Completely avoiding going head to head with 🏈 isn't the right solution but shouldn't just stay the way it is. More promotion, big network TV races, and doubleheaders would help.
There is one thought to me and that is Move to Daytona 500 to Saturday Night Day before Super Bowl Day & Race on Saturday Day into Night Day before Easter plus no bye week for the Cup Series and the race would end two weeks early in October before Halloween or even further move the Clash to Saturday day before the AFC & NFC Championship and the race possibility could end at the end of September. Your Thoughts Please.
I'm all about double headers. The teams won't be burning as much diesel fuel if a hauler can stay at a location and two races get knocked out. Double header at Pocono was awesome. 🙂 Nascar could have an extra cash prize if a driver sweeps both cup races for the weekend!
Exactly I thought it was a great idea. The only problem I can think of is that most of the tracks that either have two dates are very prestigious such as Daytona 500 Southern 500 Coke 600 etc or are in the playoffs and I don't think NASCAR would want two straight races in the playoffs that are at the same track.
I know! My home track is Dover Delaware and fans will burn alive in the stands! 🥵 It's in mid July. We have terrible beach traffic and our state fair going on. We only have one race now and it will be too hot for me to attend.
This time of the year can be tough with NASCAR, NFL, and MLB playoffs too. NHL and NBA start their seasons in October as well. Figures that my Eagles are playing Dallas during the NASCAR finale for the 2nd year in a row lol. I always set up multiple TVs and have RedZone on my phone if I have to, but I know not everyone can do that. I think NASCAR should definitely make an effort to try to something a little different but this is such a busy time of the year for all sports. I’m not sure it would make much of a difference.
Once football season gets here, there's nothing really for NASCAR to do. Also, it would probably help ratings if NASCAR races were on over-the-air TV. Where many people have cut the cord on cable/satellite, they don't get USA Network or Fox Sports 1. The ratings are really going to drop when those races next year are shown only on the streaming service during the summer. Another problem for NASCAR is that many of the younger generation don't care about cars. I know several who don't have a driver's license, and they don't care to get one.
It's been months, but the idea of having as many as 17 of 36 points races exclusive to cable into the 2030s still strikes me as an absolutely brainless move. At least Xfinity on CW will hopefully salvage the ratings to some extent all year long, even if The CW Sports is still very new.
How come Cable/ Satellite is an issue with races today and not 30 years ago when ESPN and TNN carried the majority of the races? Cord cutters can find the races. I have and watch the cable races without cable.
In a fantasy world where they could actually shorten the schedule without pissing off SMI for the networks, I think 26 races would be incredible. The saying less is more comes to mind. Less races means more opportunities to rotate tracks. Plus I'd imagine with the vast majority of tracks only having one race per year would make the demand for those races go up. There would be more of an anticipation to go a race.
I would literally stop watching, more is more... 40 races, look at the turnout for double headers in 2020 especially when it comes to ratings. More is More
26 race schedule, take out the Clash since no one cares about it anymore, and only one race per track would be ideal. Got one of my best friends into NASCAR for the first time this year. This week he told me that he’s burnt out on this season because it feels like it’s dragged on forever. Almost every racing fan I know also loves football and usually end up skipping the playoff races if their favorite driver is eliminated from it.
30-32 to me is the perfect amount of races. Try to reduce the amount of 2 race weekend dates, while also having more variety with tracks both old and new. If the season can end sometime in October, i’ll be happy. Sure, you’d still be competing the first few weeks of the NFL, but the conflict time is reduced.
If cutting the number of races isn't an option, then my solution is either double headers or midweek races. Example: Indy on Sunday afternoon. Tuesday or Wednesday night Nashville. Following Sunday, Iowa. 3 races in a week. Doing this a couple of times during the season should end the season earlier or be able to add a couple more off weekends.
Keep the 36, but add some double headers over the spring and summer, and offer more weekends off for the drivers, teams, and fans. Also, I hate to say it, but maybe race earlier instead of peak hours during football season. Start at 11:00am EST for those races on the east coast. Try to beat the NFL to the screen. Not that the races haven’t been interesting, but we need to bump the power up on these cars. Bring back 750-800hp and market that. More power would make some of these races more exciting. I enjoyed Watkins Glen because of the various strategies. I wish the ovals didn’t do stage breaks for this same reason. Let the teams try various strategies rather than racing to the stage break. I’ll be honest, I was going back and forth between the Bucs game and the NASCAR race. Both were great.
Go back to either the 2004-06 chase format, or Winston format, make Homestead-Miami Speedway the finale in 2026, shorten the schedule to at least 30 or 24 races, and stop trying to create dramatic Game 7 moments at the end of each race.
Part of the problem is TV and only covering the playoff drivers, there are 20 other cars out there and if you are a fan of a non playoff driver it’s easier for people to tune out.
It also doesn’t help that Phoenix isn’t an endurance race. And unlike Homestead, the finale at Phoenix is nearly 100 miles shorter and is much easier to race at.
I've watched NASCAR since 2001 and fully agree that our season is too long (calendar wise) i personally am in favor of condensing the season with Wednesday night races. Geographically close tracks should be bundled with full week promotions and ticket options. Example: 1. West coast swing( sonoma, Vegas,phoenix ) Sun, wed, Sun 2. Iowa, Chicagoland, Michigan 3. Nashville, Bristol, Charlotte I believe these regions are great examples for 3 races done in 7 days. I personally would love it. And spread these groupings throughout the season
NASCAR owns the track. They could update it if they wanted to. Plus, sportscars still race there. I can't imagine that IMSA (also owned by NASCAR) has considerably different safety standards than NASCAR.
@@ZVPieGuy thank you for your feedback…. I spent a couple minutes on the interwebs…. didn’t see where Road Atlanta is or was ever an ISC track….. as for “ safety “., I didn’t see anywhere that there are “ safer barriers “ those that are at ALL tracks Nascar ( Cup Series) holds events….
What about nascar viewer base? Rural areas like mine who as a family hardly watch tv, except for me and sports teams that I like. Everything I need comes on air tv, except less and less nascar. Have they gone exclusively cable?
9 races on Network TV next year, 5 exclusive to Amazon Prime and the rest on cable networks, all Xfinity is on the CW (free over the air in most of the country)
I also think that the Glenn this year was a snooze fest in the middle of the race. I was there and I was bored out of my mind until about the last 10 laps.
I'm kind of bummed about the darlington races being shifter around. Living in conway, we usually always go to atleast the xfinity race. With the spring race being moved to April and the fall race being in portland... it's gon a be so weird now
I heard from a long time ago that NASCAR was looking to shorten their season before the NFL season started, and with plans for the NFL to have 18-game season, which causes them to push the Super Bowl to Presidents Day weekend, this kind of seems like a hunch NASCAR needs to get rid of. The 2020 season had perfect chances to display what they can do to shorten the schedule. Midweek races, doubleheader weekends, it seems likely. While it is harder for NASCAR to do a doubleheader weekend, with 28 races being held on different circuits/track configurations for 2025, it seems best to hold midweek races. While a shorter schedule might upset those that hate change, this could be something that works out in the end.
Because NASCAR is so insistent on having a playoffs format, the season really needs to just end at the Southern 500 or Homestead. This would mean that you have to run one race at most of, if not all, of the tracks. Broadcasters and media may not like this, but it's the only solution I can think of that can relegitimize the sport, and also not interfere with football. Let's use next year's schedule as a possible model. ***Two 1 hour practice sessions, one each before and after qualifying*** *Daytona 500 Qualifying on Tuesday night *Clash on Wednesday night (starting lineup determined by drawing straws) *Daytona Duels on Thursday night 1. Daytona 500 2. Atlanta 3. COTA 4. Phoenix 5. Las Vegas 6. Homestead 7. Martinsville 8. Bristol (night race optional) 9. Talladega 10. Texas 11. Kansas *All-Star Race (starting lineups set by practice times) 12. Coca-Cola 600 13. Nashville 14. Michigan 15. Mexico City 16. Pocono 17. Gateway (replacing Atlanta 2) 18. Chicago Streets 19. Sonoma 20. Dover 21. Brickyard 400 22. Iowa 23. Watkins Glen 24. Richmond 25. New Hampshire (replacing Daytona night race) 26. Southern 500 *CHAMPIONSHIP* No elimination playoffs, no interference with football, and a max of two off-weeks can be allowed.
Iceberg, Id say this: Keep 2 races at the marquee tracks (except indy), cut the other tracks down to 1 race, go to a couple of NASCAR local short tracks (after they fix the package); then drop a couple of weeks. I like racing mid week if it is in the southeast area.
