NASCAR’s Greatest Hypocrisy: Returning Racing to Its Roots?

Tony Stewart once posed the question “How long does NASCAR think it will be able to continue treating its fans like idiots?”  Stewart made the comment in response to the sport's in-race activity, but his question can be directed towards NASCAR’s scheduling policy, too.

NASCAR has continued to preach a “getting back to the roots” message during the 2008 Sprint Cup season, yet the sport’s scheduling decisions have done little to reflect that slogan. Instead, NASCAR continues to say one thing and act out another.

The prime example here comes from the sport’s refusal to even consider returning the Southern 500 to Darlington on Labor Day weekend, a change which it should make if it is serious about this new campaign.

The 2005 Sprint Cup season marked one of the sport's most drastic shifts away from NASCAR’s roots. It took the Southern 500 away from Darlington Raceway, and shifted the Labor Day weekend race to Fontana, California (outside Los Angeles).

The decision made economic sense at the time, and makes economic sense today, as Darlington has a maximum capacity of 65,000, whereas California seats over 91,000.

Additionally, the track is located outside the second largest city in the U.S., so there is an opportunity to gain greater revenue through the sale of more tickets and the fallout of additional spectators (like the sale of souvenirs, beer, etc.).  From a sheer economic perspective, the decision to keep the race at Fontana on Labor Day weekend seems like a good one.

In reality, though, the decision represents a stubborn refusal on NASCAR’s part (and specifically International Speedway Corporation (ISC), which owns California Speedway and Darlington Raceway) to make an effort to reconnect with NASCAR’s roots.

The Southern 500 was the sport’s first 500-mile race, and had been held over Labor Day weekend since 1950 when the race debuted.  Another bit of history comes into play as Darlington is widely considered NASCAR’s first Super speedway. The race is abounding in tradition and the drivers enjoy coming to Darlington.

Since NASCAR gave Darlington one race date, it has sold out its Mother’s Day weekend race for each of the four years it has been held on that weekend.  And this was a weekend many skeptics believed would be a near-impossible sell. 

Even last Saturday’s Dodge Charger 500 sold out. This comes during a season in which most races have been a tough sell either due to the economy (like the traditionally packed Bristol Motor Speedway, where there were many empty seats) or the weather (Martinsville Speedway, where the race-day temperature was 41 degrees).

Clearly the fans want to see racing at Darlington, and FoxSports.com’s Lee Spencer noted in her article “It's time to get back to basics at Darlington” some additional facts:

“A.) The final Southern 500 in 2003 attracted an estimated crowd of 75,000. B.) The 2007 Sharp Aquos 500 last Labor Day weekend at California Speedway was observed by an estimated 85,000. C.) February's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway drew about 70,000.”

Those are hardly the kind of numbers to convince me that California really deserves to hold the prestigious race, when another track has over 50 years of tradition steeped in that weekend.

If NASCAR wishes to be practical and true to itself, it should consider these scheduling changes:

•Move Darlington’s one race from Mother’s Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, and call it the Southern 500.

•Move that California Speedway race to the final weekend in September, which would allow the big-market track to not only hold a second race, but to have it during the Chase for the Championship.

•Move the Kansas Speedway race at the end of September to the open weekend in July, which is around July 20 rather than back to the Mother’s Day weekend.

Kansas has not been around long enough to earn any sport in the Chase. Also, NASCAR is a family sport, and the Mother’s Day weekend should be kept open so drivers, teams, and all the individuals involved in race weekends can spend time with their wives and mothers, whom they rarely see during the long season.

NASCAR needs to be serious about returning to its roots, while running the sport like a profitable business.  Thus, it should make accommodations to ensure Darlington regains its traditional race date on Labor Day weekend.

NASCAR should consider a solution like the strategy noted above to keep its two bigger markets on the schedule, and keep them in weekends which will encourage fans to show up for the races.

NASCAR does have a business to run, it just needs to remember what made it such a successful operation: its roots.