A hot-button topic among NASCAR circles is the schedule. In an effort to continue to stoke the fire -- and provide creative as well as realistic ideas, our NASCAR experts offer their ideas for ways the governing body could tweak the Cup series schedule.
Mike Clay, ESPN: I love the idea of running more races during the week -- prime time on a Wednesday or Thursday evening at Bristol or Richmond would be incredible. I think this would make a lot of sense late in the season. Like it or not, there is a large portion of the fan base that turns to the NFL in September and it's nearly impossible to keep tabs on both your favorite local team -- or, let's be honest, the NFL Network's RedZone -- and have a Cup race on at the same time. The decision which way to lean becomes even easier when your favorite driver is eliminated from title contention. I realize moving races to Saturday evening isn't ideal with college football in full swing, but a switch to weekdays -- or simply shortening the schedule -- could solve some issues. I'd also love to see a dirt track on the Cup schedule. Anything to inject more driver talent into the equation -- that's what we want to see!
Ricky Craven, ESPN NASCAR analyst: Here are my five suggestions for new tracks: 1. Iowa is a lock as it was built to host a Cup series race and it gives us another short track. It's also geographically perfect to capture the Midwest racing crowd. 2. Texas. It needs to do away with the existing 1.5-mile track and replace it with a superspeedway that is 2.7 miles in length. And by the way, this is not something that would have ever come from my mouth during my driving days. My colleagues are sure to scoff at the idea, but the fact of the matter is Daytona and Talladega sell! We've got too many 1.5-mile tracks. Let's build something big. 3. Eldora. Dirt racing had a presence in Cup racing for years. It's an element of our heritage and it's wildly popular in this country. Let's add this one to the schedule because it is the best dirt track out there. 4. Circuit Gilles Villeneuve-Montreal Quebec. Our fans who are north of the border love their NASCAR, so we should reward them with a Cup race at arguably one of the most attractive circuits in North America. 5. Seattle. We need a presence in the Northwest and we also need a high-banked short track that exceeds the aggression seen at Bristol. The track needs to be covered with a dome, open all ends and designed with the luxury and entertainment of a modern NFL stadium. Call Paul Allen. The five tracks I would eliminate are the one race at Texas, one race at Pocono, one race at Kansas and Chicago and Kentucky.
Ryan McGee, ESPN senior writer: It's no secret I'm a proponent of shortening everything. I'm very excited about the two-day weekend schedule at Martinsville. Phoenix just gave us another great show in under three hours (500K!). I know all about the racetrack agreements and NBC's desire for year-round programming, so we'll never see the sport voluntarily shorten the season and bail in early fall, but that's my dream. Compress the calendar, run some midweek prime-time races and totally rule the summer before football starts and your only competition is lazy midseason baseball. Run the short-track season on Wednesday nights when everything is hot and greasy. Take a page from Bob's story and throw Nashville and Iowa in there. Can you imagine a July-August midweek series of prime-time races that's Richmond, Martinsville, Bristol, Iowa and the Nashville Fairgrounds? And it's all wrapped around July 4 at Daytona and road racing at Sonoma. C'mon, now!
Alisha Miller, ESPN.com: Ending the Cup season by September should move to the top of the NASCAR schedule-makers' priority list. NASCAR will never be able to compete head-to-head with the NFL, so why keep trying? Another idea. For years as a kid I would hear about "Bristol under the lights." If there is going to be racing on Sundays, what about starting a Bristol race at 5 a.m. under the lights? This sunrise service could be targeted for those campers who can wake up to engines roaring and for those race fans whose kids wake up early on the weekends (6 a.m., it never fails, right?). The checkered flag drops in time to turn on the NFL game at 1 p.m. And ... if we have to shoot for more realistic changes, eliminate the race at Kansas and move the All-Star race to the same weekend as the Coca-Cola 600. There. Easy peasy.
Scott Page, Jayski editor: NASCAR needs to trim the schedule, run midweek races, and cut race distances. Bring some urgency to the individual races and to the season as a whole. Start the season in mid-March and wrap it up by early October. Run no more than 30 events per year, so each race has more of an impact on the standings. Run four-to-six weeknight races during the summer months would be great. Other than the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600, no race should be longer than 400 miles and most should be 350 to fit in a nice, tight TV window. Drivers would need to work their way to the front of the pack as soon as the green flag drops in a race. Leave fans wanting more.
Bob Pockrass, ESPN.com: End the season three-to-four weeks earlier and put the all-star event on Friday night of Memorial Day weekend if it has to be in Charlotte. I'm thinking tracks owned by the same company that are about four-to-five hours from each other should package them together for fans: Michigan on a Saturday and then to Chicagoland on a Monday night during the summer; Bristol on its traditional Saturday night and then head to Atlanta for a Monday night summer race; Richmond on Saturday night of Labor Day weekend and then off to Darlington for a Labor Day night race.
Scott Symmes, ESPN.com: Put a race on the beach! OK, I'm already getting carried away. On a serious note, it's time for midweek races in prime time -- at least one anyway. Sure, the logistics would be tricky, but it's an experiment that needs to be discussed (it likely has already.) Just consider the summer Daytona race, as an example. July 4 falls on a Wednesday this year. How cool would it be to run the Coke Zero 400 that night? Very cool, if you ask me. Tell the kids the fireworks shows can wait until the weekend. I also think Road America is worthy of a Cup date. Would a lot of fans be outraged if we axed Indy for a road course that produces memorable Xfinity Series races almost every year? Probably not.
Matt Willis, ESPN Stats & Information: I've long been a proponent of major changes to the schedule, so where do I begin with a promotion to "NAS-Czar" to handle the 2019 schedule? First, I would schedule some weeknight races. Second, I need more variety on the schedule, more road courses, short tracks and even a dirt track or two (I'll hold off on suggesting a "figure 8" race for now). How about we add tracks like the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Road America, the Indianapolis road course (or Indy Raceway Park), the Circuit of the Americas, Iowa, and why not dust off the Milwaukee Mile and maybe even North Wilkesboro? Variety is the spice of life, and the NASCAR schedule has grown bland and is in need of seasoning.