Tuesday NASCAR officials announced a re-working of the All-Star races format, AGAIN. It seems every year NASCAR makes some tweak to the format to try and enhance the "racing experience". I am not going to try and explain this here, as I'm afraid you'll snooze. But for those of us watching at home, this becomes rather confusing. We the fans watch the race, and fans who dont religiously follow the sport online, and through social media, have to be sure to tune in during pre-race (something I usually skip) to have any idea what the rules are for that year. Myself I am active on twitter and check NASCAR.com often, but your average fan is not so inclined. Your average fan has the TV muted untill "Start your engines". Luckily the race details usually come shortly after that so they will get a brief glimpse of the rules change.
The All-Star race should be the same format every year. The NASCAR Executives have had decades to tweak, alter, enhance (what ever you want to call it) the format of the race. You would think after this long they would have found something that works. Nope. Changes almost every year. But not in the way fans have been asking for. They just keep adding laps, and taking them away, mandatory pit stops, 10 minute break, it goes on and on. I think fans want something universal. For instance a Hockey All-Star game. They don't change the length of the periods, make the nets bigger or take away the icing rule. The rules stay the same, they play hockey, but its all the All-Star athletes of that year. Isn't that a novel concept? Also using hockey as an example, The All-Star game moves from city to city giving every market in the league a chance to capitalize on the All-Star game hype.
This brings me to my next point. Who made the decision that Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) should be the venue (EVERY YEAR) for the All-Star race? Bad Call. Even fans have been asking for the All-Star race to move around to different tracks. Why should CMS be the track to benefit from the All-Star Race. I'm sure CMS executives think this is a horrible idea. But the other tracks could benefit huge from this concept. All the talk of filling seats and fans in the stands, an All-Star race would do that for any track. struggling or not. Imagine an All-Star race at Watkins Glen, Phoenix or Martinsville. A Martinsville All-Star race would be epic. 20 some odd drivers on that half mile paper clip vying for $1,000,000 ? Guaranteed awesome race. Or even a track not on the NASCAR circuit. I'm sure an All-Star race at a local US track just about anywhere would be a spectacle. There are so many markets NASCAR is afraid to try ESPECIALLY CANADA but thats for a different blog post.
In closing I think NASCAR should take a page out of Bruton Smith's book (Speedway Motorsports Inc Owner). If the fans want something changed, they will let you know. But you just have to listen to us.
Untill next time Smitty OUT!
Ok Smitty, time to get out of my head! LOL I've been saying the very same for years now. I love the comparison to the NHL. One other thing they could do, aside from adding more drivers to the burnout competiton, is to include a driver skills competition to complement the pit crew challenge. I find it amusing that NASCAR, in their attempt to be more like stick-and-ball sports, makes dumb changes like the stupid Chase but misses opportunities presented with the All Star Race.
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