any of those areas that has the local earnings potential and national recognition of a NASCAR Winston Cup race. Contrast that with NASCAR’s three newest locations: Miami, Chicago and Kansas City. Though the economic impact of a race in these metropolitan areas is significant, its importance to the local economy pales in comparison with the previously mentioned locations in the Southeast.

Martinsville, for example, is frequently mentioned as a track that shouldn’t have two dates. Incidentally, Martinsville is one of the nicest places I have ever attended a race. It’s an absolutely beautiful setting, the facilities are top-notch and the racing is typically some of the best we see all year long. Unfortunately, Martinsville is located in race-saturated region and its seating growth is somewhat limited, because it is a half-mile track and is bordered on one side by a train track.

Making matters worse, the local economy of Martinsville is dependent on textile manufacturing, which has been in the dumps in the past few years, with little hope of recovery. If you take even one race date from Martinsville, it loses a huge part of its annual operating revenue, which will further doom this nice little town.

So, do you say the hell with Martinsville and its legions of loyal people, and take one of their dates and give it to Texas, which its much larger market and facility? Surely, this will lead to increased revenues and exposure for the sport. Or, do you stick with tradition and sentimentality and leave Martinsville alone? It’s a tough question, and even tougher if you are in charge of the sports and responsible for its growth and financial stability.

For all that I complain about NASCAR and its leadership, there are some decisions I wouldn’t want to make, and that is one of them.

Of course, I don’t have to answer to shareholders, and my decisions won’t bring the sport to its knees, so I enjoy the freedom to speculate loosely about what I would do. And, what I would do is spread the Busch and Craftsman Truck races around, and make sure that tracks condusive to great racing get priority for Winston Cup races. Most fans watch on TV, and boring races do nothing for the growth of the sport.

Thus, if I could screw around with the schedule freely, I would eliminate races at Watkins Glen and Sears Point. Road courses often lead to boring races, and they require that teams build and test special cars, sometimes even hire special drivers. New Hampshire should also be considered for losing a race date. We’ve seen enough parades.

Those race dates could be spread among the tracks in the new markets, like Kansas City and Chicago, without killing some of the sport’s traditional venues, like Martinsville, Rockingham and Darlington.

I'm not without sympathy for the people of Watkins Glen, Sears Point and New Hampshire. Instead of Winston Cup races, maybe they can have weekends with the Busch and/or Craftsman Truck series. And, that brings me to another point.

I believe that the racing is often as good and just as exciting in Busch and Craftsman Truck, as it is in Winston Cup. If those series and their drivers were marketed appropriately, I believe that they could be almost as popular as their brethren in Winston Cup. In fact, I believe that they could stand alone with tremendous success in many venues, especially the new ones. Again though, the NASCAR marketing machine must crank up the power on those series for them to have tremendous success.

Of course, those decisions, while they would please some, would displease many others, kind of like my decision to send my cousin a check and skip the wedding in favor of a fishing trip. Sometimes you just gotta do what feels right.

Grandstand Bob Profile and Past Columns

note: This opinions expressed in this column are those of writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of ARS Racing Outlet or its parent company, amI, Inc.