ShareThisLast year's Daytona 500 went pretty well. The season got off to a good start with the 50th running of the sport's biggest race, and there was momentum as we headed west to Auto Club Speedway and then on to Las Vegas. ...
This year's season didn't get off to as good of a start. Last Sunday's rain-shortened Daytona 500 left a lot of questions. A lot of what happened was out of anyone's control, but the fact the 500 started at 3:40 p.m. is not one of those things. The late start limited options on resuming the race after a rain delay and NASCAR needs to look very seriously at starting its races earlier.
That's why the start time for Sunday's race at California makes absolutely no sense. The start time is listed at 3 p.m. Pacific time, which is 6 p.m. Eastern. The green flag will probably drop more in the 6:15-6:20 range. That's pitiful.
There's no reason to start a race that late, especially this weekend. The race won't be half over when the Academy Awards show comes on TV. Why would Fox want to compete with the Oscars? I know you're thinking there's not a big crossover audience, but the idea of moving races to get more viewers is to attract people who wouldn't automatically be inclined to watch. That's not happening against the Oscars.
It's like NASCAR is tone deaf. Fans are SCREAMING about the late starting times. TV networks pay a lot of money to the sport, and their wishes should be considered, but those wishes shouldn't be outright commands. There's a balance, and right now NASCAR is on the wrong side of the scale.
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(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit The News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C.
