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NASCAR: Five reasons to move Cup Series races to Saturday

By Dustin Smith

CHARLOTTE, NC - OCTOBER 08: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 8, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - OCTOBER 08: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 8, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images) /
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CHARLOTTE, NC – OCTOBER 07: Air Titans dry the track during a rain delay (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC – OCTOBER 07: Air Titans dry the track during a rain delay (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /

Reason #1 – This would give NASCAR an extra day of rest or a fall-back rain day.

By and large, NASCAR race teams and fans at times travel long distances to attend races. By moving racing to Saturday, fans would have the ability to travel home afterwards or leave on Sunday and get home at a decent hour before going to work on Monday. The excuse of not wanting to get home late on Sunday would allow the sport to sell more tickets.

The current weekend format for most teams has them practicing once or twice on Friday, qualifying on Friday and racing on Sunday. If NASCAR were to have the Cup series race on Saturday, the weekend format would be two practices and qualifying on Friday followed by the race early Saturday afternoon. This format would open up Sunday for drivers to do Sunday gatherings with fans or the ability to get rest before the following week.

Another factor a Saturday race would benefit from is the ability to have Sunday available if weather were to be an issue. In a sense, it would give NASCAR an entire day to play with and fit a full race in. Right now, there is always the risk of a race moved to Monday due to inclement weather.

The current system has teams getting ready for a 1:00 PM Sunday start and having to race at 10:00 AM or 11:00 AM on Monday if rain were to become a factor. If rain were to become a factor on Saturday, NASCAR could start the Sunday race as early as 10:00 AM and have all day to fit the race in.

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