If we’re talking ratings-wise, I’m no expert and am personally not super bothered by it as I’m from Canada, but I do want the sport to grow and I’d say the following would probably help the sport - Better marketing - Try to not have events clash with other sporting events in the same area - Emphasis on putting playoff races at the big markets which both would draw more revenue and have higher seating capacity (Idk what the biggest markets are in the states right now someone would have to tell me)
I've said it before and I'll say it again if you want "outsiders" to take the playoffs seriously and make it more than just another race NASCAR really needs to make these prime time races. If I'm not mistaken minus Dega every other track in the playoffs next year has lights, I think you have to make em Friday Night races, and advertise the living crap out of them. The stands may not be as full compared to a Sunday afternoon race but you'll get way more eyeballs on the TV.
Season has to end late September at the latest. I’m a 3rd generation nascar fan, go to 2-3 races a year, but even w my 6 TV setup for football it’s getting the small tv in the corner every time. It MIGHT get upgraded to a bigger tv the last 30 laps if there’s a few dud games going on. It just can’t compete w NFL (nothing can) I think midweek summer races would pull far better ratings than people think to.
I watched the NFL games last Sunday, and I would check in on the races frequently on TV and keep track of the races on my phone. I'm a racing fan, but I stopped caring about it as the season went on and watched football more. Nascar is just stuck with below average marketing, and they never get past the NFL.
Here's an answer for schedule compression nobody is talking about. Several tracks are only 3-4 hours apart in driving time. Richmond-Dover, COTA-Texas, Gateway-Kansas, Atlanta-Charlotte Roval, Bristol-Martinsville, etc. With the versatility of the current car double header weekends at different tracks are definitely possible. A one-day show at one track Saturday, then a one-day show on Sunday at the other. As a fan that attends 2-3 races every year I would love to see a race at two tracks in one weekend. We still get 36 races, no track losses any dates and the season is shorter. Thank you so much for talking about the constant "less, less, less" mentality that is pervasive in the sport currently. You can only give your customers less product to enjoy, for the same price, before they lose interest completely.
How would the teams build 2 cars in 1 week? Their crew sizes and workflows are designed around preparing 1 car per week. The Pocono double worked because they used the same car, same setup both days. The mid-weeks worked during covid because it was the same track. You'd either have to bring 2 cars or do a massive overhaul to the car between races to do 2 different tracks in a weekend.
@@ZVPieGuy Two cars are typically prepped and ready to race 3-4 weeks in advance. There is no such thing anymore as a "massive overhaul" with the next-gen car. They are spec cars with only a few chassis adjustments allowed. Teams can, and do, run the same car at Daytona, Martinsville, and road courses. Every hauler carries two cars to every race. I'd set up one car for the first race and the back-up for the second.
I did the schedule math like a week ago and I'm not sure there's a lot of room to contract the schedule. First of all NASCAR is already trying to find room for races in southern California, the northwest (Portland?), and Montreal. There are 10 race tracks with 2 dates, and at least 3 of those (Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta because of the cost of the recent reconfig) are probably keeping both. The leaves 7 dates that you could "easily" contract or replace (Charlotte, Kansas, Las Vegas, Darlington, Bristol, Martinsville, and Phoenix). After that you have to take races from tracks with just 1 date. I don't think mid-week races are the answer- even during the COVID lockdown it was tough to get eyeballs.
It's nice to hear The Iceberg being vocal about the length of the Cup season. Going back over 20 years ago, I felt that NASCAR was over-saturating the season with its length, and that fatigue with the sport was going to set in, as the public and the teams/drivers were being dealt a glut of races; as the quantity of events went against an oft-used phrase by P.T. Barnum: "Keep them wanting more!"
Like I said, NASCAR needs better marketing and international drivers! But the major thing NASCAR needs really is that one superstar to do stuff out of the sport. Or even more... a figure like what Dan Wheldon was for IndyCar.
This Weekend despite being a Night Race in Bristol, Tennessee on a Saturday 114 miles away is a town called Knoxville and there is the University of Tennessee which is going to have an away game in Norman Oklahoma at the SAME TIME (Double Screens for the win!!) There's no win win for anyone in this scenario. (Go Vols!!)
It's a short season for me. I only see races on free tv. Next season will be shorter with Amazon having races too. If Nascar has ratings problems, its their own fault.
All of it has to do with marketing. They haven’t marketed the sport correctly in 10 plus years. This falls on the drivers and nascar but also on the corporations. You used to be able to click on any channel and see a commercial for whatever product was being advertised and a nascar driver was in it. The NFL has continued to do this the past 10 years and it’s been a huge success. Also loved your point about getting superstars like Larson to do media collabs with RUclips personnel since that’s such a growing industry. Especially with younger potential fans/viewers.
you are right, well known companies have ran away from nascar the last decade. Mars. Hooters, DeWalt, Lowe's... you don't see those on cars anymore. They are saying Coca Cola will leave. Nascar needs to find a way to bring at least a portion of them back. But expecting that is tough, we all know. The part of Larson with RUclips is something well done
@@otaviofrn_adv perfectly said. Lowe’s and Home Depot having their shopping carts as JJ and Stewart’s cars, cereal boxes giving away diecasts, Nextel/sprint constantly using drivers in ads. Food companies in the grocery stores having drivers on the product or even having drivers go to local grocery stores the weekend the race was in town. I met guys like Kenseth, Biffle, Kyle and Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman at the grocery store parking lot because it was some sort of advertising scheme. Hopefully nascar starts to use their new platforms like prime to market better again. Also loved those nascar commercials from I think 2013-2014 showing the toughness and complexity of the sport
I think a problem is the lack of relatable personalities among the drivers. Even nascar feels like a bit of an elitist sport now, since to become a driver you need the luck of having rich parents or family members and having the right connections.
But we have popular and solid personalities of today. We have super talented Larson, Chase Elliot and Kyle Busch. We then have your second tier of popularity like Bubba, Suarez, and Gragson. Then you have the villian arc of Hamlin & Logano. You have a solid group of up and coming drivers who range from solid potential to next super star. I think what's missing is that in the 90s and 00s every commercial had a Nascar star in it. Beer to Fast Food to Auto Parts to soft drinks. But that boom is gone as it's 90x cheaper to run ads on social media and Google ads. I've noticed this more so than in years past, I've seen a few ads on Facebook for driver appearances. We see positives still, as we've had 7 or 8 races sell out this year (including the finale)? Which is the most we've seen in at least 10 years. I also think the accessibility and watching whenever wherever is a factor too. They can improve make it better, they have the resources and cash flow to do so.
People will blame the drivers, but really NASCAR and the sponsors are to blame. Drivers have been taught that they can't actually speak their mind on things without worrying about getting fined by NASCAR or losing a sponsor.
Most of the races all boil down to “overtime”. Why waste 2 or 3 hours watching commercials, caution laps, stage breaks and some green flag laps that turn out to be inconsequential with a green/white/checkered (or multiple G/W/C) to determine the winner? All you have to do is catch the overtime and go back to using your time more wisely. Of course, sometimes you have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to know if what you saw is for real and if a new finishing order will be installed.
Once the fall hits with football and other sports beginning in the fall, NASCAR viewership definitely dips. NASCAR definitely doesn’t seem too keen on a less heavy schedule in terms of the number of races.
If I were to create the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, I would make the following changes: Only 5 tracks with 2 dates- Daytona, Martinsville, Talladega, Darlington, and Charlotte New/returning tracks- Rockingham, Streets of San Diego, Kentucky, Road America, Laguna Seca, Chicagoland, North Wilkesboro (points race), and Charlotte (oval) Dates dropped- Atlanta (spring), COTA, Bristol (spring), Kansas (spring), Streets of Chicago, Charlotte Roval, Las Vegas (fall), and Phoenix (fall) Other changes- An expanded West Coast Swing (Streets of San Diego, Sonoma, Las Vegas, and Phoenix), Road America returns to July 4th weekend, and Atlanta moves to the penultimate race of the regular season Playoffs- Watkins Glen, North Wilkesboro, Charlotte, and Homestead in (New Hampshire, Charlotte Roval, Las Vegas, and Phoenix out)
I bet they could come close to ending the season in the 1st week of September and keep 36 races if they took every race that had 2 dates and made them double header weekends. Like they did pocono. Except phoenix.
They need more Saturday night races. If you start it late enough, the large majority of college football games will be over. The only Saturday night races left on the schedule are Daytona and Bristol. They need to stop with the late Sunday starts and move everything to either Sunday afternoon or Saturday night.
