NASCAR: Should the seasons start and end earlier?

Given the lack of attendance and disappearing fan base, should the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series seasons start and end earlier?

It is no secret the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is losing fans at an alarming rate. Each week, crowds seem to be getting smaller and smaller when the TV camera pans the bleachers. Could the start and end of the season be the cause for the loss in fans?

There is a major conflict in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff format that causes the sport to lose viewers for the most important part of the schedule. That conflict, of course, being the start of the National Football League regular season. The Cup Series will kick of its 2018 playoffs at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 16th, the week after the start of the NFL.

All the excitement and anticipation of watching NASCAR’s best fight for a title can at times be put on the back-burner to football. By and large, true NASCAR fans will choose watching the playoff races. On the other hand, the football and NASCAR fans likely will be watching football over the first playoff race.

It is unfortunate timing that the NFL and NASCAR playoffs just happen to start around the same time, hence why it makes sense to research the idea of starting and ending the season earlier. Rather than starting the season in mid-February, run the Daytona 500 in mid-January and end the season in mid-October.

Why it makes sense

Sure, ending the season in the middle of October will still conflict with the NFL. However, if the start of the playoffs is in August, the NFL will be in preseason mode, putting all the major network hype on NASCAR.

Not only do you have the NFL starting the same time as the NASCAR playoffs begin, but October baseball, NBA basketball and NHL hockey are right around the corner as well. The move to a January start could still manage to grow the sport while avoiding conflicts with other events.

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For the first year, teams and drivers would lose a month of their offseason, which, after a nine-month season, may not be popular move. However, it would only be for one year. The average temperatures in Daytona Beach, Florida in January, according to Current Weather Results, are between 47 and 68 degrees.

February temperatures are only three degrees warmer. The circuit would then go to Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fontana, and all of those locations have warm weather, so snow tires would not be necessary.

NASCAR will always have to compete with other sports such as the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. However, starting the season in January doesn’t conflict with the start of any major sport. Similarly, the playoffs wouldn’t conflict with the start of any major sport as well. The first playoff race would be a month before the first real NFL game. There would be a month and a half before the MLB begins its playoffs.

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So, I vote to start the season in January. Begin the playoffs in mid-August. Finally, end the season in mid-October. Fans will be more likely to focus their attention to NASCAR as opposed to other sports. I truly think the lack of fans is based on the lack of excitement at the start because too much other stuff is happening, and the playoffs lose their luster because of the NFL. Do you think it would be beneficial for the NASCAR Cup Series to start and end their season earlier? Would this change help the sport build its fanbase?

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