NASCAR: It’s Time To Revamp Speedweeks
According to early numbers, television ratings for Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited were dramatically lower than they have been for the last five years. The new Charter system has eliminated much of the drama from the qualifying Duels. Is it time for NASCAR to revamp the format of Speedweeks?
Early numbers say the Sprint Unlimited drew a 1.0 rating for its broadcast on FOX Saturday night. That is a severe downturn from the last five years of broadcasts (including a 2.0 the year it was on FOX Sports 1), losing to the Republican Presidential debate and the NBA’s All-Star Saturday Night. My Twitter feed would support this, as it was blowing up over whatever Donald Trump was doing, a Steph Curry/Klay Thompson-showdown in the NBA 3-point shootout, and Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon tearing it up with several amazing dunks. The Unlimited had…um…some crashes and an aborted “new” green/white/checkered finish. Sweet.
Why is this race still on Saturday night? Between the format, the convoluted “qualifying” format that inflates the field, and the “no points” and “checkers or wreckers” rhetoric, the Unlimited is, at best, the All-Star Race-adjace.
Meanwhile, I just flipped through my (cheap plug) Xfinity guide to see what is on for sports Wednesday night. Literally EVERY ESPN channel has college basketball. FOX Sports 1? College basketball. Regular FOX? American Idol, a show that is in its final season. Is there an opportunity for NASCAR to revamp Speedweeks and dip its toe in the waters of a live, weeknight Cup race? Imagine this potential Speedweeks schedule.
- Sunday: Daytona 500 practice
- Monday: Daytona road course test period/Daytona 500 practice
- Tuesday: Daytona 500 practice/Sprint Unlimited practice
- Wednesday night: Sprint Unlimited
- Thursday morning: Daytona 500 single-car qualifying
- Thursday evening: Qualifying duels
- Friday: Camping World Truck Series qualifying and race
- Saturday: Xfinity Series qualifying and race
- Sunday: Daytona 500
Does anyone hate this? I live on the west coast, so I would have to DVR the Unlimited. Do you know what else I have to DVR? Almost every other live sports event that starts at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT. DVRing is a part of life as a west coast sports fan. (Also no commercials, so it is not all bad.) And by opening the track for practice Sunday, you still get the teams coming to Daytona for the entire week, which should lessen the impact on the local economy.
I understand the tradition of qualifying Sunday and having the Duels Thursday, but you would have a shorter list of traditions that NASCAR hasn’t messed with in the last few years. And really, with charters in place locking in 90% of the field, why are they qualifying on a week before the race and four days before the qualifying races? Run qualifying the morning of the qualifying races and the earlier three days of testing might gain importance, especially for the “open” teams who can automatically qualify via their qualifying times. (And throwing a practice/test on the road course seems like an opportunity to give all the teams a free test, since they are all there in Daytona, anyway.)
More racing: The Five Greatest Drivers To Never Win The Daytona 500
NASCAR has changed just about everything that could be changed in the past decade. I am not sure I understand why they stick with a 60-year old schedule for the marquee event of the season.