This is one of those questions that has a very obvious solution that will never happen because the powers involved are too arrogant to do it because it would be admitting they were wrong(also contracts yada yada yada). Drop the 10 races at the end of the year along with the playoff gimmick to have a roughly 26 race season that ends just before the NFL starts. It won't happen but it pretty much writes itself.
Here is something that could potentially work. What about having two Cup races in tracks of close vicinity of one another on Friday night and then on Sunday? Say for example, practice/qualifying Friday morning or afternoon and then race Darlington on Friday night (track that has lights). Have the teams use Saturday as a travel day. Then go to Charlotte on Sunday for practice/qualifying Sunday morning and race Sunday afternoon (or night if the track has lights). Race Trucks and Xfinity on one of the tracks Saturday afternoon and/or night to fill the gap. This condenses the schedule which could potentially end the season earlier than expected which avoids competing with the NFL and College Football. Weather of course will be the deciding factor which may lead to rescheduling the race to a Wednesday or Thursday night later on in the season.
Id like to see more mid week races. Maybe a double header or two. Im on the side that there is no reason to compete with football, especially if the races are on Cable, not broadcast. Which, if the schedule didnt battle football, there would be a chance Nascar could get a TV deal for broadcast television which would earn more money. I get thats 10-12 races that need to be crammed into a smaller window. but at the same time, the only ones losing the most would be Nascar themselves. And if they can get over that midweek races and double headers wouldnt sell as much in person attendance, the tv side could gain a huge boost and keep more interest in the season without losing a major portion to the early weeks of nfl football.
@@JackLikesTrackhouse I get it but. I'd offer make them all primetime races on a broadcast station. Maybe like the CW, and have a Wednesday race for 5-6 weeks. Put them all at tracks close to Charlotte. Have them be shorten races (cause races don't need to take 3 hours during the week), then just let the numbers be as they are. Nascar is still going to outdraw programs during the week. And it would hardly be against anything. Maybe a good baseball match up. I'd rather get 3 million during the week than 2 million against football on the weekend. This also isn't from a professional. Just something that I'd like to see to help the sport. I obviously cant make the calls. Either way, im a fan and will follow and watch when i can. But There is a reason other leauges have midweek games or Monday night games. They draw eyes if there isn't much competition and is on a main broadcast network.
I say compact it down. Do double headers and midweek races. Try to wrap up closer to Labor Day weekend and maybe make the southern 500 and Bristol two of the final races of the season. Maybe throw Richmond or North Wilkesboro in too!
Here’s a thought, stop putting races on FS1 or NBCSN, like duh lmao, Basic Cable FOX, NBC, hell CW, it’s common sense, the NFL Pulls in ratings on Basic TV, so what is the Problem NASCAR?
I've always been a racing fan first and foremost. I'm with Dale Jr, if you pick something over NASCAR then forget about you. NASCAR needs to act like they are more important and focus on doing what is best for them instead of worrying about other sports and shows.
NASCAR should have its championship on Labor Day weekend. Avoids football season. Put the all star race after the end of the season. Let it go against football and free up a points weekend. Have to shorten the number of races imo. Own the spring, summer and make Labor Day weekend the championship weekend!
@@runrafarunthebestintheworld That problem would be the fault of the network that reduced the number of channels they run sports on after signing multiple long-term sports contracts.
NASCAR is never gonna beat the NFL, they were 2nd biggest until 2007 and those days aren't coming back...no surprise a lot of people like football better even though I personally don't watch football but I chose to watch IndyCars at Nashville over Watkins Glen.
I like Indycar too I go back in forth about which is better NASCAR or Indycar. I mean I like the NFL, but I don’t like that it is pretty much all that sports people talk about. I mean good Lord in June you turn on ESPN were talking about Payton Manning and he don’t even play anymore. I think it’s dumb.
Terrible to lack of a decent Nascar video game on consoles is hurting Nascar. Growing up I would watch Nascar with my dad and play the Nascar games. I left Nascar about when I was 16. I got heat 2 and got back into Nascar especially when I got my Wife into Nascar. Go KFB and Blaney
I really started to follow due to a game (nascar 09). Nascar has been taking L's after L's in games for years now. Hopefully iRacing can deliver a playable game
I don't understand why Las Vegas and Kansas get 2 races while Kentucky and Chicagoland are off the schedule. The only tracks that should get 2 dates are unique venues like Daytona, Talladega, Bristol and Martinsville. Cookie cutter 1.5 mile tracks absolutely shouldn't have 2 dates.
There is not really doubleheader options bc either one of the races are crown jewel or in playoffs. The only one is Atlanta and I am sure they will not do back to back ss. They can’t cut down the schedule bc of contracts. I would say the all star race gets a Wednesday race and put a points race that’s close in that spot that cuts back one week. Then maybe 2-3 midweek races i know rating will not be great but I think it could be a good idea to stop the bleeding at the end of season and cut the season down by 3-4 weeks. That would end season early October. If not I would be ok with the seasons getting shortened by 2-4 races like is used to be. It would have to tracks with double dates or permanent ones leaving
I'm a big Nascar fan and baseball fan. Both seasons are too long. Have to make it work to get Nascar down to 28-30 weeks and if that means some sort of double header fine. I was telling some people in a group that it sucks for the hauler drivers and everyone. Can't burn out the support staff.
I just dont care about football... I think most people shouldn't, just follow me... Only burnout I have is sundays, put more saturday races for cup, and only have 2 races at Daytona and Charlotte and 1 race everywhere else.
I say put the 500 on the Sunday of the pro bowl then Saturday night race before Super Bowl, then move phoenix from finale and have that be a double header one race Saturday then another Sunday. That shortens year which is good for ratings and can give teams another bye week
I wish they'd race every week. I hate football. I watch every single race and those crew people are getting paid handsomely. More than most people who work 40 + hrs a week and get 2-4 weeks vacation,if that
@@CPO-Snarky WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE AN ACTOR... SO WHY DONT YOU ACT LIKE A GOOD SISTER AND GET ME MORE BABY BACK RIBS... ACTUALLY I WANT TO BE A DIRECTOR, LETS TRY A SCENE WHERE YOU GO GET YOUR OWN, AND ACTION... AND CUT, AND ACTION, AND CUT... HOW ABOUT I JUST GET US WINGS FOR EVERYONE??
I do not want a shorter schedule. Of course Watkins Glen is lower ratings. Every road course is. This is nothing new. Plus lower ratings is still ratings.
playing devils advocate: Does baseball have a burnout problem? Does the MLB lose ratings thanks to the NFL? Is there a push for a lighter schedule from team owners and the players union?
I don't know how to answer. But as a casual follower of baseball, 162 is a ton. October baseball is great to see, but if no major milestone is happening in a given day I really could not care less for the regular year.
It would help if they adjusted the schedule to try and reduce the physical traveling. The 2025 schedule has teams go from Michigan to Mexico City, to Pocono, Atlanta, Chicago, Sonoma, Dover and Indy over the course of 8 weeks - they're crossing the country no less than four times in just that 8 week period alone! You could take that same schedule and try to reduce the distances - order it something like Atlanta, Dover, Pocono, Indy, Michigan, and Chicago; take Mexico City and have them go there the week after a race at either Phoenix, Texas, or COTA; have Sonoma appear after a race in Las Vegas. It would greatly reduce the fatigue for those that have to physically travel without needing to eliminate any races. (I'd go a step further and say to make Mexico City a non-championship event, but NASCAR execs aren't going to pass up anyone paying money). But this is wishful thinking. NASCAR execs stopped caring about the drivers and teams years ago when they started fining people for having an opinion. It's made even more obvious with the fact they're going to Mexico City at probably the hottest time of the year, and then doubling-down by going to Sonoma when it is _also_ going to be at its hottest, despite the concerns raised at Nashville this year over the heat at that race... All we're missing now is a late-July race in Phoenix if we're really trying to give everyone the hottest middle finger you can give a racecar driver without going overseas.
If teams didn't have to race every race to be in the playoffs, that might be a solution. That will never happen, but they could take off races that don't make financial sense to them. Give the crew members some time off, etc.
Not enough Sunday Night NASCAR on USA during NFL season. You could have 2-3 races on Sunday evening during NFL season. Less competition in the evening with only 1 NFL game / 2 teams. Disappointed that there’s no- No Clash @ Daytona oval (20-30 laps) / Speedweeks. No Firecracker 400 @ Daytona July 4th. No Chicagoland. No Nashville Fairgrounds updates. No Auto Club Speedway. No Kentucky Speedway (repave?). No new street course.
Shorten the season to 30 races, 20 regular season, 10 playoff. Crown Jewel wins get more championship points. No returning to tracks during the season, except for the ASR, and that rotates to all the tracks. Require more activation from premier sponsors, bring back big midways. More driver meet & greets. Just to name a few.
