things I would do to improve NASCAR for the better

[Blitz24]

As much as it would be a dream to see NASCAR run internationally, it's not feasible.

Rockingham has nothing around it period. Compare it to South Korea's F1 Circuit. It's right near a small town and the sport outgrew it.
Eldora in November? Bad idea. Why not just run it in the summer.

Good luck convincing all of the teams the logistics of traveling to Europe and Asia/Australia.

Running a 2.5 mile track without a restrictor plate? Only takes 1 huge wreck for one to realize why they had to put it back on.

Grid starts are not feasible at road courses. Only tracks were it would work are tracks that already do it.

Starting a race 3-wide? So now they should copy IndyCar? the only series that does start 3 wide?

It's more of a wish list as it is not feasible.

 

[ukfan758]

As much as it would be a dream to see NASCAR run internationally, it's not feasible.

Rockingham has nothing around it period. Compare it to South Korea's F1 Circuit. It's right near a small town and the sport outgrew it.
Eldora in November? Bad idea. Why not just run it in the summer.

Good luck convincing all of the teams the logistics of traveling to Europe and Asia/Australia.

Running a 2.5 mile track without a restrictor plate? Only takes 1 huge wreck for one to realize why they had to put it back on.

Grid starts are not feasible at road courses. Only tracks were it would work are tracks that already do it.

Starting a race 3-wide? So now they should copy IndyCar? the only series that does start 3 wide?

It's more of a wish list as it is not feasible.

Lines 2&3: Rockingham is a fan favorite track, it was one of mine as well. You could say the same thing about Kentucky Speedway, Talladega, Watkins Glen, etc being out in the middle of nowhere.
Line 4: I put Eldora at the end of the year so that it would be a championship battle race and help add to the excitement to the end of the year, but it would be illogical to be racing there in November at those kind of temperatures and dirt races are more of a summer thing, I will put it somewhere in the summer.
Line 5: V8 Supercars does it, they didn't have a problem with it. They most likely have the same budget as NASCAR teams as well.
Lines 6&7: Advances in safety to the cars and tracks (catch fences, runoff area, safer barriers, etc.) would insure that the drivers and the fans would have a much smaller chance of injury. Car and track safety was far worse in the 1980s than it is today, I think they could race with out restrictor plates for one of the two races now.
Line 8: I said only SOME of the road course races would have grid starts, these tracks would be Monza and Silverstone. The other road course races would be traditional rolling starts.
Line 9: I thought it was cool when I first thought about it, but now I think it is sort of stupid. I'll remove it.

What do you think about the other things on my list?

 

[BKGlover]

Well someone beside myself seem to notice.

Yes, because everyone here has stated NASCAR is GOD and has never done nor can do wrong no matter the decision. Have you actually read anything that didn't agree with you, or are you using selective reading.

NASCAR does need improvement and it needs it fast. Attendance at the tracks and viewership on TV is going down drastically and it's because of the gimmicking of NASCAR that has happened since 2003. I would fix it like this:

Sorry, but your profile pic made it hard for me to take this seriously...for a bit. I'll run through this with my flawed, NASCAR worshiping thoughts (It's been a day, I'm on tilt.)

I. Miscellaneous
1. A true Let them race boys rule would be made, aggressive driving would be allowed as long as it doesn't involve intentionally wrecking someone, everything else would be allowed.
2. Racing back to the line would be reenacted, it has provided many exciting finishes and the fans loved it.
3. A standard setup for each track would be used for every car on the grid, this would ensure that every single car is exactly equal, therefore winning would be all about driver skill and fuel/tire strategy. This would make the races much more exciting as the cars would be closer together.
4. If rain occurs at road course races, NASCAR could race in the rain with rain tires. Oval races would still only be raced in dry conditions because oval races in the rain would be disastrous (it would be nothing but crashes) and probably dangerous.
5. Yellow flags would not be called for debris unless it was relatively large.
6. Spin outs would not cause full course cautions unless the car that has spun was stalled on the track. If a car spun off the track and stalled or just spun and was able to get going, local yellows would be deployed (this would go for both ovals and road courses).
7. Safety Car speeds would increase on road courses to help shorten the length that the safety car is out.
8. Grid starts would occur at some of the road course races. These tracks would be Silverstone and Monza.
9. Restrictor Plates would not be used at the Daytona 500 at Daytona and the Aarons 499 at Talladega, restrictor plates would be used at the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona and the Talladega 500 at Talladega. This would make fans of non-restrictor plates and fans of restrictor plates happy. It would also boost the popularity of the Coke Zero 400 and Talladega 500 since they would then be the only restrictor plate races of the year.

1. "Boys, have at it" was the term they liked to use. Honestly, nothing would change. Guys race aggressively anyway, it was more for them fighting more than anything else.
2. Good luck with that. It was initiated for a reason, and as I said before most Americans are blood-thirsty animals, so of course they want to see them race back, ESPECIALLY if there is a parking lot between them and the line.
3. Not happening for one big reason, who dictates the setup? Kyle Busch? Terry Labonte? You want this, bring back IROC or get the ROC to come to the US.
4. Again, I agree with this.
5. I'll add that it has to be within a lane of the racing line as well.
6. They spin into the apron/infield, and can get going, I agree. Spin into the wall or line, No.
7. Actually, I don't know what the pace cars run for NASCAR, so I have no input here.
8. All or none, and I'd have to say none just because it would be a random insert that goes against the procedure used for 80% of the season.
9. As much as I'd like to see this, someone did a independent test at Daytona without plates with an older car. IIRC, it was Penske with Rusty, and they hit 230+. These cars already twitch around at 180, and while there probably wouldn't be a big pack, all it takes is one cut tire at an ideal place on the track for horror on par with last years Nationwide opener, and they can only go so far before replacing the fences with solid plates.

