If you’re an early riser then apparently the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway has got your name written all over it.
I guess we can start making all the jokes about this one?
Maybe they’re going after that hearty European fanbase for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour?
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Thanks Nascar. I’m sure this will do a lot to attract new fans to the series!
So, let’s look at the full picture with reason instead of outrage.
Mod race has a 9:15am start.
Truck race has a noon start.
Cup p&q has a 3-5pm window.
Sunset is 6:30.
Where are we putting this race that is any better? The truck race time and sunset are going to be non-negotiable.
You could say swap the mod race and cup p&q. The problem with that is that the cup teams would refuse. A 3pm start with a 10am garage open allows them to travel to the track on Saturday and save a night’s worth of expenses.
put the mod race after cup? If the race is completely clean you *might* be able to do that. You would be up against sunset right from the start. And any more than 1 or 2 yellows would almost assuredly run into light issues. This past year’s race took just a hair under 1:30 with 8 yellows.
Sometimes there’s only one way things will fit together. By all means if anyone thinks they could make a better schedule for the day. Do it. I’m sure it won’t actually be realistic.
So, with Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday races and early start times, Nascar is not doing themselves any favors. I love the Mofifieds and watching them run but I am over Nascar and their games.
what would you have them do?
I’m trying to understand that why have allbthe races in one day Why not have the Mods and trucks on the Saturday and cup cars on Sunday by itself
cup teams for the most part do not want anything else on sunday before the cup races.
they want the fans at their tents, they want the sponsors with the drivers in peace and quiet. not watching something else.
That’s why by and large rain outs are usually made up after the cup races.
The tour at wilkesboro and mexico series and mexico are pretty much the only 2 things that happen on sundays this year.
WK didn’t say race mods or trucks on Sunday.
That does a lot to help folks who are driving in from Southern New England, New York, Pennsylvania or New Jersey. Start driving at 4 or 5 am.
Good move NASCAR. It’s going to begin raining hard at 11:30.
In my musings on this frigid winter morning a couple days before Christmas I ponder what Mr. Courchesne’s office looks like. In my imaginings it’s a comfortable, well appointed home office complete with the usual provisions for filing you might expect in any office. Bristling with a complete array of all the tech you’d expect in a modern office to communicate with the outside world, write stories and do research. Festooned with memorabilia accumulated over the years with a beautiful view of the winter landscape provided by an amply sized window. Every home office should have some kind of gaming to provide a diversion between marathon’s at the computer and phones doing research on stories and this one does too. A dart board with the name in all caps in the center with the name NASCAR.
Hoping that landed as a bit of good natured “funnin” as is this opposing view of the early start time for the Tour race at NHMS.
First the dart thrown by he publisher in the recent RaceDayCt Quickcast that hit it’s mark.
“What a slap in the face to the Whelen Modified Tour and it’s fan base. This is a professional sporting event, we’re not talking like, you know a 10-12 youth league soccer game at 9:15 AM we’re talking about a professional sporting event, a professional racing series will run their feature at 9:15 AM Eastern time”
“Professional” took me a bit to sort out. There are one or two teams that at the very least could be considered semi-professional but for the most part the NWMT is comprised of amateurs with day jobs participating in the Tour as a recreational activity. On the other hand NASCAR is very much a professional sanctioning body. It may be naïve but I do give NASCAR credit as a default for having some logic for doing what they do.
I’d start with what happened last June in the Tour race at the NHMS. Scheduled for the evening it was moved to 10 AM because of the rain predicted later on. I’d suggest that happenstance gave them a strong set of data on what to expect in fan viewer-ship that may have emboldened them to make the decision they did. The video of the race definitely shows more people with coffee then beer but there was the usual smattering of fans in the large facility. Checking back to previous years it looked like it could have been half the usual number of fans in the stands but you can take that with a grain of salt.
The race at the NHMS may very well be the teams “Daytona 500” but the reality is it’s not NASCAR’s. It’s just another race on the schedule that is structured to meet their own greater goals for the weekend. I’ll assume they ran the numbers and are perfectly aware of what to expect from the early start. I’ll assume they canvassed some of the teams to see how they felt as well. I’d also assume they calculated how much leverage they may have to counter any adverse affects of the bizarre start time mitigated by their sizable purse and points fund bumps in 2025.
Lastly I’ll beat the drum I’ve beaten for a while now. The experiment with streaming races is over. They gave it to us for free at first, built the model slowly over the years and now it’s a viable revenue stream that could very well be bigger then live race attendance. All you have to do is count the commercials to see that happening. The publisher threw a nifty dart at the time slot with a bit of mockery referring to a potential European audience but it’s not that far off in reality. Content is king, more people across the country and maybe even in Europe will be streaming the race then watching it at the track in a perfect time slot on a sunny day. We’ll all watch it at 9:15 or after the fact but we will watch it.
I’ve been slapped in the face a lot lately rhetorically speaking from current events. While aware this is a major inconvenience for fans that make a yearly pilgrimage to New England’s premier track for a big weekend I’d venture to guess it’s not that big a deal in the bigger picture. For many of us the early start while bizarre may be an interesting change of pace for one race of many in 2025. If there is a “Daytona 500” for modifieds my vote would go to the opener at New Smyrna.
That’s all I got………Happy Holidays!
Are they trying to get more camping fees from the fans?? Great schedule for people commuting to the track, especially if they want to see the dirt cars the night before.
Less people attending the NHMS Modified race, more people streaming it.
And then the track, NASCAR, sponsors, promoters, etc. will complain about poor attendance.
Well thats no fun.
There goes my “its 5 o’clock somewhere” rule.
I usually try to keep that till at least noon local time. Oh well.