I think burnout is good, you have to pace yourself, he who is steady and comes on at the right time will be rewarded greatly. The schedule is fine, I hate football so it is of no consequence to me.
More bye weeks is going to produce better racing. Think about what RCR did with a bye week. Lengthen the season a couple more weeks and stop worrying about NFL. Could allow for 3 bye weeks, maybe 1 before the playoffs to build media hype with special events.
The schedule is fine as it is Maybe they could just add a mid season break like the Olympic Break this year and do something like that every year. Not a big fan of double headers. Or maybe just add a week off between prime and tnt or regular season and playoffs. Just don’t take away any races. I think the schedule is fine as is though. I never feel a burnout on NASCAR, NFL is always gonna be #1. It doesn’t matter maybe in 2026 if the Super Bowl gets moved up a week it will. That would be a disaster. In that case IDK what you would do I mean I guess just take away an off week. But just have the season end on like the 2nd week of November. That’s kind of what I had in mind anyway. I know this was a long comment but as I kept typing I just thought of more things to say. I am very passionate about this sport!!!
As an F1 & Indycar fan in addition to NASCAR, I think all 3 series have issues with their schedules. With NASCAR it is what is highlighted in the video that is the primary issue. Then with Indycar they have the opposite problem in which the schedule is too short & there are long gaps in between races especially at the beginning of the season. There is also a major issue with circuit variety with the majority of Indycar's races taking place on road courses & street circuits & there are only 5 ovals (Indy, Gateway, Iowa, Nashville & Milwaukee) on the schedule which is embarrassing for a series that markets itself on the diversity of its tracks. NASCAR could help Indycar out in this regard by allowing them to race at ISC & SMI owned tracks which would help Indycar increase the amount of races on its schedule. As for F1 the biggest issue they face with their schedule is that they are racing in countries who don't care about the sport at all like Saudi Arabia & Qatar (while pocketing the profits) while countries with rich histories in F1 like Germany get passed up for races. F1 needs to stop going to the Middle East & China in my view & replace those races with races in countries that would actually turn out for an F1 race like Germany. They also need to cut the number of races in the US to just the one at COTA (US GP) as both Miami & Vegas are absolutely terrible events & do little to grow F1 in the US.
Can nascar get rid of win and your in cause it’s creating monsters on the track but if NASCAR wants to call there system the Playoffs that’s fine but I don’t want this win and your in thing a part of the playoffs not only that nascar should go back to the top 30 in points to run a championship 2 drivers compete for a championship and I would love more Saturday Night Racing
well NASCAR was one of the 2 big sponsors of the FNCS Global Championship(Fortnite) that crowned the best of the best at fortnite.. This was just 2 weeks ago
Ok. Go Back To The Original Chase Format, With The 2004-2006 10 Driver/2004-2013 10 Race Format, With Chase Points, For The NASCAR Cup Series. Because, seriously. This issn't 1979 anymoree, Nor It's Not INDYCAR, And Formula One. But Go Back To The Winston Cup Series Full-Season Format, For The Lower Series, AKA The NASCAR Xfinity Series, and The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
1. Have a 30 week schedule, visiting each track once. This will allow NASCAR to add a few more tracks. 2. Have a season long championship. 3. Increase practice. I say a 45 minute session before and after qualifying.
It's useless to touch practice because the teams have demonstrated that they'll complain no matter what. They're the ones that asked NASCAR to reduce or eliminate practice to save money, but now they're the ones complaint about not having enough practice. The teams are just like the fans: they will complain no matter what.
To be fair, the NFL games are on basic television, and Watkins Glen was on USA, a cable channel. Plus, the last Watkins Glen race was one of the worst in the sport's history. Those things were working against this past weekend's race. I actually think the whole "playoff" thing is something most fans don't care for either, and year after year it's been proven that it doesn't bring in any extra viewers, yet NASCAR keeps insisting on its relevence and greatness. Many fans feel ignored, like the sport is being made for hypothetical fans rather than actual fans who have been tuning in for years. NASCAR doesn't seem to value the teams or the fans the way they once did, and it shows more and more by their refusal to address the concerns and complaints from both. So, why are people not tuning in as much? Well... if NASCAR doesnt' care about the racing or the fans, why should the fans care about it? I think we still do, but the incentive isn't there for us, it's there for big corporations and casuals that tune in a few times a year, but have no interest in the sport beyond that. This coming from someone that watched the race every weekend and no longer watches college or pro football.
From what I've seen the new fans defend the playoffs like it's their family! And claim playoffs reward winning (cough cough Harvick 2020 cough cough) and that season long points don't work...if season long points don't work why is F1 so popular!?
@@PaperBanjo64 The evidence that season long points work is in the "regular season championship" battles we see every season. What makes that question even better is that F1 might be the worst series going right now in terms of on track product. The best part of the race is the start, then it's 50-80 laps of mostly no passing, and even when they do pass, they need one car to be at a mechanical disadvantage via DRS. If cars can't pass on their own, then they suck.
@nomadman5288 yeah regular season was close, which is why I've advocated for a return to 28 or so races, closer championship and makes you actually miss it during the off season, and can make for more Cup off weekends to give Trucks and Xfinity a weekend to shine
Yeah, I love NASCAR more than the NFL, but I’m watching the Steelers over Watkins Glen any day of the week, especially when the Next Gen car has killed the racing there. Watkins Glen should never, ever be a playoff race. Give me Rockingham, Chicagoland, Auto Club, or the Charlotte oval in its place and I’ll have the Steeler game on one tv and the race on another.
What changes to the schedule do you think NASCAR can do to improve it on all fronts?
Bring back Chicagoland in place of the Chicago Street Course
@@TheIceberg during the playoffs maybe have the nascar cup series race on Friday and have the other series race on Saturday and Sunday.
Completely avoiding going head to head with 🏈 isn't the right solution but shouldn't just stay the way it is. More promotion, big network TV races, and doubleheaders would help.
There is one thought to me and that is Move to Daytona 500 to Saturday Night Day before Super Bowl Day & Race on Saturday Day into Night Day before Easter plus no bye week for the Cup Series and the race would end two weeks early in October before Halloween or even further move the Clash to Saturday day before the AFC & NFC Championship and the race possibility could end at the end of September. Your Thoughts Please.
Am I crazy or did you release a Bubba Wallace re-signed to 23XI video that’s gone now?
I'm all about double headers. The teams won't be burning as much diesel fuel if a hauler can stay at a location and two races get knocked out. Double header at Pocono was awesome. 🙂 Nascar could have an extra cash prize if a driver sweeps both cup races for the weekend!
Exactly I thought it was a great idea. The only problem I can think of is that most of the tracks that either have two dates are very prestigious such as Daytona 500 Southern 500 Coke 600 etc or are in the playoffs and I don't think NASCAR would want two straight races in the playoffs that are at the same track.
Have you seen next year's schedule. I think nascar wants to waste as much fuel as possible
I know! My home track is Dover Delaware and fans will burn alive in the stands! 🥵 It's in mid July. We have terrible beach traffic and our state fair going on. We only have one race now and it will be too hot for me to attend.
This time of the year can be tough with NASCAR, NFL, and MLB playoffs too. NHL and NBA start their seasons in October as well. Figures that my Eagles are playing Dallas during the NASCAR finale for the 2nd year in a row lol. I always set up multiple TVs and have RedZone on my phone if I have to, but I know not everyone can do that. I think NASCAR should definitely make an effort to try to something a little different but this is such a busy time of the year for all sports. I’m not sure it would make much of a difference.
I'm all for midweek races and doubleheaders but i know that won't happen due to TV ratings. Staying the course is NOT the solution.
Once football season gets here, there's nothing really for NASCAR to do. Also, it would probably help ratings if NASCAR races were on over-the-air TV. Where many people have cut the cord on cable/satellite, they don't get USA Network or Fox Sports 1. The ratings are really going to drop when those races next year are shown only on the streaming service during the summer. Another problem for NASCAR is that many of the younger generation don't care about cars. I know several who don't have a driver's license, and they don't care to get one.
It's been months, but the idea of having as many as 17 of 36 points races exclusive to cable into the 2030s still strikes me as an absolutely brainless move.
At least Xfinity on CW will hopefully salvage the ratings to some extent all year long, even if The CW Sports is still very new.
@@SortaNonymousXfinity will have the better racing 9 times out 10 so what are they thinking!?
@@PaperBanjo64 Actually, now that makes it way better that the Xfinity Series is becoming more accessible!
@@SortaNonymous yeah
How come Cable/ Satellite is an issue with races today and not 30 years ago when ESPN and TNN carried the majority of the races? Cord cutters can find the races. I have and watch the cable races without cable.
