Could NASCAR seek a competitive advantage over other sports?

With every other sport at a standstill, could NASCAR seek and obtain a competitive advantage over the rest of the sports world by being the first sport back in action?

In the second week of March, the coronavirus pandemic brought the world of sports to a screeching halt, and while the initial plan for NASCAR was to run races without fans in the grandstands, the sport was ultimately forced to postpone every race through the beginning of May.

As of now, the Cup Series season, which saw just four races contested before this unexpected stoppage, is scheduled to resume on Saturday, May 9 at Martinsville Speedway.

NASCAR postponements: TRACKER

More from NASCAR

Meanwhile, the NBA and NHL seasons were suspended, MLB Opening Day was postponed indefinitely and the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments were canceled for the first time since they came into existence.

NASCAR’s currently scheduled return date is certainly not set in stone. In fact, further changes to the schedule are expected at this point, based on recent stay-at-home executive orders, specifically the one issued in Virginia.

But NASCAR has made clear that nothing is off the table at this point: races without fans in the grandstands, mid-week races, doubleheaders, races moved to planned off weekends, you name it.

Of course, we saw how their plans to run races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway without fans in the stands turned out. They quickly changed to complete postponements.

However, NASCAR could be at an advantage due to their openness to try anything, and this is an advantage on which they could seek to capitalize over other sports.

NASCAR has already started, and the season is young, whereas for the NBA and NHL, the playoffs would be starting later this month. Even under safe conditions and even without fans in the arenas, finishing the regular season and coming up with a new schedule for 30 teams and 31 teams, respectively, could become a logistical nightmare.

For the MLB, no fans in stadiums is an option as well. But spring training was in progress when it was brought to a screeching halt, so there will likely need to be additional preparation time for players before the season actually gets started.

But similar to the NBA and NHL, there are 30 teams in 30 cities, and that doesn’t include the 162 minor league teams from Single-A to Triple-A.

In NASCAR, everyone competes at the same location — notably, an outdoor location — each weekend.

Should NASCAR be the first to return, the potential for ratings to be higher than ever would be off the charts. This pandemic has left fans deprived of sports, and the return of any major sport could potentially do wonders for viewership, especially if that sport is the only sport back over any period of time.

The same thing goes for other motorsports such as IndyCar or Formula 1, although Formula 1 doesn’t appear to be in as good of a situation considering all of their races are in different countries.

Folds of Honor Foundation founder Dan Rooney echoed this sentiment about the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which was scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 15 but ended up becoming the first postponed race.

Folds of Honor is the title sponsor of this race, the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. Here is what Rooney had to say, according to The Roanoke Times.

"“We were like, ‘OK, we’ll watch it on television.’ And the great news was that it was going to be the most-watched NASCAR race in history because there’s nothing else on TV.”"

Indeed, it would have been. And depending on when it ends up being held, it still might be.

Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark

Could NASCAR seek and obtain a competitive advantage over other sports by being the first to return from the current stoppage? There are obviously bigger things to worry about right now than being the first sport to get back into action, but NASCAR is definitely well-positioned to be the first back, and that would inevitably boost its popularity.

Home/NASCAR

Could NASCAR seek and obtain a competitive advantage?

By Asher Fair | Apr 3, 2020

With every other sport at a standstill, could NASCAR seek and obtain a competitive advantage over the rest of the sports world by being the first sport back in action?