Is this the 2011 Sprint Cup Schedule?

There's been a lot of speculation the last few weeks about the NASCAR Sprint Cup 2011 schedule. Now, as several track managers have begun announcing their 2011 racing dates, here's an educated guess at an unofficial schedule...

--------Unofficial 2011 NASCAR Schedule---------
-------Race---------------------------- Date------
1 Daytona 500 Great American Race Feb. 20, 2011
2 Phoenix SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500 ---Feb. 27, 2011
3 Las Vegas Motor Speedway ---------Mar. 6, 2011
4 OFF???
5 Bristol Food City 500 --------------Mar. 20, 2011
6 Fontana Auto Club 500 ------------Mar. 27, 2011
7 Martinsville -------------------------April 3, 2011
8 Texas Motor Speedway -------------April 9, 2011
9 Talladega ---------------------------April 17, 2011
10 OFF for Easter
11 Richmond ------------------------April 30, 2011
12 Darlington -------------------------May 7, 2011
13 Dover ----------------------------May 15, 2011
14 CMS All-Stars --------------------May 21, 2011
15 Charlotte 600 --------------------May 29, 2011
16 Kansas Motor Speedway ----------June 5, 2011
17 Pocono -------------------------- June 12, 2011
18 Michigan ------------------------ June 19, 2011
19 Infineon Toyota/Save Mart 350 -June 26, 2011
20 Daytona Coke Zero 400 -----------July 2, 2011
21 Kentucky 400 ---------------------July 9, 2011
22 New Hampshire Lenox 301 -------July 17, 2011
23 OFF???
24 Indianapolis Brickyard 400 ------July 31, 2011
25 Pocono ----------------------------Aug. 7, 2011
26 Watkins Glen --------------------Aug. 14, 2011
27 Michigan -------------------------Aug. 21, 2011
28 Bristol Motor Speedway ----------Aug. 27, 2011
29 Atlanta Motor Speedway ---------Sept. 4, 2011
30 Richmond ----------------------Sept. 10, 2011

31 Chicagoland --------------------Sept. 18, 2011
32 New Hampshire Sylvania 300 ---Sept. 25, 2011
33 Dover -----------------------------Oct. 2, 2011
34 Kansas Motor Speedway ----------Oct. 9, 2011
35 Charlotte ------------------------Oct. 15, 2011
36 Talladega -----------------------Oct. 23, 2011
37 Martinsville ---------------------Oct. 30, 2011
38 Texas Motor Speedway -----------Nov. 6, 2011
39 Phoenix Kobalt Tools 500 -------Nov. 13, 2011
40 Homestead ---------------------Nov. 20, 2011
So, if this is what's coming, here are the types of Chase tracks as they will appear start to finish:

Chicagoland - 1.5 Mi. Asphalt Tri-Oval
New Hampshire - 1.05 Mi. Asphalt Oval
Dover - 1 Mi. Concrete Oval
Kansas - 1.55 Mi. Asphalt Tri-Oval
Charlotte - 1.5 Mi. Asphalt Quad-Oval
Talladega - 2.66 Mi. Asphalt Tri-Oval
Martinsville - .526 Mi. Asphalt/Concrete Oval
Texas - 1.5 Mi. Asphalt Quad-Oval
Phoenix - 1 Mi. Asphalt Oval
Homestead - 1.5 Mi. Asphalt Oval

That's four short tracks, five tracks around 1.5 miles in length and one long track...

Another way of looking at it concerns the travel... Mid-West to Northeast to Mid-Atlantic to Mid-West to Southeast to South to Southeast to Southwest to West to South-Southeast... In other words, they're going to be criss-crossin'!

Finally, why Chicago in the Chase? Yeah, it's the third largest population center in the country... But do these marketing people really believe NASCAR's strong enough up there to out-compete the Bears, the Cubs, the White Sox, the Fighting Illini, Northwestern's Wildcats, the Fighting Irish, and on and on for the fan's sports dollar in September? I'm going to say no but I guess we'll see. (I'm not sure, but knowing how long the NBA and NHL seasons run, the Bulls and Blackhawks could be in the mix too.)