In a fantasy world where they could actually shorten the schedule without pissing off SMI for the networks, I think 26 races would be incredible. The saying less is more comes to mind. Less races means more opportunities to rotate tracks. Plus I'd imagine with the vast majority of tracks only having one race per year would make the demand for those races go up. There would be more of an anticipation to go a race.
I would literally stop watching, more is more... 40 races, look at the turnout for double headers in 2020 especially when it comes to ratings. More is More
26 race schedule, take out the Clash since no one cares about it anymore, and only one race per track would be ideal. Got one of my best friends into NASCAR for the first time this year. This week he told me that he’s burnt out on this season because it feels like it’s dragged on forever. Almost every racing fan I know also loves football and usually end up skipping the playoff races if their favorite driver is eliminated from it.
@@CreamCheeseTsunami You nailed it. And 26 races can fit neatly in before the NFL season starts
During the COVID 2020 season, I actually really enjoyed the mid-week races. I wish they'd bring them back.
30-32 to me is the perfect amount of races. Try to reduce the amount of 2 race weekend dates, while also having more variety with tracks both old and new. If the season can end sometime in October, i’ll be happy. Sure, you’d still be competing the first few weeks of the NFL, but the conflict time is reduced.
we don’t have any 2 race weekend dates/doubleheaders right now
@@Bpcoop18 i'm talking in terms of tracks that have 2 dates on the schedule. Tracks like Atlanta, Martinsville, Bristol, etc.
If cutting the number of races isn't an option, then my solution is either double headers or midweek races.
Example: Indy on Sunday afternoon. Tuesday or Wednesday night Nashville. Following Sunday, Iowa. 3 races in a week. Doing this a couple of times during the season should end the season earlier or be able to add a couple more off weekends.
Keep the 36, but add some double headers over the spring and summer, and offer more weekends off for the drivers, teams, and fans. Also, I hate to say it, but maybe race earlier instead of peak hours during football season. Start at 11:00am EST for those races on the east coast. Try to beat the NFL to the screen.
Not that the races haven’t been interesting, but we need to bump the power up on these cars. Bring back 750-800hp and market that. More power would make some of these races more exciting. I enjoyed Watkins Glen because of the various strategies. I wish the ovals didn’t do stage breaks for this same reason. Let the teams try various strategies rather than racing to the stage break.
I’ll be honest, I was going back and forth between the Bucs game and the NASCAR race. Both were great.
Go back to either the 2004-06 chase format, or Winston format, make Homestead-Miami Speedway the finale in 2026, shorten the schedule to at least 30 or 24 races, and stop trying to create dramatic Game 7 moments at the end of each race.
28-31 races is the sweet spot, more off weekends and standalone weekends just for Trucks and Xfinity
Part of the problem is TV and only covering the playoff drivers, there are 20 other cars out there and if you are a fan of a non playoff driver it’s easier for people to tune out.
I honestly wouldn’t mind doubleheaders at tracks like martinsville, Richmond, Iowa and a few 1.5 mile ovals with 200 or 250 miles for each day
Just make Homestead the Finale!
Nascar spent a lot on phoenix but they didn't spend enought on the next gen to make it better at the short tracks
Homestead’s trying to get the finale back for 2026 so hopefully your prayers will be answered
It also doesn’t help that Phoenix isn’t an endurance race. And unlike Homestead, the finale at Phoenix is nearly 100 miles shorter and is much easier to race at.
I've watched NASCAR since 2001 and fully agree that our season is too long (calendar wise) i personally am in favor of condensing the season with Wednesday night races. Geographically close tracks should be bundled with full week promotions and ticket options.
Example:
1. West coast swing( sonoma, Vegas,phoenix ) Sun, wed, Sun
2. Iowa, Chicagoland, Michigan
3. Nashville, Bristol, Charlotte
I believe these regions are great examples for 3 races done in 7 days. I personally would love it. And spread these groupings throughout the season
I think a compacted schedule is a good way to go. Longer off-season, and having Wednesday night races would be good
No Wednesday Night races. They won't do well in the ratings.
As a follow up from NWP last night… AMS and Road Atlanta are around 80 miles apart… I don’t believe Road Atlanta meets NASCAR safety infrastructure
NASCAR owns the track. They could update it if they wanted to. Plus, sportscars still race there. I can't imagine that IMSA (also owned by NASCAR) has considerably different safety standards than NASCAR.
@@ZVPieGuy thank you for your feedback…. I spent a couple minutes on the interwebs…. didn’t see where Road Atlanta is or was ever an ISC track….. as for “ safety “., I didn’t see anywhere that there are “ safer barriers “ those that are at ALL tracks Nascar ( Cup Series) holds events….
What about nascar viewer base? Rural areas like mine who as a family hardly watch tv, except for me and sports teams that I like. Everything I need comes on air tv, except less and less nascar. Have they gone exclusively cable?
9 races on Network TV next year, 5 exclusive to Amazon Prime and the rest on cable networks, all Xfinity is on the CW (free over the air in most of the country)
I also think that the Glenn this year was a snooze fest in the middle of the race. I was there and I was bored out of my mind until about the last 10 laps.
I'm kind of bummed about the darlington races being shifter around. Living in conway, we usually always go to atleast the xfinity race. With the spring race being moved to April and the fall race being in portland... it's gon a be so weird now
That's dumb should be Cup, Xfinity and Trucks all 3 at Darlington on labor day weekend
I heard from a long time ago that NASCAR was looking to shorten their season before the NFL season started, and with plans for the NFL to have 18-game season, which causes them to push the Super Bowl to Presidents Day weekend, this kind of seems like a hunch NASCAR needs to get rid of. The 2020 season had perfect chances to display what they can do to shorten the schedule. Midweek races, doubleheader weekends, it seems likely. While it is harder for NASCAR to do a doubleheader weekend, with 28 races being held on different circuits/track configurations for 2025, it seems best to hold midweek races. While a shorter schedule might upset those that hate change, this could be something that works out in the end.
Because NASCAR is so insistent on having a playoffs format, the season really needs to just end at the Southern 500 or Homestead. This would mean that you have to run one race at most of, if not all, of the tracks.
Broadcasters and media may not like this, but it's the only solution I can think of that can relegitimize the sport, and also not interfere with football.
Let's use next year's schedule as a possible model.
***Two 1 hour practice sessions, one each before and after qualifying***
*Daytona 500 Qualifying on Tuesday night
*Clash on Wednesday night (starting lineup determined by drawing straws)
*Daytona Duels on Thursday night
1. Daytona 500
2. Atlanta
3. COTA
4. Phoenix
5. Las Vegas
6. Homestead
7. Martinsville
8. Bristol (night race optional)
9. Talladega
10. Texas
11. Kansas
*All-Star Race (starting lineups set by practice times)
12. Coca-Cola 600
13. Nashville
14. Michigan
15. Mexico City
16. Pocono
17. Gateway (replacing Atlanta 2)
18. Chicago Streets
19. Sonoma
20. Dover
21. Brickyard 400
22. Iowa
23. Watkins Glen
24. Richmond
25. New Hampshire (replacing Daytona night race)
26. Southern 500 *CHAMPIONSHIP*
No elimination playoffs, no interference with football, and a max of two off-weeks can be allowed.
Iceberg, Id say this: Keep 2 races at the marquee tracks (except indy), cut the other tracks down to 1 race, go to a couple of NASCAR local short tracks (after they fix the package); then drop a couple of weeks. I like racing mid week if it is in the southeast area.
If we’re talking ratings-wise, I’m no expert and am personally not super bothered by it as I’m from Canada, but I do want the sport to grow and I’d say the following would probably help the sport
- Better marketing
- Try to not have events clash with other sporting events in the same area
- Emphasis on putting playoff races at the big markets which both would draw more revenue and have higher seating capacity (Idk what the biggest markets are in the states right now someone would have to tell me)
I've said it before and I'll say it again if you want "outsiders" to take the playoffs seriously and make it more than just another race NASCAR really needs to make these prime time races. If I'm not mistaken minus Dega every other track in the playoffs next year has lights, I think you have to make em Friday Night races, and advertise the living crap out of them. The stands may not be as full compared to a Sunday afternoon race but you'll get way more eyeballs on the TV.
Season has to end late September at the latest. I’m a 3rd generation nascar fan, go to 2-3 races a year, but even w my 6 TV setup for football it’s getting the small tv in the corner every time. It MIGHT get upgraded to a bigger tv the last 30 laps if there’s a few dud games going on. It just can’t compete w NFL (nothing can) I think midweek summer races would pull far better ratings than people think to.