II. Points System/championships
1. The Chase for the Cup would be scrapped
2. Points would only be based on finishing position (no points would be awarded for most laps, leading a lap, etc.)
3. 1st place would get 43 points, 2nd would get 42,...., 43rd would get 1 point. Drivers who DNFed would still get points based on their finishing position. However, if a driver was disqualified, they would not be awarded points.
4. The team/constructors championships (ex: Hendrick Motorsports, Stewert Haas, etc) would combine the total amount of points from all of their drivers (example: Hendrick Motorsports: Johnson 1000, JR. 750, Gordon 500, Kahne 250) their points total would be 2500 points.
5. The Engine championship points would be determined by combining all of the points of the drivers that race that particular engine.
6. The Engine Region championship would be determined by the total number of points from all engines from a certain region. The regions would be North America, Europe, and Asia. North America's region engine championship would be the combined points of Chevrolet, Ford, and Dodge.

1. No argument here, or most anywhere for that matter.
2. I think the bonus point(s) are a good idea, but I say they have to lead a green flag lap to get it.
3. I think 1st gets 45 or 48 right now, but the rest is already being used, sans disqualification=nada.
4. This won't work, simply because Hendrick has his four strong teams, but also sells stuff to other teams so it would almost lock him into it by race 7. It's also a mark of pride for the crews as well, seen more in the Nationwide and Truck Series' due to Cup interference, so I think this actually is better left alone.
5. Now THIS I can get behind, kinda. Again with Hendrick, ECR, and Roush-Yates covering most of the field, and Hendrick probably doing 1/3 by itself, a quick lock-up isn't out of the question for this setup.
4&5 Alternative. This might be one time where looking at F1 would be for the better. Similar to the F1 system, and by a long stretch NASCAR's current Manufacturer's championship, and award the maker or organization by their highest finishing associated team.
6. Even if NASCAR went global, I don't think this is necessary at all.

III. Car types/engine types
NASCAR has been mainly American Car based for its entire history, my goal would be to make it global car based. This may sound bad to diehard, traditional fans, but I think they will like it once I explain it. Making it global car based would increase popularity of NASCAR not just in the United States, but around the entire world. This would be further accomplished with NASCAR going international for a few races in the season. There would be a total of 9 different car companies in NASCAR divided into 3 different regions: North America, Europe, and Asia. The car companies and their car chassis style would be:

North America:
1. Chevrolet (Chevrolet SS)
2. Ford (Ford Fusion)
3. Dodge (Dodge Charger)

Europe:
1. Mercedes Benz (Mercedes Benz C Class)
2. BMW (BMW M4)
3. Volvo (Volvo S60)

Asia:
1. Toyota (Toyota Camry)
2. Nissan (Nissan Altima)
3. Honda (Honda Accord)

This would create exciting battles between the car regions of the world. American car fans could cheer on their cars while Europeans and European car fans could cheer on their cars, and the Asians and Asian car fans could cheer on their cars. It would create a sense of battle between the car regions.

Maybe it's because I have a very limited insight to the world at large, but as far as I know the world's opinion of NASCAR is more in line with Jeremy Clarkson than Richard Hammond. Also, I don't think the Germans would be too enthralled with it, seeing as they seem to be flakey on what racing they want to do to begin with, or at least the high-end companies. No offence, but this sounds like turning NASCAR into a V8 Supercars-DTM run between.

IV. Schedule
NASCAR would see its biggest schedule change in the history of its existence, many races in the season have 2 events. When races have 2 events, they struggle to fill the stands which makes it hard on the tracks and NASCAR. Many races would lose their 2nd race and would be replaced with another track. NASCAR would see an increase in road course races and would go international for a part of the season in order to increase NASCARs popularity throughout the world. A few tracks would keep their two races: Daytona, Talladega, Bristol, and Martinsville. Here would be the schedule of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (things with a * next to them are new events, events with ^ are international.
1. Daytona (Daytona 500)
2. Phoenix
3. Las Vegas
4. Bristol
5. Auto Club Speedway
6. Martinsville Speedway
7. Texas Motor Speedway
8. Darlington Raceway
9. Richmond International Raceway
10. Talladega Superspeedway
11. Kansas Speedway
12. Charlotte Motor Speedway (All Star Race) (non-point race)
13. Charlotte Motor Speedway (Coca Cola 600)
14. Dover
15. Pocono
16. Michigan
*17. Eldora
18. Kentucky Speedway
19. Daytona (2nd race, night race, restrictor plate race)
20. New Hampshire
21. Indianapolis
*^22. Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Canada)
23. Watkins Glen
*^24. Silverstone (United Kingdom)
*^25. Hockingheim Ring (Germany)
*^26. Monza (Italy)
*^27. Twin Ring Motegi Oval (Japan)
*^28. Mount Panorama(Australia)
29. Bristol (race 2) (night race)
30. Atlanta
31. Chicagoland
32. Talladega (Race 2) (restrictor plate race)
33. Martinsville (Race 2)
*34. Circuit of the Americas
*35. Iowa
*36. Rockingham
37. Sonoma
38. Homestead Miami

