‘Pit road is still closed’

How many times during a typical NASCAR race telecast do we hear those exact words?

For those following along at home, it may be recalled that I have on prior occasions harped old-guy style on NASCAR’s habitual behaviors that result in less actual racing during any race (see ‘Why does NASCAR hate racing?‘). It seems that the more time that passes, the more entrenched (and longer) these habits of NASCAR’s continue.

Earlier in this writer’s rants on the subject, it was fairly straightforward (if aggravating) to predict the progression of the pit road dance. A lap to collect the field, a lap to let the crew chiefs know, a lap to open the pits to the lead lap cars, a lap to open the pits to the cars a lap down (even if there were none. Hmmm.), a lap to realign the field, then a lap to give them the one lap to go/choose signal. Of late, however, the whole business of when to open the pits has seemingly taken on a life of its own. Time and again, the field circulates under caution for no apparent reason (i.e. there is no track cleanup, no emergency vehicles on track, no rain, no solar eclipse, not even my hated street sweepers, whatever) for lap after lap.

Now, when I am not racing, I am a real race fan; I have been to almost 100 Cup races, and more at other levels. So, I am not dissing them out of dislike, but I cannot fathom just what is happening to cause these seemingly endless delays. With the advent of electronic scoring (sorry Morris Metcalfe, I know you held out as long as you could) it’s not like NASCAR can’t figure out who should be where. My local tracks where I race do a great job at that, so NASCAR should be at least on par. Simple single-car spins seem to elicit the same elongated pit-road-closed situation as more complex events, so that’s not it. And NASCAR has scads of employees at these things keeping track of everything, so they can’t be completely clueless.

And that’s when it hit me. The delays are not inadvertent, but purposeful.

And to what greater purpose would these delays serve? This writer suspects that they are lengthened for television commercials to play. I have no inside information to this effect; NASCAR, oddly, has not elected to confide to this writer <grin>. But when all other possibilities are eliminated, whatever is left, however unlikely, rises to the top.

NASCAR has long been known to aspire to be more like the NFL, and in fact strives to schedule its races to not conflict with NFL games. Fine, let’s go with that. For comparison, consider this: Imagine going to a NFL game, with an expensive ticket, and watching the first quarter of an exciting game. The second quarter begins, but all the players stand around idly for three or four minutes, while the clock runs and no plays occur. The second quarter now resumes with eleven minutes to go.

Friends, you have just experienced NASCAR stage racing. Football fans would tear the place down, and maybe NASCAR fans should be just as insulted. They certainly are vocal at the races when this happens, but I cannot in this post share the exact words used.

So, a suggestion to NASCAR. If you are going to cut the race into pieces (stages/quarters/we don’t care), either stop the cars in between while the commercials play, or don’t count the interval toward the race/game distance. Pick one. As one of your biggest fans, I would be thrilled with either.