I watched the NFL games last Sunday, and I would check in on the races frequently on TV and keep track of the races on my phone. I'm a racing fan, but I stopped caring about it as the season went on and watched football more. Nascar is just stuck with below average marketing, and they never get past the NFL.
I only ever see NASCAR Commercials during the race. Thats a waste of money
I saw one recently not on a NASCAR race but yeah I agree. That’s like the first or second one I ever saw outside of a NASCAR race.
I never understood why they sacrifice the time spent showing green flag racing by showing NASCAR commercials instead.
Here's an answer for schedule compression nobody is talking about. Several tracks are only 3-4 hours apart in driving time. Richmond-Dover, COTA-Texas, Gateway-Kansas, Atlanta-Charlotte Roval, Bristol-Martinsville, etc. With the versatility of the current car double header weekends at different tracks are definitely possible. A one-day show at one track Saturday, then a one-day show on Sunday at the other. As a fan that attends 2-3 races every year I would love to see a race at two tracks in one weekend. We still get 36 races, no track losses any dates and the season is shorter.
Thank you so much for talking about the constant "less, less, less" mentality that is pervasive in the sport currently. You can only give your customers less product to enjoy, for the same price, before they lose interest completely.
How would the teams build 2 cars in 1 week? Their crew sizes and workflows are designed around preparing 1 car per week. The Pocono double worked because they used the same car, same setup both days. The mid-weeks worked during covid because it was the same track. You'd either have to bring 2 cars or do a massive overhaul to the car between races to do 2 different tracks in a weekend.
@@ZVPieGuy Two cars are typically prepped and ready to race 3-4 weeks in advance. There is no such thing anymore as a "massive overhaul" with the next-gen car. They are spec cars with only a few chassis adjustments allowed. Teams can, and do, run the same car at Daytona, Martinsville, and road courses. Every hauler carries two cars to every race. I'd set up one car for the first race and the back-up for the second.
I did the schedule math like a week ago and I'm not sure there's a lot of room to contract the schedule. First of all NASCAR is already trying to find room for races in southern California, the northwest (Portland?), and Montreal. There are 10 race tracks with 2 dates, and at least 3 of those (Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta because of the cost of the recent reconfig) are probably keeping both. The leaves 7 dates that you could "easily" contract or replace (Charlotte, Kansas, Las Vegas, Darlington, Bristol, Martinsville, and Phoenix). After that you have to take races from tracks with just 1 date. I don't think mid-week races are the answer- even during the COVID lockdown it was tough to get eyeballs.
There is a way. Make every track that has two dates run their dates for double header weekend. They could end the season labor day weekend doing that.
I'd say shortening the season to 28-30 races would help. But of course get rid of the playoffs in such case
It's nice to hear The Iceberg being vocal about the length of the Cup season.
Going back over 20 years ago, I felt that NASCAR was over-saturating the season with its length, and that fatigue with the sport was going to set in, as the public and the teams/drivers were being dealt a glut of races; as the quantity of events went against an oft-used phrase by P.T. Barnum: "Keep them wanting more!"
Nascar should give a damn to the 1 million fans that watched at watkins glen!
Like I said, NASCAR needs better marketing and international drivers! But the major thing NASCAR needs really is that one superstar to do stuff out of the sport. Or even more... a figure like what Dan Wheldon was for IndyCar.
This Weekend despite being a Night Race in Bristol, Tennessee on a Saturday
114 miles away is a town called Knoxville and there is the University of Tennessee which is going to have an away game in Norman Oklahoma at the SAME TIME (Double Screens for the win!!) There's no win win for anyone in this scenario. (Go Vols!!)
It's a short season for me. I only see races on free tv. Next season will be shorter with Amazon having races too. If Nascar has ratings problems, its their own fault.
All of it has to do with marketing. They haven’t marketed the sport correctly in 10 plus years. This falls on the drivers and nascar but also on the corporations. You used to be able to click on any channel and see a commercial for whatever product was being advertised and a nascar driver was in it. The NFL has continued to do this the past 10 years and it’s been a huge success. Also loved your point about getting superstars like Larson to do media collabs with RUclips personnel since that’s such a growing industry. Especially with younger potential fans/viewers.
you are right, well known companies have ran away from nascar the last decade. Mars. Hooters, DeWalt, Lowe's... you don't see those on cars anymore. They are saying Coca Cola will leave.
Nascar needs to find a way to bring at least a portion of them back. But expecting that is tough, we all know.
The part of Larson with RUclips is something well done
@@otaviofrn_adv perfectly said. Lowe’s and Home Depot having their shopping carts as JJ and Stewart’s cars, cereal boxes giving away diecasts, Nextel/sprint constantly using drivers in ads. Food companies in the grocery stores having drivers on the product or even having drivers go to local grocery stores the weekend the race was in town. I met guys like Kenseth, Biffle, Kyle and Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman at the grocery store parking lot because it was some sort of advertising scheme. Hopefully nascar starts to use their new platforms like prime to market better again. Also loved those nascar commercials from I think 2013-2014 showing the toughness and complexity of the sport
Ratings don't get counted when people DVR the race and then watch it. I hate commercials too
I think a problem is the lack of relatable personalities among the drivers. Even nascar feels like a bit of an elitist sport now, since to become a driver you need the luck of having rich parents or family members and having the right connections.
That’s Motorsport, F1 has been that way for years, and its popularity has grown stateside. It’s an identity problem.
@@rexthewolf3149 NASCAR lost its popularity at the same time it lost its identity.
But we have popular and solid personalities of today. We have super talented Larson, Chase Elliot and Kyle Busch. We then have your second tier of popularity like Bubba, Suarez, and Gragson. Then you have the villian arc of Hamlin & Logano. You have a solid group of up and coming drivers who range from solid potential to next super star.
I think what's missing is that in the 90s and 00s every commercial had a Nascar star in it. Beer to Fast Food to Auto Parts to soft drinks. But that boom is gone as it's 90x cheaper to run ads on social media and Google ads.
I've noticed this more so than in years past, I've seen a few ads on Facebook for driver appearances. We see positives still, as we've had 7 or 8 races sell out this year (including the finale)? Which is the most we've seen in at least 10 years.
I also think the accessibility and watching whenever wherever is a factor too. They can improve make it better, they have the resources and cash flow to do so.
People will blame the drivers, but really NASCAR and the sponsors are to blame. Drivers have been taught that they can't actually speak their mind on things without worrying about getting fined by NASCAR or losing a sponsor.
Or just don’t have a postseason in a racing series and also not do 36 races
Easier said than done given contracts and all that
@@JackLikesTrackhouse TV networks still control NASCAR, sadly
@@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT consider they are the ones footing NASCAR bill they have the right to do so.
@@rexthewolf3149 it does not shock me cuz TV networks control NASCAR
BRING BACK CHICAGOLAND FOR 2026
Kentucky??? Maybe??? Please???
And make it a night race. That last rain delayed race that was run under the lights was awesome!
@@8ETHANK8no Kentucky
@@NASCARBOI_OFFICAL I wish they could just race in Cincinnatis general area 😭
They should bring this track back honestly
Most of the races all boil down to “overtime”. Why waste 2 or 3 hours watching commercials, caution laps, stage breaks and some green flag laps that turn out to be inconsequential with a green/white/checkered (or multiple G/W/C) to determine the winner? All you have to do is catch the overtime and go back to using your time more wisely. Of course, sometimes you have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to know if what you saw is for real and if a new finishing order will be installed.
Yeah why watch especially if something else I want to see more when I can just watch highlights?!
Cup races on Friday nights
I’m curious as to if the ratings for both Nascar and Nfl take into account international viewers or only American viewers
only US... but the proportion might be the same counting overseas nowadays, the NFL has really grown
Once the fall hits with football and other sports beginning in the fall, NASCAR viewership definitely dips. NASCAR definitely doesn’t seem too keen on a less heavy schedule in terms of the number of races.
If I were to create the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, I would make the following changes:
Only 5 tracks with 2 dates- Daytona, Martinsville, Talladega, Darlington, and Charlotte
New/returning tracks- Rockingham, Streets of San Diego, Kentucky, Road America, Laguna Seca, Chicagoland, North Wilkesboro (points race), and Charlotte (oval)
Dates dropped- Atlanta (spring), COTA, Bristol (spring), Kansas (spring), Streets of Chicago, Charlotte Roval, Las Vegas (fall), and Phoenix (fall)
Other changes- An expanded West Coast Swing (Streets of San Diego, Sonoma, Las Vegas, and Phoenix), Road America returns to July 4th weekend, and Atlanta moves to the penultimate race of the regular season
Playoffs- Watkins Glen, North Wilkesboro, Charlotte, and Homestead in (New Hampshire, Charlotte Roval, Las Vegas, and Phoenix out)
I bet they could come close to ending the season in the 1st week of September and keep 36 races if they took every race that had 2 dates and made them double header weekends. Like they did pocono. Except phoenix.
