What can you do about the rain? Plenty, but not when you start The Great American Race at 3:30 EST.
All week long Nascar has been endlessly hyping the dramatic finishes of the Daytona 500. The Allison-Yarborough fight in the infield. Petty's numerous wins. DW's silly dance in Victory Lane. Did you notice what all those old time dramatic moments had in common? Answer: They were all in broad daylight, not in pitch darkness.
Fast forward to 2009, when Nascar continues its wrongheaded quest for that elusive West Coast TV audience by starting the Daytona 500 in the late afternoon. And I do mean "late". A rain storm moved through the area around 6:00 PM, and in less than 30 minutes, they decided to call the race and declare Kenseth the winner. Dramatic? Uh, no, not at all. I love Nascar's explanation that at that time of night, the Florida air gets too damp to dry the track. That begs the question, if the track could be dried three hours earlier, why isn't race starting three hours earlier?
I'm not complaining about Kenseth being declared the winner. It's probably true that the track could not have been dried before 10:00 or 11:00 at night, if at all. Who knows? That is not the issue. The issue is that the race starts so late that at this point, any weather issue, even a passing shower, will almost always force the race to be shortened to less than 500 miles.
Furthermore, Fox is blatantly using the big race as an entry to their big Sunday night primetime lineup. Do you really think Fox wants to wait around for 2 hours in a rain delay, and disrupt the biggest TV viewing night of the week? Hardly. Fox wants the race done by 7:30 PM, one way or the other.
Nascar's West Coast dream is dead. The ratings are not there. The attendance is not there. Folks in California are just not that into Nascar. But Nascar continues to punish its core fan base, and the East Coast, by starting the Daytona 500 late in the day. All in hopes of drumming up a handful of TV viewers in Los Angeles. It backfired in a big way on Sunday, when the showcase event of the year, Nascar's "Super Bowl", ended with a damp whimper instead of a last lap bang. The same situation played out a few years back when Michael Waltrip won a similarly rain-shortened Daytona 500.
The Daytona 500 should start at Noon or 1:00 PM EST, at the latest. If there is no rain, the race would be over by 5:00 PM, in the daylight. If there was rain, even for an hour or two, in the middle of the afternoon, it would still be during the warm daylight hours, and Nascar would have plenty of time and sunshine to get the track dried and get the race in.
If the 2009 Daytona 500 had been held at a normal time of 1:00 PM EST, it would have been long finished by the time the rains came, and fans across the country would have gotten what they have a right to expect: a checkered flag finish at the end of 500 miles. Shame on Nascar for not doing their best to provide that.
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14 comments:
you're exactly right. i've been screaming this for a while; start the races earlier. nascar has lost all credibility with me. they don't have a bit of common sense. if they did, they wouldn't have turned their series into an iroc race. i'm done. will not watch any longer.
Yes,I was dissapointed at the short race too.I came from Connecticut to see the race.People as a group need to stick together and boycott such events for a year or two,then we will see how things get changed to make the fans happy.Nascar does not care about the fans,they pretend too.They need the money.We (the fans)have the money.I have only one word to say on how to correct the problem of shortened races,over priced tickets,lousy race track food,the long bathroom lines,and nascar's ability to choose who they want to win the championship.>>BOYCOTT<<.If the money stops coming in believe me things will change.Nascar does not even have a place to post your thoughts.They dont want you too.They want your money,money,money,nothing else!!..I personnally will not attend another nascar sanctioned big race.I will go to my local short tracks,watch some really good racing,spend my hard earned money in my community,and enjoy good hard "rubbing is racing" fun!!,without all the pre determined agenda of nascar.Its too bad I will be replaced with a fan who does not know the real deal.He will come in with his money for a couple years like I did,like so many thousands will,buy good seats,and realize the whole thing is just about the money.He will be replaced with the next unknowing fan,and so on.In case you folks who read this didnt get me the first time..BOYCOTT.Dont go,spend your money on your local racing!!.If the cash flow slows down,they will change and make it a good event like it used to be...Had enough in CT,never again.
