broadcasting races possible.
First, I am assuming the fans that have the highest sponsor-support ratings in all of professional sports don't have any problem with TV commercials per se. We just don't want them to keep us from catching every last bit of the action.
My radical proposal is simple and does not interfere with any basic race strategies. At its heart is the concept that caution laps and red flag stops are the ONLY things approaching timeouts we have to work with.
So let's put all of the commercials there. How, you ask, when performance in the pits, the race off of pit road and crew chief strategies are every bit as important as driver talent?
Simple. Put the commercials on the BACK END of stops, after the race off of pit road, and keep the yellow out for as long as it takes to get caught up on commercials.
Yes, this adds extra caution laps to a race. So what? That's far better than missed restarts -- or God forbid, cutting away from green flag racing. What we would do is to have the caution laps count only until the field has gone sufficiently around after pit stops. This could be as few as one lap at Watkins Glen and as many as four or more at Martinsville. All "additional" caution laps after that do not count towards race length... meaning laps counted under caution will be the same as under the current system. NASCAR will work with broadcast producers to decide how long to stay away for commercials in a given situation (Michigan will typically have long breaks, Bristol... shorter ones but more of them).
We may even have to add another stats category -- TV laps under yellow. But we'll still have ALL of the aspects of racing and for once we'll see it all. Even fuel mileage will come into play (I happen to be one of the perhaps minority who thinks fuel strategy should always be a part of racing and seeing a leader fall short -- as long as it's not my driver! -- is exciting to me). NASCAR will of course inform the teams of the expected length of each break as it appears, so they can run their numbers.
Under this system, there is absolutely no excuse for a network to miss any pit stop, restart or green-flag activity. (Can I get an Amen, at least on that?)
But wait, you say... races, even quite recently, have been run with few or no yellows. What then?
I have an answer and you aren't going to like it until I have fully made my case. A new type of competition yellow. (Stop cussing me and read with an open mind, please!)
We already have competition yellows, most often due to tire concerns. I don't like them any more than you do. But if tires are blowing everywhere, they are critical for safety and I grudgingly support them in such instances... while venting my verbal wrath on Goodyear. However, we also have scheduled green flag stops in the case of long runs; hence the almighty "fuel window" stat.
There really would not be that much difference if we simply set the scheduled stops in stone and went to commercial after they are completed (remember, we still get pit performance, race off, etc.). Let's just take the fuel window as the maximum before teams are forced to pit. But wait again, you say! My driver needs to stay out to get five bonus points because he's on the top-35 bubble. Once more, the answer is simple. The new rule doesn't say you must pit after XX laps. It states that after XX laps, you must pit within five laps or so (that number should be variable according to track length/banking). This preserves the strategy aspect of how long to stay out when the window approaches. Of course, you can always pit earlier to get on a different cycle -- and remember again, under this plan, ALL green flag activity is aired.
Once the cycle of green-flag stops is complete (fuel window plus a number of laps), then pit road is closed, the yellow drops and we get to watch commercials until the restart.
Let's take a race like the afore-mentioned Michigan, known for long green-flag runs and few cautions - meaning that this track is one of the worst for this proposed system. Fuel window is normally 40-44 laps of a 200 lap race. We're going to see a minimum of five stops no matter what. Right there, we have the same number of minimum commercial breaks. NOTE WELL: Even under current broadcasting format, those are still commercial breaks! The only questions under the current system are will we see all of the stops and will we miss the restart. There were seven cautions during the 2008 Lifelock 400, plus green-flag stops. Plenty of opportunity for this approach to work and that is a race where missing action under green is an absolute given every time it is aired.
Wait one more time, you say! What about staying out after a spin when we don't know if the leaders will pit? No problem. Pit road is opened as per usual. Some come, some don't. While the network is showing us the stops of those who do, stay-outs tool around the track. As it starts to look like everyone who is going to come has done so, NASCAR tells the teams that pit road will be closed next time around. Last chance unless you are betting you can make it to the next fuel-window mandatory or that another caution will come. Bear in mind that once pit road has been closed, and all stops completed to include race-off, the network is then free to break away for as long as required, with all drivers now running "don't-count" TV caution laps.
I must reiterate: There is no one-stop race in Cup, therefore some stops must be "scheduled" to account for long runs, so why not take advantage of that fact? Further, NASCAR keeps shrinking fuel cells to force more pit stops anyway... now they won't have to do that quite so much just to placate TV advertisers.
The next advantage of this system is its flexibility when cautions start to fly. No one can truly predict how many "honest" yellows there will be (not to mention phantom debris cautions). So let's say we are past halfway at Talladega. The restrictor-plate carnage has been brutal, as it so often is. The network is running ahead of schedule on advertising minutes. And of course, more yellows will likely fly near the end. So in concert with NASCAR, a decision is made and teams are told that the next fuel-window stop will not be mandatory. Do you stop well before the window to get off-cycle and hope for a yellow? Do you think you can go a little further than the leaders and elect to stay out? Take two tires? Same choices as under the current system, essentially.
A smart producer will "mid-load" his commercial breaks. About a third of the way through or so -- especially if the race has been basically caution-free -- most people aren't going to mind a break. We all have bladders. So make that a long break with several TV-yellow laps following stops, and price the latter commercials higher. This will catch people coming back to their couches, thus freeing up time later in the race to say "Don't go anywhere folks, we're back in 90 seconds" for the really high-dollar commercials.
The network gets to track its commercial spacing far more productively and we don't miss anything while watching. What's not to like?
There is, alas, one true disadvantage to this system. The extra yellow laps will without fail add to the actual time required to complete the race. I see two options here and I'm sure my choice will be the least popular one. Option 1 is to decrease the length of some races, many of which are already viewed as being too long. If you think there shouldn't be a 600, you might be satisfied if this system was adopted and some races shortened. But my very first race attendance was at a 600, and my driver was taken out with ten laps to go -- it also ran more than five hours due to a lot of colored flags. I was riveted the entire time and barely noticed the passage of time...to this day I like long races. Option 2 is to simply air the commercials and the race, time required be damned. Which is fine by me. But I truly detest missing action in favor of commercials, so I'll go along with shortening if I have to.
Oh, and if you are actually at the race, those TV laps mean you have time to get a Martinsville hot dog or go take a leak and have a much better chance of catching the restart! And the track promoters sell more dogs-n-beer. (I have a sneaky suspicion, echoed by former crew chief Bill Borden over at ESPN this year that some debris cautions are actually thrown just for this purpose anyway. This approach should result in a decrease in phantom cautions whether that is true or not.)
Regardless, what is truly wrong with this
proposal other than some extra laps under
yellow which won't even count? The
mandatory stops are fuel-window anyway
-- cars MUST pit one way or another --
and include a cushion to allow for
strategy. No existing strategy -- and
certainly no loss of competition on pit
road -- is affected, since the commercial
laps are run after pit road closes.
It's something to consider, because there
is no way we are going to escape the
necessity of commercials. And no one
wants true time-outs or breaking races
into "quarters" like the NFL to take care of that. Nor do we want pit road to become a sham. Above all, we want to see every pit stop and every green flag lap. This way, the cars just circle under yellow while energy drinks and insurance get sold and all aspects of competition are retained.
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Craig Fields is a race fan from Virginia who almost never misses a televised Cup race, even scheduling his fishing and hunting pursuits around them. He may be e-mailed as follows; use just his first name followed by the good old at symbol, then use
gunowners.org as the remainder. (done this way to fight the evil spam robots):
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