How NASCAR Can Avoid Rain Shortened Races

(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

NASCAR cannot wait until 3 a.m. Eastern Time to cancel a race. Even though it may be early on the West Coast, making the other half of the country stay up and wait that long on a Sunday night is frustrating.

If it was a Saturday night with no school or work the next day, then maybe people would be a little more understanding. Handle West Coast races with care. 

And while we are on the topic of canceling races, NASCAR: Please don't cancel a race or call the race short and then have it stop raining 30 minutes later! 

Race fans are not stupid. They will check the weather and the radar and complain for the days to come if you do that.

But, back to the final four races on the schedule, which have me puzzled.

One would think that Talladega, a day race, would have a one o'clock start time. But that's a fool who thinks that.

Talladega is marked down for noon—and who knows why it is that early and doesn't follow the previous races?

To close the season out Texas, Phoenix and Homestead-Miami are all scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Huh?

Texas is supposed to end under the lights. Being central time, it wouldn't be that hard for NASCAR to completely make it a night race—not the "start in the day and then end under the lights" format.

The only races that work going from day to night are the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. All other races should either be day or night.

Pick one—no in-between.

That rule should apply for the championship race in Homestead. Crown the champion under the lights and fireworks in Miami. Do not start in the day and drag it on all night. The race seems as long as the season. 

And then there's Phoenix, the second to last race of the year, which is also a day race. So start it at 1:00 p.m., noon Arizona time and let's settle that.

Hey NASCAR—I've practically done your job for you. Just do everything I've mentioned above and we'll be set.

There is no need for these 2:30, starts because all that does is give the husbands and wives of NASCAR fans more time after church gets out to go shopping or do whatever.

Sorry to break it to you ladies and gentlemen, but your significant other wants to see race cars on Sunday afternoon—not your parents or china patterns.

Both Kurt and Kyle Busch have said they would like to see a consistent and scheduled start times for all races to help beat the rain and make things organized.

Kyle even suggested this week that all day races be either at one or two o'clock in the afternoon and that night races be at seven.

How easy would that be if everyone knew what time each race was going to start?

If rain is in the forecast and there is a specific time for the race to start, then start the race. Forget about a Digger episode—which I'm pretty sure I have memorized by now—or a TNT hour pre-race show followed by a half hour TNT countdown to green.

Is that really necessary? We don't care about highlights that happened last week. We saw them already and are ready for the race we tuned into to watch—the race that might come on after all the pre-race hoopla. 

Dump all of that. 

Fans want cars on the track and drivers want to race. Scheduled start times and eliminating the bogus pre-race shows will help stop races from being ruined by the rain.

So, message to NASCAR:

Fans want race cars and complete races, not a Gopher. And race car drivers want to compete and have a fair shot at winning—not have it stolen away not a non racing move (a.k.a the pit road rain dance).

Rain is bad, NASCAR. In a sport where everyone loves speed, we are leaving it to you to make sure we get that.

As Ken Squire once said, "There is nothing more unnatural for a race car driver than to sit still when he knows he could be racing."

Disclaimer: This article is in no way a nasty rant toward NASCAR. The writer loves the sport and would just like to see a complete race. 

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