As much as I'd like to see NASCAR race abroad and see old tracks return, most of this wouldn't happen. An Eldora Cup race is the most likely one here. Iowa will be deemed in need of upgrades, as Gilles has already, and the international schedule is a GT dream that again feels like putting it in line with DTM and V8s. Rockingham is a nice thought, but SMI won't let it happen. The IDEA I like, but suggestions I have are that AAA is replaced with Sonoma, outright, and Darlingon goes back to Labor Day.

V. Media
1. All NASCAR Sprint Cup races must be on network television/free to air tv (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX).
2. Sports channels of the networks that have the NASCAR license could air encore presentations of the races.
3. A streaming program would be made which would have every broadcast of nascar races for a season for a small subscription fee.
4. A world feed broadcast system would be made, it would be very similar to Formua One's world feed style. The same graphics would be used regardless of what broadcasting company is covering the race. The best camera operators would be chosen to be part of the world feed production. This would be done so that companies with bad camera operators and media controllers (aka ESPN) could not make a race viewing poor. Commentators would still be up to the broadcaster (ex: FOX- Mike Joy, Larry Mac, etc).

I feel that all of these things would make NASCAR a much better and popular sport.

1. Agreed. Now if only they were still free.
2. Agreed. SPEED actually did this, midweek though but better than nothing.
3 & 4. NASCAR working the cameras could either go very well or very bad. Be worth a shot though, and if the feed was, say, $40 for a one-time season payment or $2-3 for each event, I'd do it. Hell, I'd try to be the first if it means I don't have to pay for the 99% of TV I refuse to watch.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

They'll learn to drive in it...just like they learn that they can't go flat out in every turn. And if they're going slower, then there's less chance for "disaster".

Anything else is an excuse on the tire manufacturer's shoulders.

We've been over this too many times now on the actual nascar thread to why this doesn't work. There isn't enough down force and mechanical grip in the cars for one. The banking would create streams that would cause hydroplaning and even with rain tires would still cause a mess of a race and not even have cars running at nearly a speed needed. If you want to see a rain race of single file on the apron at half speed, good luck.

F1 has had issues and they have tons of down force, great wet weather tires, but that doesn't stop water puddles from doing what they do.

 

[Earth]

I was looking at the empty stands in the nationwide Texas yesterday and I thought of this

Make the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series races a double-header on Sunday. 1 ticket and you get to see both

 

[BKGlover]

I was at the Texas nationwide race, and I can tell you that was intentional. I had to buy a ticket, and the only tickets available were on the front stretch dog legs, and then the ushers started herding everyone towards the center section after about 15 laps, and the back stretch is only opened for Cup races.

 

[Earth]

Cup races are somewhat empty now too. The problem is they kept adding more and more seating to keep up with the growth of the sport, and now that its retracting alot of the seats are left empty. 80,000 people in 150,000 seats looks kind of empty.

So why not give the people a double header on Sunday. Reduce the Nationwide races to about 200 miles, and start them around 11:00 AM. Then get the Cup race going at 1:30 PM. Im sure they will sell more tickets.

Theres several more things that other racing sereis benefit from that NASCAR could use to. For example, more manufacturers. Almost every other motorsport has manufacturers coming and going almost yearly. NASCAR has the same 3 for years. It will be alot more exciting to have Honda or Nissan etc come into the support instead of just having the same 3 forever. Another plus that many other motorsports already have is new tracks on the schedule almost yearly. Its been the same tracks in NASCAR for a very long time. Its time to take away a race from some of these tracks that cant feel up the stands and give it to another oval.

NASCAR is looking at the quality of racing too much. Its been good, but ratings still arent up. They need to look at other things to freshen it up and get people excited again. The Gen6 car was just the first step. Now they need more tracks and manufacturers

 

[GTPorsche]

Manufacturers would have to show interest first, and none of them have.

 

[ukfan758]

Cup races are somewhat empty now too. The problem is they kept adding more and more seating to keep up with the growth of the sport, and now that its retracting alot of the seats are left empty. 80,000 people in 150,000 seats looks kind of empty.

So why not give the people a double header on Sunday. Reduce the Nationwide races to about 200 miles, and start them around 11:00 AM. Then get the Cup race going at 1:30 PM. Im sure they will sell more tickets.

Theres several more things that other racing sereis benefit from that NASCAR could use to. For example, more manufacturers. Almost every other motorsport has manufacturers coming and going almost yearly. NASCAR has the same 3 for years. It will be alot more exciting to have Honda or Nissan etc come into the support instead of just having the same 3 forever. Another plus that many other motorsports already have is new tracks on the schedule almost yearly. Its been the same tracks in NASCAR for a very long time. Its time to take away a race from some of these tracks that cant feel up the stands and give it to another oval.

