How Can We Get More Off-Weeks On The Cup Schedule?

How can we get more off-weeks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule?

There will be no Cup racing this weekend, the only such weekend from the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20 to the championship race at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 6.

The schedule has become increasingly compact, as the finale has been moved to the first weekend in November after previously ending in mid-to-late November in order to avoid ratings clashes with the NFL.

But having a race on 37 of 38 weekends is a grueling schedule for anyone in the industry, and it goes against drivers and crew members wanting more off weeks in the schedule. This season hasn’t helped either, as Cup lost its traditional off-week on Easter Sunday and there is no longer on a two-week homestand at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600.

To get more off-weeks, the series will either have to extend the season back into November, trim down the 36-race schedule that has been used since 2001 or return to doubleheaders.

The doubleheader idea is the most plausible, as it would allow off weeks for the teams by completing two races in one weekend. But they fizzled out just two years after their introduction, which leads to the conclusion that they were unsuccessful in ratings and fan interest.

But perhaps there is another alternative.

I mentioned in a previous column that NASCAR would be best served in dropping the All-Star Race. The race doesn’t count toward the championship, and the fan interest in the event has reached a nadir. It also doesn’t help that the race is now held at Texas Motor Speedway; this year’s event was critically panned, as it featured minimal passing and a confusing mess of a finish.

If All-Star weekend is used as a bye week instead, the number of breaks on the current schedule would double all the while ending in early November and preserving the 36-race schedule. But if the All-Star Race continues, it should at the very least be held at Charlotte in the future. Not only would it be a more exciting race, but it would also give the teams two weeks to spend time with their friends and families in North Carolina.

What does last weekend’s Cup race at Sonoma Raceway mean for the playoff picture and parity?

Last week, I wrote about the drivers that would benefit the most from the race at Sonoma.

Consider it a swing and a miss.

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