Martinsville Madness
Written by George Katinger · April 16, 2004
What else would you call 500 laps at a flat (virtually) 1/2 mile track? With all the talk and rumors of a soon to be 40 race season, the folks of NASCAR are overlooking one thing: Most fans I know hardly ever watch an entire race anymore. Don’t get me wrong, the short tracks of Bristol and Martinsville are probably now the only entertaining races left on the schedule. Lots of bangin’ and rubbin’ and passing in traffic. With a couple of pit lane incidents after the race as a usual bonus.
foxsports.com: Crunching & bumping for 500 laps at Martinsville
What I’m talking about is most races are just too long. 400, 500, and 600 laps or miles per race just take too long to finish with too little excitement to boot. And with 36 races on the schedule, I will not be upset if I miss a half dozen or so races, as there are a seemingly endless supply of events all summer long.
If the Nabobs of NASCAR want to expand the schedule, they should give serious consideration to shortening the length of races. All of the changes we have been witness to are directed at making “the show” more interesting and compelling. Lengthening the season is bringing the sport closer to baseball and basketball in ways the Honchos may not have anticipated: With so many games to play, who really cares about the opening of the season, or the interminably long mid season, with no end in sight?
One of the reasons I try to watch all of the IRL, Champ Car, and F1 races is there just aren’t that many of them. F1 has 17 races this year, the IRL has 16 events, and Champ Cars, well they say 16 races but we’ll have to wait and see. The point is, rarity makes it a more valuable commodity. With a limited schedule, I just can’t get enough, because they are so few. What is NASCAR’s maximum limit? I think they went past it already, but the France family obviously doesn’t see it that way.
With difficult to find sponsors, fading track attendance and a TV audience that may have reached it’s limit, NASCAR may have peaked in popularity, only the bosses don’t know it yet. The next three years will tell all, especially if they blindly expand the season and continue to close the tradional southeastern tracks for more favorable demographic markets. NASCAR fans have been proven to be extremely loyal, but once turned off by saturation most fans of any sport will find other ways to entertain themselves.
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Good points.
Now that Nascar is milking the system for all it is worth, they are probably going to cash in as much as possible before the popularity bubble bursts. I dont that they should have anymore races.
By the end of the season I get so bored, mostly because they are visiting the same tracks again! Except for the large races (Daytona/Talladega) and the short tracks (Bristol/Martinsville) they should only do one race per track per year. Im sure there are lots of other tracks around the country they car race at.
I dont like the idea of F1 possibly going to 20 races a season, especially when they are threatening to drop all the traditional races. “New Coke Syndrome”! If you know what Im talking about.
Interesting points. They are having attendence problems in the old South and that is disconcerting.
On the other hand, I had a friend who has just caught bug whine at me about not having a race to watch last weekend, and then I told him that they take Mother’s Day off too, and he was a bit incredulous.
Of course, I think he does watch every single game of the local baseball team, so he may be an exception.
NASCAR has implemented the last 10 race “play-off” system just to keep you watching Andrew. And the real excitement will come in the last 5 races before the playoffs, as the teams “on the bubble” struggle to make the cut. Then watch the on track and pit lane antics begin! Can you imagine Jimmy Spencer on the bubble in the last race with Kurt Busch holding him up on track? Talk about fire works!!
And yes Carl, I too was looking for a race last weekend, because there was absolutely nothing on the tube. The true “fan” (ie; fanatic) will watch every second of every event they happen to be loyal to. Whereas the average fan, where I believe most of the racing nation falls, will loose interest once the novelty and excitement is lost. Be carefull what you wish for NASCAR, the reality may be far different from the dream!
And then on top of a 500 lap race you get a 1 hour red flag because the rotting old race track is falling apart. This is too long…I’ve gotta go for a walk…my legs are cramping!