NASCAR is looking at the quality of racing too much. Its been good, but ratings still arent up. They need to look at other things to freshen it up and get people excited again. The Gen6 car was just the first step. Now they need more tracks and manufacturers

I talked about the cars in my post earlier too. It's really going to be interesting when Daytona finishes its grandstand additions and how empty some parts will look due to there not being enough people to fill them.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Cup races are somewhat empty now too. The problem is they kept adding more and more seating to keep up with the growth of the sport, and now that its retracting alot of the seats are left empty. 80,000 people in 150,000 seats looks kind of empty.

So why not give the people a double header on Sunday. Reduce the Nationwide races to about 200 miles, and start them around 11:00 AM. Then get the Cup race going at 1:30 PM. Im sure they will sell more tickets.

Theres several more things that other racing sereis benefit from that NASCAR could use to. For example, more manufacturers. Almost every other motorsport has manufacturers coming and going almost yearly. NASCAR has the same 3 for years. It will be alot more exciting to have Honda or Nissan etc come into the support instead of just having the same 3 forever. Another plus that many other motorsports already have is new tracks on the schedule almost yearly. Its been the same tracks in NASCAR for a very long time. Its time to take away a race from some of these tracks that cant feel up the stands and give it to another oval.

NASCAR is looking at the quality of racing too much. Its been good, but ratings still arent up. They need to look at other things to freshen it up and get people excited again. The Gen6 car was just the first step. Now they need more tracks and manufacturers

Who are these racing series that have manufactures coming and going yearly? There is no way that is happening all the premier groups are too expensive for people just to dip their feet in for a year and the high tail out of there.

Also GTP put it quite simply there isn't a need for others to join a sport they don't want to because it doesn't expand or demonstrate the cars they sell. Hell it hardly does for Toyota which is is in several race series and yet not very performance friendly to the public buying their cars.

 

[BKGlover]

NASCAR is looking at the quality of racing too much. Its been good, but ratings still arent up. They need to look at other things to freshen it up and get people excited again. The Gen6 car was just the first step. Now they need more tracks and manufacturers

Sorry, but was it not two month's ago that "NASCAR doesn't care about the racing quality" was the main warcry? And fewer races altogether? And going back to places that were cut from the schedules of old? Then there was that smelly guy down the street who said Chevy should be the only one running.

 

[Wilbur]

I'm clueless as to why people want these double headers...it's not even really an option at all. They barely had enough time to run 2 races at Martinsville as is with them being fairly short races anyway. Heck even with Martinsville last weekend they offered a truck ticket for $35 that got you into the Cup race because of the rain after the first 100 laps and it still wasn't filled up.

IF you want people to show up to lower events, the day isn't the issue for most...it's the price of going. I'm still going to say you make tickets for general admission to any Nationwide/Truck race at any track except standalone events for $20 bucks and kids under 12 get in free....you will have a TON more people. People just can't afford a $50 cup ticket, and $35-40 ticket for another race on top of that for ONE person.

Food is another thing at most tracks I have been to that is like no wonder, Martinsville is the only place I felt like I got a deal and would easily spend $20+ on food for myself probably as hotdogs are $2 each, soda is $4 I think.

Families can't afford to take everyone and their brother to a race anymore, so until tickets get better in price for some of the smaller events...those crowd will be alot less period. It's one of the biggest reasons I have taken a liking to sports cars (ALMS/Grand-Am) because for $85 at VIR or $85 at Daytona I got access to just about anywhere but pit road I wanted to go which is pretty nice. Even for my tickets to COTA during the V8 Supercar race was the same, so I don't mind paying that kind of money for a WEEKEND worth of racing and garage access but if that was Nascar you would pay close to $200 for all that if you went through a weekend of races (Trucks/NW/Cup and cold pit passes).

 

[Earth]

I talked about the cars in my post earlier too. It's really going to be interesting when Daytona finishes its grandstand additions and how empty some parts will look due to there not being enough people to fill them.
View attachment 138068

If the sightlines are improved, they may actually sell more tickets. Enough to fill it up? I dont know.

Who are these racing series that have manufactures coming and going yearly? There is no way that is happening all the premier groups are too expensive for people just to dip their feet in for a year and the high tail out of there.

Also GTP put it quite simply there isn't a need for others to join a sport they don't want to because it doesn't expand or demonstrate the cars they sell. Hell it hardly does for Toyota which is is in several race series and yet not very performance friendly to the public buying their cars.

Its been 7 years since a new manufacturer joined NASCAR. In that time period I've heard about V8 supercars picking up Nissan and Mercedes, Le Mans got Peugeot, Aston Martin, Toyota, and Porsche in LMP1. And thats just the tip of the iceberg

Sorry, but was it not two month's ago that "NASCAR doesn't care about the racing quality" was the main warcry? And fewer races altogether? And going back to places that were cut from the schedules of old? Then there was that smelly guy down the street who said Chevy should be the only one running.

The biggest issue is all the new tracks are 1.5 mile cookie cutters. NASCAR needs at least 2 more tracks under 1 mile in length.

 

[BKGlover]

I'm clueless as to why people want these double headers...it's not even really an option at all. They barely had enough time to run 2 races at Martinsville as is with them being fairly short races anyway. Heck even with Martinsville last weekend they offered a truck ticket for $35 that got you into the Cup race because of the rain after the first 100 laps and it still wasn't filled up.

