NASCAR: Schedule Changes Show Weakness of 36 Races

NASCAR officials debuted the 2009 Sprint Cup schedule this week highlighting three major date changes, one minor change and the inclusion of a fourth weekend off among the 44 weeks of all NASCAR all the time.

The most significant change to the schedule involves the swapping of dates between Atlanta Motor Speedway and California Speedway (you call it the Auto Club Speedway if you want).

Thinking back several years when ISC with NASCAR's blessing stripped Darlington of it s traditional Labor Day weekend moving the date to California Speedway. Yes, I am aware ISC getting NASCAR's blessing is like looking in the mirror to tell yourself you made the right choice. I digress too quickly. Amid the back slapping and glad handing was a whisper of doom. The move was entirely profit motivated. California Speedway had more seats and a much larger population base from which to draw then did the little decrepit Darlington Raceway.

Oh, how they learned. More people in a geographic area doesn't necessarily guarantee more ticket sales. Despite all the "good" talk from ISC, specifically Lisa France-Kennedy, one question loomed largely unquestioned. How successfully was California Speedway going to compete against the multitude of vacation choices on the last big holiday before school started?

We know now that answer is "not very well".

So, after years of trying to "sell" a weekend at a racetrack that lacks casual camping, is located across the street on one side from a massive industrial complex and on the other by a region of gangs, declining neighborhoods and enough razor wire to encircle a prison, California Speedway will no longer offer up its acres and acres of scorching asphalt as a Labor Day getaway.

That honor now goes to Atlanta Motor Speedway. Honor; not sure it's a real honor. Georgia is no paradise in the early September. The folks at AMS will face many of the same obstacles which made California Speedway a hard sell. To AMS's advantage the race will now be a night race, which should help keep the fans from becoming burnt toast.

Think about this, AMS gets rid of a weekend that has been a hard sell only to take on a weekend that can be a even harder sell. California Speedway was at least 2400 miles away from the Bristol Motor Speedway juggernaut.

Good luck selling a race held just one week after Bristol packs in 160,000 some 300 miles to the north.

Through all this thought, Talladega has almost been forgotten. Talladega gets a later date in the Chase now. Which should not be an issue. The one benefit of the Car of Tomorrow has been a return of some of the most exciting racing on the planet at Talladega Superspeedway. Given the choice, I would rather be in the shoes of those running Talladega than I would of those in charge at AMS and California.

And, that minor date change goes to Bristol Motor Speedway. NASCAR moved the first off weekend to before Bristol, instead of after, in hopes the extra seven days will help with the weather issues that often make for a miserable weekend in the Tennessee mountains in late winter/early spring.

One final though, as part of all this swapping Darlington Raceway has elected to return the moniker Southern 500 to a position of prominence. Five hundred you say? It previous years the only race run at Darlington Raceway was a four hundred miler. Hmmmm, they must be cooking up something special in Darlington.

Bottom line, ticket sales are down at almost every venue. Only those offering the most exciting racing, or something new as in night racing at Chicagoland, are selling out or coming very close. If I was in control (famous last words) there would be a strong effort to muscle the schedule back down to 30 or 32 point events and you can rest assured it would not be a reduction in the number of short track events. Bristol, Richmond and Martinsville give up some of the best racing on the circuit today.

In the end, the quality of the competition is what sells the sport. The changes outlined above have nothing to do with the quality of the show and everything to do with trying to squeeze a better quality egg from the goose. It won't work, but I won't tell you I told you so.