They need more Saturday night races. If you start it late enough, the large majority of college football games will be over. The only Saturday night races left on the schedule are Daytona and Bristol. They need to stop with the late Sunday starts and move everything to either Sunday afternoon or Saturday night.
Expand the schedule more. More track time.
Midweek and double headers like they did for the tricky triangle would be awesome!!
This is one of those questions that has a very obvious solution that will never happen because the powers involved are too arrogant to do it because it would be admitting they were wrong(also contracts yada yada yada). Drop the 10 races at the end of the year along with the playoff gimmick to have a roughly 26 race season that ends just before the NFL starts. It won't happen but it pretty much writes itself.
maybe not even the 10... but really, do we need so many tracks with two dates?
Aside from Daytona, Dega, Bristol, are two dates that important?
Wensday night racing, diverse road courses
This isn't going to be popular but as soon as it is possible get rid of the shotout and all star race and i would only go to a track once a season
Here is something that could potentially work. What about having two Cup races in tracks of close vicinity of one another on Friday night and then on Sunday?
Say for example, practice/qualifying Friday morning or afternoon and then race Darlington on Friday night (track that has lights). Have the teams use Saturday as a travel day. Then go to Charlotte on Sunday for practice/qualifying Sunday morning and race Sunday afternoon (or night if the track has lights). Race Trucks and Xfinity on one of the tracks Saturday afternoon and/or night to fill the gap.
This condenses the schedule which could potentially end the season earlier than expected which avoids competing with the NFL and College Football. Weather of course will be the deciding factor which may lead to rescheduling the race to a Wednesday or Thursday night later on in the season.
Id like to see more mid week races. Maybe a double header or two. Im on the side that there is no reason to compete with football, especially if the races are on Cable, not broadcast. Which, if the schedule didnt battle football, there would be a chance Nascar could get a TV deal for broadcast television which would earn more money.
I get thats 10-12 races that need to be crammed into a smaller window. but at the same time, the only ones losing the most would be Nascar themselves. And if they can get over that midweek races and double headers wouldnt sell as much in person attendance, the tv side could gain a huge boost and keep more interest in the season without losing a major portion to the early weeks of nfl football.
NASCAR tried midweek races in 2020 and the ratings were horrendous. Doubt they ever try that again
@@JackLikesTrackhouse I get it but. I'd offer make them all primetime races on a broadcast station. Maybe like the CW, and have a Wednesday race for 5-6 weeks. Put them all at tracks close to Charlotte. Have them be shorten races (cause races don't need to take 3 hours during the week), then just let the numbers be as they are. Nascar is still going to outdraw programs during the week. And it would hardly be against anything. Maybe a good baseball match up. I'd rather get 3 million during the week than 2 million against football on the weekend.
This also isn't from a professional. Just something that I'd like to see to help the sport. I obviously cant make the calls. Either way, im a fan and will follow and watch when i can. But There is a reason other leauges have midweek games or Monday night games. They draw eyes if there isn't much competition and is on a main broadcast network.
I say compact it down. Do double headers and midweek races. Try to wrap up closer to Labor Day weekend and maybe make the southern 500 and Bristol two of the final races of the season. Maybe throw Richmond or North Wilkesboro in too!
Here’s a thought, stop putting races on FS1 or NBCSN, like duh lmao, Basic Cable FOX, NBC, hell CW, it’s common sense, the NFL Pulls in ratings on Basic TV, so what is the Problem NASCAR?
I've always been a racing fan first and foremost. I'm with Dale Jr, if you pick something over NASCAR then forget about you. NASCAR needs to act like they are more important and focus on doing what is best for them instead of worrying about other sports and shows.
What if it's a race from another series?
NASCAR should have its championship on Labor Day weekend. Avoids football season. Put the all star race after the end of the season. Let it go against football and free up a points weekend. Have to shorten the number of races imo. Own the spring, summer and make Labor Day weekend the championship weekend!
They should start by tell anyone that wanted the Olympic break to get stuffed, because 2008 and 2016 had no problems with ratings.
The reason they stopped racing during the Olympics is because the races would be put on other networks. Not just because of ratings.
@@runrafarunthebestintheworld That problem would be the fault of the network that reduced the number of channels they run sports on after signing multiple long-term sports contracts.
NASCAR is never gonna beat the NFL, they were 2nd biggest until 2007 and those days aren't coming back...no surprise a lot of people like football better even though I personally don't watch football but I chose to watch IndyCars at Nashville over Watkins Glen.
I like Indycar too I go back in forth about which is better NASCAR or Indycar. I mean I like the NFL, but I don’t like that it is pretty much all that sports people talk about. I mean good Lord in June you turn on ESPN were talking about Payton Manning and he don’t even play anymore. I think it’s dumb.
Terrible to lack of a decent Nascar video game on consoles is hurting Nascar. Growing up I would watch Nascar with my dad and play the Nascar games. I left Nascar about when I was 16. I got heat 2 and got back into Nascar especially when I got my Wife into Nascar. Go KFB and Blaney
I really started to follow due to a game (nascar 09). Nascar has been taking L's after L's in games for years now.
Hopefully iRacing can deliver a playable game
I don't understand why Las Vegas and Kansas get 2 races while Kentucky and Chicagoland are off the schedule. The only tracks that should get 2 dates are unique venues like Daytona, Talladega, Bristol and Martinsville. Cookie cutter 1.5 mile tracks absolutely shouldn't have 2 dates.
There is not really doubleheader options bc either one of the races are crown jewel or in playoffs. The only one is Atlanta and I am sure they will not do back to back ss. They can’t cut down the schedule bc of contracts. I would say the all star race gets a Wednesday race and put a points race that’s close in that spot that cuts back one week. Then maybe 2-3 midweek races i know rating will not be great but I think it could be a good idea to stop the bleeding at the end of season and cut the season down by 3-4 weeks. That would end season early October. If not I would be ok with the seasons getting shortened by 2-4 races like is used to be. It would have to tracks with double dates or permanent ones leaving
I'm a big Nascar fan and baseball fan. Both seasons are too long. Have to make it work to get Nascar down to 28-30 weeks and if that means some sort of double header fine. I was telling some people in a group that it sucks for the hauler drivers and everyone. Can't burn out the support staff.
I just dont care about football... I think most people shouldn't, just follow me... Only burnout I have is sundays, put more saturday races for cup, and only have 2 races at Daytona and Charlotte and 1 race everywhere else.
I think we should try douvle headers or mid week rackng if we group tracks together that are close geographically
I say put the 500 on the Sunday of the pro bowl then Saturday night race before Super Bowl, then move phoenix from finale and have that be a double header one race Saturday then another Sunday. That shortens year which is good for ratings and can give teams another bye week
Wed love to see Nascar here in the UK, we have NFL games over here, sold out, how about a European tour, wed love it 🤘
Stage racing is awful. Change that first.
I wish they'd race every week. I hate football. I watch every single race and those crew people are getting paid handsomely. More than most people who work 40 + hrs a week and get 2-4 weeks vacation,if that
The double headers we're popular in the summer I remember them both of a Pocono and Michigan I don't know if that would help out in the fall
NASCAR used to have some of the best, most humorous TV commercials on the air. So what happened??
Sponsors stopped caring about NASCAR and wanting to spend money on it, more business to business sponsors and less trying advertise to the fans.
@@PaperBanjo64 You know who's taken over in the humorous and well done TV commercial advertising arena?? PGA Golf imo...
@chuxtuff last sport I'd have expected...I'd have guessed football
All the TV commercials are all DEI focused and most of the commercials don’t even target the NASCAR audience.
@@CPO-Snarky WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE AN ACTOR...
SO WHY DONT YOU ACT LIKE A GOOD SISTER AND GET ME MORE BABY BACK RIBS...
ACTUALLY I WANT TO BE A DIRECTOR, LETS TRY A SCENE WHERE YOU GO GET YOUR OWN, AND ACTION...
AND CUT, AND ACTION, AND CUT...
HOW ABOUT I JUST GET US WINGS FOR EVERYONE??
I do not want a shorter schedule. Of course Watkins Glen is lower ratings. Every road course is. This is nothing new.
Plus lower ratings is still ratings.
playing devils advocate: Does baseball have a burnout problem? Does the MLB lose ratings thanks to the NFL? Is there a push for a lighter schedule from team owners and the players union?