IF you want people to show up to lower events, the day isn't the issue for most...it's the price of going. I'm still going to say you make tickets for general admission to any Nationwide/Truck race at any track except standalone events for $20 bucks and kids under 12 get in free....you will have a TON more people. People just can't afford a $50 cup ticket, and $35-40 ticket for another race on top of that for ONE person.

Food is another thing at most tracks I have been to that is like no wonder, Martinsville is the only place I felt like I got a deal and would easily spend $20+ on food for myself probably as hotdogs are $2 each, soda is $4 I think.

Families can't afford to take everyone and their brother to a race anymore, so until tickets get better in price for some of the smaller events...those crowd will be alot less period. It's one of the biggest reasons I have taken a liking to sports cars (ALMS/Grand-Am) because for $85 at VIR or $85 at Daytona I got access to just about anywhere but pit road I wanted to go which is pretty nice. Even for my tickets to COTA during the V8 Supercar race was the same, so I don't mind paying that kind of money for a WEEKEND worth of racing and garage access but if that was Nascar you would pay close to $200 for all that if you went through a weekend of races (Trucks/NW/Cup and cold pit passes).

You're right on the prices, though tickets are still cheaper than the NFL, but you're giving them credit still. TMS this weekend, here were a few of the prices:

$7 for ONE beer, $5 for a basic hot dog, $4 FOR WATER FFS!

Its been 7 years since a new manufacturer joined NASCAR. In that time period I've heard about V8 supercars picking up Nissan and Mercedes, Le Mans got Peugeot, Aston Martin, Toyota, and Porsche in LMP1. And thats just the tip of the iceberg

Well, Australia still has good ties to Europe, and is a stones throw from Japan anyway so I'm not surprised at that. The FIA and ACO though, be wary of those because these companies like to dump loads of money in, but then they leave after a few years. Why didn't Peugeot push on with the 905, or the 908 of a couple years ago? Aston Martin did one year, miserably, before sulking back to GT, and Porsche is only coming in because Audi is looking for an exit plan, and not by AudiSport's lead.

The biggest issue is all the new tracks are 1.5 mile cookie cutters. NASCAR needs at least 2 more tracks under 1 mile in length.

Vegas, Kansas, Chicago? Agreed. Texas, Charlotte, Atlanta? Sorry.

Along with my personal distain for that term, and I pretty certain most have read my take on twisting that interpretation, people seem to be oblivious that track get cloned constantly. Daytona by Talladega, Indianapolis by Ontario (CA), heck I've heard Michigan was designed to be a flattened Daytona. Add the current ones and the Michigan/Auto Club/Texas World trio and it gets really similar really quick. Unfortunately, I don't know that can really be helped.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Its been 7 years since a new manufacturer joined NASCAR. In that time period I've heard about V8 supercars picking up Nissan and Mercedes, Le Mans got Peugeot, Aston Martin, Toyota, and Porsche in LMP1. And thats just the tip of the iceberg

I've been over this with you, how many times must I keep doing so until it actually sticks. Or do you not like being educated by me and the many others? Nah, you seems to want to troll with your outlandish ideas on Motorsports hence the few threads you've made and then perpetuating it as well through other threads.

I guess I'll try again though. V8 Supers Erebus AMGs aren't even backed by Mercedes Australia and they themselves didn't want Betty to even have a contender for the series so good try on that. Nissan has been in the sport before back in the 90s since you don't know your history too well and they came back to compete as well as sell their brand in that neighborhood more so than before returning. Volvo seems to be in the touring car business and ran at Bathurst long ago thus they have some heritage in the region.

Sport Car racing has had Aston for a while so you can't make the claim they just joined and only did so for LMP1. Porsche has been here before and it's no surprise they returned and are using it in the same capacity as last time, for their winning ego and technology. Peugeot had also been here before in the 90s and then left due to financial reasons so that didn't last. Toyota have also been here before and seemed to have reverted after they couldn't make F1 work. Losing a team in one group to go to another in the same house isn't really adding much but it's better than your Aston Martin attempt. You could have also mentioned Nissan for next year, which too has a long history in Sports Car racing in respect to Le Mans.

NASCAR two years ago have four Manufactures and if Dodge wanted to they could rejoin but they have many issues they need to sort out. And NASCAR even with an interested team doesn't seem feasible. Also more makes doesn't mean that people will pack the stands, especially if the formula of racing is still the same as it was before but just a few new badges.

The biggest issue is all the new tracks are 1.5 mile cookie cutters. NASCAR needs at least 2 more tracks under 1 mile in length.

What new 1.5 tracks are you talking about. You make it sound as if many were made and introduced in the past couple years.

 

[marcus_war]

Reducing, or increasing for that matter, the number of cars on track won't necessarily improve NASCAR.

As for new venues are concerned, adding a new race on the calendar won't necessarily improve the sport. I'd like to see it happen, but in all likelihood, won't. The top brass is worried about losing money, and it doesn't bode well for the sport if the first event is a failure. The "add more road/street courses" argument is a valid one, but also a bit stale. A Cup car isn't inherently designed for road racing. There was the NASCAR Euroseries, which ran NASCAR-like cars at 450 HP at 1150 kg, on road courses.

Schedule is too long by 10 races. I am not a fan of these gimmick races called the Chase For The Sprint Cup. 28 races is plenty enough racing and can be better distributed from the last week in February to Thanksgiving weekend, either the week before or after. This is how I'd do it.

