NASCAR Needs to Rethink How It Creates Its Schedule

As NASCAR begins a stretch of return trips to 12 tracks, it raises the question: Does the sport really need to visit these markets twice?

There are 23 different venues featured on the Sprint Cup schedule. The tour will race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in two weeks. That's the 13th track with two dates.

But as the sanctioning body looks to increase the sport's popularity, the onus is on NASCAR to take the product to the people — not wait for fans to come to a race track where they may or may not have been before.

"New tracks in the forefront would probably spice things up," said Denny Hamlin, a leading voice in the Drivers' Council. "Even Kentucky in the first year — maybe two — was a boon. I don't think the demand is as much as it used to be simply because you've seen it once, you've seen it twice. Some of these tracks we go to on and on and on for many years now, and it gets stale."

Kentucky Speedway, where the tour returns next weekend for a tripleheader, is centrally located between Cincinnati and Louisville and a short trip from Indianapolis, Columbus, Ohio or even Cleveland, Nashville, Chicago, Pittsburgh or St. Louis.

The track debuted in 2000 with the truck series, added the Xfinity tour the following season and the Sprint Cup Series in 2011. But that's the last time a new venue was introduced into the Cup schedule.

NASCAR released the 2017 Sprint Cup schedule last month. Still, if the sport is looking to attract new fans NASCAR needs to rethink 2018 — and beyond.

When FOX Sports interviewed NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France on Sunday, he appeared open to adding a road course into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but added, "The reality is it's very hard to get the schedule to match up."

Chris Myers also asked France about the possibility of more weeknight races — particularly during the summer months when fans are more accessible. France replied, "Don't see that."

France didn't close the door on rotating the All-Star Race. With the Cup sponsor being the title sponsor of the event, whoever purchases the entitlement will factor into the decision.

"There's a lot of interest in that very interesting event, and Charlotte has been good to us for a lot of reasons, but we'll always keep that open."

Hamlin would like to see the schedule condensed overall — including the All-Star. He believes moving the event to Thursday will entice fans to stay for the Coca-Cola 600 and an extended weekend.

"Why is All-Star one week and the 600 the next? You lose all your momentum — and by the way, the All-Star crowd is all a local crowd," Hamlin said. "They're going to come if it's Thursday or Sunday on whatever day. It's only a local crowd. At least if you move it to a Thursday, that race we saw in the All-Star? That just built momentum for the 600 — and oh by the way, the 600 is in just a few days.

"Now, you're starting to get the 600 crowd coming a day early to see the All-Star. It builds the All-Star crowd. It builds the 600 crowd. The whole thing would be better if those two were close (together). It shouldn't be two separate weeks."

Hamlin wouldn't stop there. He says the challenge is getting the tracks to buy in. Hamlin also believes the TV partners would embrace the weekday programming options as well.

"I personally think we need to explore weekday races and shorten our season up," Hamlin said. "I would love to see a West Coast swing that takes nine days total. You run those races in a nine-day period and get it over with. You add more weeks off and shorten the season. There's no negatives to it. But you have to pick the places.

"In my opinion, you go to Vegas and race Vegas on a Thursday. It's a destination city anyway. Tourists are there every day of the week. I think it would work at a track like that. You start on a Saturday, you do a Wednesday race or a Thursday race and then do a Sunday race and get it over with.

"That's three weeks and the teams don't have to spend two weeks worth of hotels out here for all the crew guys. That gets to be expensive. And it's very taxing on the team guys, too, that don't get to go back home because they're working on cars at an airport hanger for two straight weeks. That would be the first step that I'd like to see us work on, tightening up our and refreshing our schedule."

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