To further illustrate just how FEW fans there are in California, just watch how FEW fans show up for the "pseudo" CUP race at the always boring California / Auto Club / Fontana (name du jour) track out on the "left coast." But....but, don't forget to tune back in the fall, in case you were living under a rock and didn't hear....California has been such a success story, it was "rewarded" with a Chase date.... see you in the fall to count empty seats.
With the combination of late start times, & less than riveting racing. NA$CAR is risking people in other parts of the country, findind other things to do on Sunday. They want to be like the NFL. Then be like the NFL. Stop letting Faux dictate their start times. Promoters say they want to appeal to fans within driving distance, all well & good. Any promoter knows you need to get fans home at a decent hour.
Faux, & Goodyear are both stinking up the show, but hey, they both pay big bucks to NA$CAR.
dawg
You are exactly right!! Nascar needs to figure it out and quick before they loose there fan base. That was the worst 500 race I have ever scene and not just for the fans there. What about the people at home that have parties for this and Nascar ruins it. Start the races at 1 like they used to!!
I went to the 500 twice. The last time, we waited for an hour and a half to get the shuttle bus back to the parking lot and didn't get back to our hotel until midnight (this after arriving for the race at 9 a.m.). Honestly, I hate the late race starts so much it hurts. That combined with expensive tickets and boring racing make the sport that once was must see TV or gotta get there, just ho hum and why bother. I don't mind Kenseth winning, but the Daytona 380 could have been avoided if NASCAR didn't keep up this stupid idea that many people in California care and if FOX/TNT/ESPN weren't allowed to dictate the start times. NASCAR - get a clue!
Good points...
If Nascar wants to be like the NFL, have all races start at common times. Every Sunday, the NFL has games at 1 EST and 4 EST.
Also, a "day" race that starts at 3 PM or later means that you aren't getting home til very late at night. That limits the fans who can attend the race.
"The Daytona 380"...I like it!
Yea, I bought a hat at the race that says Daytona 500 2009. I just sratched out 500 and wrote in 380. thats great. and its a camo hat too
we got home in orlando at 11.30, got to the track at 9am. and had work the next day. Imagine if the 380 had gone the full 500, what time would have we got home.
Its all about the money.Them that have the gold make the rules.The people involved in nascar are giving it to the fans in the keeeeester..We have had enough.>>Dik Goesinya
Excuse me? The Daytona 500 was sacrificed for the EAST coast TV market.
The race was called so Fox could begin showing their prime time schedule on the east coast. Period. The decision to call the race happened at 3:30pm pacific time. In no way does that help west coast TV viewing.
Yes TV drove the decision, but let's be clear....east coast viewers nearly always get the prime time sports viewing opportunities. Those of us on the west coast get squat.
perfect article we traveled from ny to attend and did not get our monies worth we want to see a whole race flag to flag
screw the california market they dont care in the least
and the so called pre race show is a joke only a handful of folks even pay any attention to it at all
give us back a 1 pm start
and ps by the time we got out of the track back to the car and drove in a huge cirle the police make us go in we did not arrive back at my friends houe in the orlando area till near midnight
heidi and stephen
I'm from the west coast and I agree with you regarding the start of the race. It would be nice to see a race completed. It seems like the starting time of a lot of the races has been getting later and later. It's not just Daytona. The California race doesn't start till 2:oo pm PST. We went to a California Speedway race in 2002 and the race started at noon. The later the start, the more I lose interest. There are other things to do other than watch a race dictated by Fox's schefule. I've had it. And then na$car wonders why they're losing fans.
If only races would go back to the traditional 1PM start. *sigh*
But, I may as well wish for $.25 a gallon for gas while I'm at it.
A fellow refugee from The Daly Planet.
I live in Orange County, California and could not agree more with moving the race start times back to 12pm est. It is absolutely ridiculous that they moved the start times so far up. Regarding the poor racing at Fontana, I actually met the Publicity Director a couple of years ago and told him that they need to reconfigure the banking to FIX the track. I live an hour from Fontana, but will not pay to go. I already have my tickets and hotel for the following week in Vegas. Gillian needs to take a cue from Bruton and fix the *&%(*%(*&%) place!!!
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