• Speedweeks
  
• Round 1: Daytona 500
• Round 2: Atlanta
• Round 3: Road Atlanta
  
• Round 4: Martinsville
• Round 5: Michigan
• Round 6: Road America
• Round 7: Chicagoland
• Round 8: Kansas
• Round 9: Texas
• one week break
  
• Round 10: Barber MP
• Round 11: Talladega
• Round 12: Darlington
• All-Star Race and festivities
• Round 13: Coca-Cola 600
• Round 14: Phoenix
  
• Round 15: Las Vegas
  
• Round 16: Auto Club Speedway
  
• Round 17: Sonoma Raceway
  
• Round 18: Coke Zero 400 at Daytona
  
• one week break
  
• Round 19: Bristol Night Race
  
• Round 20: Virginia International Raceway
  
• Round 21: Brickyard 400
  
• Round 22: Pocono
  
• Round 23: Watkins Glen
  
• Round 24: New Hampshire
  
• Round 25: Circuit Gilles Villenueve
  
• one week break
  
• Round 26: Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace
  
• one week break
• Round 27: Homestead-Miami
  
• Round 28: Sebring

Key events would retain their dates on the calendar, but the schedule would flow around those events. That means no east-west-east swings. Take care of one region before moving to another all while working the "traditional" dates like Daytona 500, Aaron's 499, Coke 600, etc.


As for the points format, that's an excellent format and shouldn't be tampered with further.

Rain tires should be made readily available to the pit crews for the road courses, but also have the wipers and lights already on the car before the race, so that the race won't be halted for the entire field to fit wipers on windscreens. Leave the decision of when to switch to rain tires would be left to the drivers under green. As far as Martinsville in the rain is concerned, the track would have to be longer. Too much spray, no patience, a lot of wrecked cars and disappointed fans.

 

[Wilbur]

People try way too hard to compare sports car racing and Nascar...not even remotely the same at all. Nascar got ahead of itself in the late 90s when money was no issue, now we are battling the down fall of that. Nothing is there for the fans from what I remember being a kid (while some of that was just being a kid and being so excited but I will explain what I mean).

I was like 10 or so and my dad worked for Stanley Tools when they first started getting into racing in the early 90s. He got to go to the Coke 600 BUT the Busch races were just as backed or built up even for vendors with all sorts of things going on all day til race time. Hotels were sold out within 30-40 miles of the track during those weekends and people were spending money like it didn't matter tomorrow.

Now we are in a completely different situation with thew crowd that comes (to some degree as it's not as "redneck"), tracks we race on and the car itself. The Gen 5 car had flaws more than the Gen 6 if you ask me but I can understand where they were going with it. I, myself, prefer the Gen 4 cars or the mix we had....where aero mattered more and people had to wheel the cars a little more BUT same teams were strong then without many outside that having a chance to which the new cars have helped bring some smaller teams up to a higher level.

As I stated before about cost is a big thing; if you can get folks to come then they normally will buy stuff as they get caught up in the money but getting them there is half the battle. You lower ticket prices and offer them something to go along with it or atleast something besides gross crappy food that's over priced, then I bet you will have a little better weekend on your hand. @BKGlover brought up the prices of that, beer I can handle at $5 for 16oz can but water should be $2 period no matter what, soft drinks in a bottle are $3. Now you can bring in your own but we all know there is alot you won't bring it as much of if it's between food or beer!

One thing I noticed at COTA was they had some food vendors that weren't the normal stuff like pita wraps, pizza, bbq and wings. Some of their stuff was $10 for a meal but it was alot better than burger and fries that taste old. If there was some way to bring in food trucks too, I think that's something else we could see helping for people spending money.

NOW back to the other side of things, there are alot of things we can think we want to change nascar as far as drivers getting rides, less cup stars in nationwide/trucks but sponsors drive the sport so until owners either step up and make that call then it's never going to change much either. My thoughts on how to help lower series outside of ticket prices is let the Cup guys run for other teams but they can't drive for themselves or owners. It could bring a sponsorship to a smaller budget time to allow them maybe to run better or get some help to get better finishes, this used to happen alot more til the last 5 years and it's all sponsored driven or young guys wouldn't have such a hard time because they want someone they know or know will do what they want.

This are my thoughts as I think about how to help the series alot, I do wish their were more road courses and smaller tracks for atleast the lower series but even Rockingham had issues affording to run a standalone event, Darlington lost their truck date when it was standalone...so it's hard to say take away 1.5 milers if they help take some of the cost off sponsors on both sides.

 

[Pupik]

Make the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series races a double-header on Sunday. 1 ticket and you get to see both

That whole Church thing gets in the way of that idea. Ratings just aren't there at 10am on a Sunday anyhow. It would do away with Buschwacking one and for all, though.

My deal with the points is not the numerical amount; whether the winner consistently gets 9 or 25 or 43 or 487 doesn't mean a thing...but making the gap between second place and first so tight is what gets me wondering. I suppose the new Chase system rewards a winner (naturally, the prize money does to) but the way the Chase is set up, it doesn't really doesn't seem to matter as much. I think they're drivers by nature, and in competition, there's few that will give up a good place in a good race, so to speak.