I don't know how to answer.
But as a casual follower of baseball, 162 is a ton. October baseball is great to see, but if no major milestone is happening in a given day I really could not care less for the regular year.
@@otaviofrn_adv That's completely fair. I'm in Canada, and I feel the same way about the CFL and the Grey Cup.
It would help if they adjusted the schedule to try and reduce the physical traveling. The 2025 schedule has teams go from Michigan to Mexico City, to Pocono, Atlanta, Chicago, Sonoma, Dover and Indy over the course of 8 weeks - they're crossing the country no less than four times in just that 8 week period alone!
You could take that same schedule and try to reduce the distances - order it something like Atlanta, Dover, Pocono, Indy, Michigan, and Chicago; take Mexico City and have them go there the week after a race at either Phoenix, Texas, or COTA; have Sonoma appear after a race in Las Vegas. It would greatly reduce the fatigue for those that have to physically travel without needing to eliminate any races.
(I'd go a step further and say to make Mexico City a non-championship event, but NASCAR execs aren't going to pass up anyone paying money).
But this is wishful thinking. NASCAR execs stopped caring about the drivers and teams years ago when they started fining people for having an opinion. It's made even more obvious with the fact they're going to Mexico City at probably the hottest time of the year, and then doubling-down by going to Sonoma when it is _also_ going to be at its hottest, despite the concerns raised at Nashville this year over the heat at that race...
All we're missing now is a late-July race in Phoenix if we're really trying to give everyone the hottest middle finger you can give a racecar driver without going overseas.
I fully agree. Geographically close tracks should be bundled together and are prime candidates for Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday scheduling.
Would be fun if we get NASCAR TV like F1 has F1 TV
If teams didn't have to race every race to be in the playoffs, that might be a solution. That will never happen, but they could take off races that don't make financial sense to them. Give the crew members some time off, etc.
do multiple races a weekend during the summer 🤷♂️
Not enough Sunday Night NASCAR on USA during NFL season. You could have 2-3 races on Sunday evening during NFL season. Less competition in the evening with only 1 NFL game / 2 teams.
Disappointed that there’s no-
No Clash @ Daytona oval (20-30 laps) / Speedweeks. No Firecracker 400 @ Daytona July 4th. No Chicagoland. No Nashville Fairgrounds updates. No Auto Club Speedway. No Kentucky Speedway (repave?). No new street course.
Double headers would be cool though. It's like Indycar had this season. Or the sprint format like F1 has and Nascar experimenting with that
Shorten the season to 30 races, 20 regular season, 10 playoff. Crown Jewel wins get more championship points. No returning to tracks during the season, except for the ASR, and that rotates to all the tracks. Require more activation from premier sponsors, bring back big midways. More driver meet & greets.
Just to name a few.
People say Kentucky back! Uh no, no Kentucky.. get Auto Club and Chicagoland back!
Montreal
Bring back double header to Michigan
I think burnout is good, you have to pace yourself, he who is steady and comes on at the right time will be rewarded greatly. The schedule is fine, I hate football so it is of no consequence to me.
More bye weeks is going to produce better racing. Think about what RCR did with a bye week. Lengthen the season a couple more weeks and stop worrying about NFL. Could allow for 3 bye weeks, maybe 1 before the playoffs to build media hype with special events.
The schedule is fine as it is Maybe they could just add a mid season break like the Olympic Break this year and do something like that every year. Not a big fan of double headers. Or maybe just add a week off between prime and tnt or regular season and playoffs. Just don’t take away any races. I think the schedule is fine as is though. I never feel a burnout on NASCAR, NFL is always gonna be #1. It doesn’t matter maybe in 2026 if the Super Bowl gets moved up a week it will. That would be a disaster. In that case IDK what you would do I mean I guess just take away an off week. But just have the season end on like the 2nd week of November. That’s kind of what I had in mind anyway. I know this was a long comment but as I kept typing I just thought of more things to say. I am very passionate about this sport!!!
Yep it used to end on the 2nd week of November too.
As an F1 & Indycar fan in addition to NASCAR, I think all 3 series have issues with their schedules. With NASCAR it is what is highlighted in the video that is the primary issue. Then with Indycar they have the opposite problem in which the schedule is too short & there are long gaps in between races especially at the beginning of the season. There is also a major issue with circuit variety with the majority of Indycar's races taking place on road courses & street circuits & there are only 5 ovals (Indy, Gateway, Iowa, Nashville & Milwaukee) on the schedule which is embarrassing for a series that markets itself on the diversity of its tracks. NASCAR could help Indycar out in this regard by allowing them to race at ISC & SMI owned tracks which would help Indycar increase the amount of races on its schedule. As for F1 the biggest issue they face with their schedule is that they are racing in countries who don't care about the sport at all like Saudi Arabia & Qatar (while pocketing the profits) while countries with rich histories in F1 like Germany get passed up for races. F1 needs to stop going to the Middle East & China in my view & replace those races with races in countries that would actually turn out for an F1 race like Germany. They also need to cut the number of races in the US to just the one at COTA (US GP) as both Miami & Vegas are absolutely terrible events & do little to grow F1 in the US.
Tradition doesn't pay the bills. Enough said.
Bring back Rockingham to the cup schedule
Can nascar get rid of win and your in cause it’s creating monsters on the track but if NASCAR wants to call there system the Playoffs that’s fine but I don’t want this win and your in thing a part of the playoffs not only that nascar should go back to the top 30 in points to run a championship 2 drivers compete for a championship and I would love more Saturday Night Racing
well NASCAR was one of the 2 big sponsors of the FNCS Global Championship(Fortnite) that crowned the best of the best at fortnite.. This was just 2 weeks ago
Praying Homestead becomes the finale in the future.
Ok. Go Back To The Original Chase Format, With The 2004-2006 10 Driver/2004-2013 10 Race Format, With Chase Points, For The NASCAR Cup Series.
Because, seriously. This issn't 1979 anymoree, Nor It's Not INDYCAR, And Formula One.
But Go Back To The Winston Cup Series Full-Season Format, For The Lower Series, AKA The NASCAR Xfinity Series, and The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
1. Have a 30 week schedule, visiting each track once. This will allow NASCAR to add a few more tracks.
2. Have a season long championship.
3. Increase practice. I say a 45 minute session before and after qualifying.
It's useless to touch practice because the teams have demonstrated that they'll complain no matter what. They're the ones that asked NASCAR to reduce or eliminate practice to save money, but now they're the ones complaint about not having enough practice. The teams are just like the fans: they will complain no matter what.
To be fair, the NFL games are on basic television, and Watkins Glen was on USA, a cable channel. Plus, the last Watkins Glen race was one of the worst in the sport's history. Those things were working against this past weekend's race.
I actually think the whole "playoff" thing is something most fans don't care for either, and year after year it's been proven that it doesn't bring in any extra viewers, yet NASCAR keeps insisting on its relevence and greatness. Many fans feel ignored, like the sport is being made for hypothetical fans rather than actual fans who have been tuning in for years. NASCAR doesn't seem to value the teams or the fans the way they once did, and it shows more and more by their refusal to address the concerns and complaints from both. So, why are people not tuning in as much? Well... if NASCAR doesnt' care about the racing or the fans, why should the fans care about it? I think we still do, but the incentive isn't there for us, it's there for big corporations and casuals that tune in a few times a year, but have no interest in the sport beyond that.
This coming from someone that watched the race every weekend and no longer watches college or pro football.
From what I've seen the new fans defend the playoffs like it's their family! And claim playoffs reward winning (cough cough Harvick 2020 cough cough) and that season long points don't work...if season long points don't work why is F1 so popular!?
@@PaperBanjo64 The evidence that season long points work is in the "regular season championship" battles we see every season.
What makes that question even better is that F1 might be the worst series going right now in terms of on track product. The best part of the race is the start, then it's 50-80 laps of mostly no passing, and even when they do pass, they need one car to be at a mechanical disadvantage via DRS. If cars can't pass on their own, then they suck.
@nomadman5288 yeah regular season was close, which is why I've advocated for a return to 28 or so races, closer championship and makes you actually miss it during the off season, and can make for more Cup off weekends to give Trucks and Xfinity a weekend to shine
More arca races
Do midweek races during the Carolina stretch
Yeah, I love NASCAR more than the NFL, but I’m watching the Steelers over Watkins Glen any day of the week, especially when the Next Gen car has killed the racing there. Watkins Glen should never, ever be a playoff race. Give me Rockingham, Chicagoland, Auto Club, or the Charlotte oval in its place and I’ll have the Steeler game on one tv and the race on another.
I think they should allow the best driver to win the championship. Just sayin.