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NASCAR: What’s wrong with NASCAR? Part 5 – Scheduling

By William Richard

LONG POND, PA - JUNE 03: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 3, 2018 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
LONG POND, PA - JUNE 03: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 3, 2018 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /
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MARTINSVILLE, VA – MARCH 26: A general view of the weather delayed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on March 26, 2018 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
MARTINSVILLE, VA – MARCH 26: A general view of the weather delayed Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on March 26, 2018 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /

History

To make this short and sweet, NASCAR’s current scheduling is abysmal and embarrassing. I’m not trying to be harsh, but when I designed this series centered around critiquing the sport, it was with the intent to be as serious as I can be. That may mean a few feelings get hurt on this journey.

In the early years of the sport, stock cars were found flying around local dirt tracks and small asphalt venues. Cars would beat and bang, creating a show for those in attendance. This rough and tumble racing formed the back bone of early NASCAR in the 1940s and 1950s.

Throughout the years, NASCAR began investing in bigger facilities such as Darlington Raceway, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway. Even with such progression, short track racing still played a major role in scheduling until the mid-1990s. With the popularity of the sport on the rise, new race tracks were popping up across the country.

These tracks eventually played a role in the sport’s current scheduling conundrum. Races would be moved from places like North Wilkesboro Speedway and Rockingham Speedway to Auto Club Speedway and Kansas Speedway. The intermediate design was all the craze. New facilities included the likes of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and eventually Kentucky Speedway.

Little did we know this wide range of investment would later hinder the sport in a major way.

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