 

[ukfan758]

I have an idea, maybe NASCAR could split some of the races and split them into during a race weekend. For example the Richmond race could have part 1 or the first 200 mille race on Saturday during the day. Then on Sunday, part 2 or the 2nd 200 mile race would start at the same time that part 1 ended. Shorter races tend to produce more exciting races because the drivers have to be on top all of the time. Also, with the races being on Saturday and Sunday, the Nationwide series race would be viewed by all of the fans. V8 Supercars has had huge success with this as it has produced very exciting, short races.

 

[Ganon83]

At the end of the day, people will spend money to go to a race they feel is going to be exciting, just as they will any other sport or entertainment event..
Slashing ticket prices and vendor prices would most definitely help, but first you need to have exciting racing.
When you adjust for inflation I can guarantee you at the very least that ticket prices are lower on average. Gotta sell as much as you can when you can't fill the stands up.
NASCAR has began strong this season when it comes to race quality. 7 races in, 7 great races ran. Let's see how many seats are empty in a year or so at the rate we're going.

EDIT:

Here's how I would run NASCAR. First thing I would do is completely change the schedule.
Every single track is now host to only a single race, with two exceptions- Daytona and Talladega.
5 new tracks now join the schedule- Road America, Iowa, COTA, MoSport, and Rockingham.

Speaking of Rockingham, it has a new owner: ISC. We're going to take that 100 million dollar Daytona project to reduce total seating by a third and get rid of it. We'll take the money and completely renovate "the Rock". Really modernize that sucker, double seating capacity. And with any money left over, hell we'll go touch up some other tracks that need a fresh coat of paint, like Phoenix.

Schedule the races better- don't have 3 west coast races in the first 5 races. Go past the Mississippi around once a month. Don't have a race in the same state as another one within 2-3 months of the other.

Work with hotel people to make prices lower. Stop stealing sponsors from teams, tell any sponsor that approaches to be the official blank of NASCAR that need to sponsor X amount of races for a team.

No need for a Chase anymore, only 30 Sprint Cup races on the schedule now. Keep the current point system, I like it. It's fairly simple and it makes everybody fight for every position on track.

As far as Nationwide goes, let's bring it back a ways. Focus more on short tracks. The whole point the series began in 1972 anyway was to run at the short tracks Winston didn't want Cup to run at. Trucks, even more local. Have a truck race at Bowman-Gray.

 

[Northstar]

Here is somewhat how I feel the schedule should look like, I've shortened most of the races, cut a few tracks, scaled it down to 1 race per track (with the exception of Daytona) and added some road courses.

As for points, I would revert to a traditional championship, but still do a chase as a side-championship that awards a large check.

 

[Wilbur]

Speaking of Rockingham, it has a new owner: ISC. We're going to take that 100 million dollar Daytona project to reduce total seating by a third and get rid of it. We'll take the money and completely renovate "the Rock". Really modernize that sucker, double seating capacity. And with any money left over, hell we'll go touch up some other tracks that need a fresh coat of paint, like Phoenix.


As far as Nationwide goes, let's bring it back a ways. Focus more on short tracks. The whole point the series began in 1972 anyway was to run at the short tracks Winston didn't want Cup to run at. Trucks, even more local. Have a truck race at Bowman-Gray.

These are the points from your post that I am going to talk about....

Where has Rockingham been rebought by ISC? They sold it and then now it is closed for the time being for events since last year (basically after the truck race). Phoenix doesn't need new paint....it makes sense the color it is and was already redone 2011. Now Rockingham does need upgrades but I take it you haven't been there....there is NO support in the area for anything anymore; Yes some other tracks are in same shape but roads in and out aren't too bad....Rockingham is in the country just like North Wilkesboro is and too far away from things to hold anything worth wild even if it is a good track.

As much as we want these short tracks and all that to come back...they can't afford to bank roll the cost of operations unless some major sponsors make it worth their wild. We did get a track back this year for Truck which is great. Bowman Gray is by far the worst track to run anything on and yes I live right by it. Alot of the old short tracks can't hold a NW or Truck series event without cutting the field down.

 

[Ganon83]

These are the points from your post that I am going to talk about....

Where has Rockingham been rebought by ISC? They sold it and then now it is closed for the time being for events since last year (basically after the truck race). Phoenix doesn't need new paint....it makes sense the color it is and was already redone 2011. Now Rockingham does need upgrades but I take it you haven't been there....there is NO support in the area for anything anymore; Yes some other tracks are in same shape but roads in and out aren't too bad....Rockingham is in the country just like North Wilkesboro is and too far away from things to hold anything worth wild even if it is a good track.

I was saying that if I were to run NASCAR, I'd have the ISC (Because the ISC is just a public NASCAR company) buy Rockingham. I understand there isn't much out there, but as I said before, people will come and buy tickets if there is good racing going on. There's nothing at Darlington. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Never has and never will. But somehow that track is still there because the racing is good and people still go to it. Hell Eldora is pretty far away from civilization but its the hottest ticket in NASCAR right now. Less and less go to Indianapolis every year because the track wasn't built for stock cars and so the racing sucks.
Had a buddy go before the renovations over there at Phoenix and said it was horrible, guess I'll wait and see how it is now if I ever go to it. And I didn't mean literally new paint by the way
Currently Nationwide and Trucks couldn't handle a place like Bowman Gray but if I were running the show both series would be downgraded a little bit. Both are too much like Cup, only fans think the series drivers are either too young for Cup or not good enough for Cup.
Of course none of this is going to happen anytime soon if anything because of the new 10 year TV deal, and because neither NASCAR or Bruton Smith are going to agree to give up races. And of course, I'm not a France.