It doesn't make much sense to me...

NASCAR better do some heavy duty advestising in Chicagoland...

The Current State of NASCAR: CEO Brian France

I read with interest NASCAR Chairman Brian France’s July 2nd news conference highlights. France responded to several media types asking questions concerning the state of NASCAR and what may be coming shortly within the sport.

Some possible changes that were addressed:

1. NASCAR officials are continuing their exploration of ways to pump up interest in the Chase. Nothing definite was brought forth, but France gave some insight into how they are approaching any change.

In response to this question, “Just to be clear on what you're saying about the Chase. You like the basic structure of a points reset, but you might look at giving additional points to wins?” France stated, “Yeah, here is the thing. We like a playoff style format for sure. It distinguishes us in motorsports, number one; distinguishes our national divisions number two. And, number three, the big design is to have playoff-type moments that only can be, in any sport, created when there's a lot on the line at any one moment, right? That's what the essence of Game 7s, eliminations and all that are. “

The current Chase point’s structure resets the twelve qualifying drivers to 5,000 points each and then a bonus of 10 points is awarded to each driver for each win during the regular season. The remaining 10 races are then scored by the same points generation system used during the regular season.

So what could be done to change the Chase races that isn’t already being done in the regular season? Remember now, it should meet the “Playoff-type moments” criteria France spoke of…

Anybody?

2. A big concern for NASCAR is the current fan base demographics. NASCAR is sorely aware that they have lost market share in the 18 to 35 years of age population group, obviously the lifeblood of any sport in terms of survival. The solutions to this problem are easy to identify and yet difficult to implement. NASCAR needs more young drivers entering the sport, drivers young people can readily identify with. That’s the simple side of the equation. The huge investment team owners put on the line make supporting young drivers while they learn the ropes almost impossible.

France let it be known that we can expect changes in the Nationwide Series as early as next season that will support young drivers entering the sport in terms of getting rides and yet he reacted to a question concerning the possibility of placing limits on the number a Nationwide races Sprint Cup drivers could participate in with an emphatic no. Seems to me the best way to support young drivers in Nationwide racing would start with limiting the Cup drivers from participating. I suppose this type of move with the established drivers might result in poorer fan attendance in the short term, but aren’t they trying to solve the problem of influencing American young people to become more interested in the sport?

What do you think NASCAR might be looking at or could do to enhance growth in the younger fan demographic?

3. Concerning track shifting and race date realignments, NASCAR’s CEO went right into politician mode, not giving any specific answers despite questions about New Hampshire losing a date to Kentucky or the addition of a second date in Kansas. He did give an extensive view of what NASCAR has to consider before inaugurating schedule and/or venue changes. In conclusion France stated that NASCAR would make public any changes on these issues around Labor Day as they traditionally do.

4. Finally it was interesting to hear that NASCAR is entertaining discontinuation of ethanol fuel use in 2011. This was the first time any NASCAR official has stated such a thing. France then spoke to a reporter’s question on what the sport is doing to go green. Once again the politician came out and responded without really saying too much. From what was said, it appears Sunoco may be rumbling around about the fuel so it’s probably sayonara ethanol…

Other areas touched on:

France assured the media that most of NASCAR’s 400 different sponsors have renewed their sponsorships.

The car manufacturers have stabilized their operations and are re-investing in NASCAR for the long-term.

The hard economic times are yielding many benefits as NASCAR and it’s family are critically reviewing how they operate.


Any suggestions that would be easy to implement, meet with general acceptance and generate positive results?

NASCAR needs a little self-analysis...

(You busy klvalus?)

Resource:
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/07/brian-france-discusses-future-chase-nationwide-series-and-ethanol-nascar