 

[Blitz24]

Here is somewhat how I feel the schedule should look like, I've shortened most of the races, cut a few tracks, scaled it down to 1 race per track (with the exception of Daytona) and added some road courses.

View attachment 138562

As for points, I would revert to a traditional championship, but still do a chase as a side-championship that awards a large check.

A few notes about this:

Atlanta then Road Atlanta two weeks later? A bit too concentrated.

Northeast swing in March-April is not going to draw well.

Can a Cup car really run at Laguna Seca?

 

[GTPorsche]

A few notes about this:

Atlanta then Road Atlanta two weeks later? A bit too concentrated.

Northeast swing in March-April is not going to draw well.

Can a Cup car really run at Laguna Seca?

Can't find any full lap videos anywhere, but they've run stock cars at Laguna Seca before.

 

[Earth]

30 races total. Season is 7 weeks shorter (6 races + 1 bye week are removed), so it starts 3 weeks later and ends 4 weeks earlier then it does now. We shouldnt be racing in February or November. 8 month season, with a 4 month off season. Its important not to oversaturate

The only events longer then 400 miles are both Talladega races, the Daytona 500, the Coke 600, and the Southern 500.

The two restrictor plate tracks each get two races. The big ovals are very unique to NASCAR, and its important NASCAR have something very different from any other motorsport.

• Daytona
• Daytona
• Talladega
• Talladega

The 3 short tracks all get two races. Short track racing produces some of the best racing in NASCAR and they're a nice change of pace from the ultra fast superspeedways

• Martinsville
• Martinsville
• Bristol
• Bristol
• Richmond
• Richmond

Charlotte Motorspeedway gets two dates. Its basically the home track of many NASCAR teams and drivers, and the racing there is pretty good, so it gets two races. Michigan is basically a home race for Ford. And with only two 2 mile ovals on the schedule, its nice to give at least one of such tracks a larger share.

• Charlotte
• Charlotte
• Michigan
  
• Michigan

Three road courses, up from 2. The third road course is the Montreal course. I think its important for NASCAR to make more of an effort to expand internationally, and Montreal is a good start.

• Gilles Villeneuve
• Sonoma
• Watkins Glen

The other tracks keep just one race. The racing at them is either not so great, or the attendance is suffering, or a variety of other factors make me think one race is enough.

Atlanta
California
Darlington
Dover
Homestead
Indianpaolis
Kansas
Kentucky
Las Vegas
New Hampshire
Phoenix
Pocono
Texas

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

NASCAR doesn't need to expand internationally, they've tried it in the past before. Once again history escapes you @Earth

 

[GTPorsche]

NASCAR doesn't need international expansion. They already have that.

 

[BKGlover]

Swap one Talladega race with Dover and Villeneuve with Road America and I could go for it.

 

[Wilbur]

I was saying that if I were to run NASCAR, I'd have the ISC (Because the ISC is just a public NASCAR company) buy Rockingham. I understand there isn't much out there, but as I said before, people will come and buy tickets if there is good racing going on. There's nothing at Darlington. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Never has and never will. But somehow that track is still there because the racing is good and people still go to it. Hell Eldora is pretty far away from civilization but its the hottest ticket in NASCAR right now. Less and less go to Indianapolis every year because the track wasn't built for stock cars and so the racing sucks.
Had a buddy go before the renovations over there at Phoenix and said it was horrible, guess I'll wait and see how it is now if I ever go to it. And I didn't mean literally new paint by the way
Currently Nationwide and Trucks couldn't handle a place like Bowman Gray but if I were running the show both series would be downgraded a little bit. Both are too much like Cup, only fans think the series drivers are either too young for Cup or not good enough for Cup.
Of course none of this is going to happen anytime soon if anything because of the new 10 year TV deal, and because neither NASCAR or Bruton Smith are going to agree to give up races. And of course, I'm not a France.

I really have a hard time believing any of this honestly outside of Eldora, it seems either you have yet to go to any of these places or understand really how the series works.

Bowman Gray couldn't hold a major event outside of K&N period, too much HP and size even if you limited fields. Just no way that would ever work today. Darlington is within minutes pretty much of a MAJOR road with hotels and enough around which is a huge reason it is there, Rockingham isn't close enough to anything major to keep it up and going.

ISC already owned Rockingham is my point and rarely do I see them selling a track and rebuying it unless something is changed before they spend money on it to update is my point. Yes Indy is losing fans for the simple fact as you stated and it sucks. Phoenix I thought from what my friends said was a great track and actually most were shocked at how much more it was to go to races here in general.

Now to address the Cup vs NW/Trucks....they are alot closer for alot of reasons but I do agree they need to look at trying to kind of bridge the gap better with maybe some NW/Truck weekends, Truck/K&N events and then all 3 like Daytona, Charlotte, Bristol and few others. I really don't understand the comment about fans and being too young or not good enough but some drivers aren't Cup level while some are too young but everyone earns a spot on a team even with money being paid...