Really!?

Yes… The schedules have been out for a while which is exactly the point.

The last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is Sunday, Nov. 18th at 2:00pm. (Eastern)

The first Formula 1 race in America since 2007 and the first ever on a track in the United States purposefully built to host F1 is also on Sunday, Nov. 18th at 2:00pm. (Eastern)

Really!?

Usually it is not a problem as Formula 1 mostly runs in Europe and other countries with unpronounceable cities. Such as it is they air around 7:00am or so with no conflict for other racing here in the U.S. However, you would think someone would have thought to stagger the schedule here just a bit… Even just a little bit…

OK… A Plan.

One possibility would be to go to some sports bar which would have both up and try to grab a table with a good view of both. One flaw in this plan is expense. The owners of these establishments really like it if you buy stuff so there is an obligation to have food and beverage on the table while you are there. That would likely add up to a hefty bill and an argument over who had what.

The other, and greater, flaw in the sports bar plan is football. These idiots would be all around you screaming and yelling at their gorillas on the screen for carrying the ball 2 yards.

“Do you mind…? I’m trying to watch speeds approaching 200mph over here… Can you try to not get so excited with your skintight pants ball chasers…”

And then there would be a fight and damages and more expense and, well… you get the picture.

So, the plan is to watch at home. Channel flipping. No football. No skintight pants.

OK, We know that the United States Grand Prix (F1) is 56 laps around the Circuit Of The Americas and that the average length of a Formula 1 race this season is under 2 hours.

We also know that the Ford EcoBoost 400 will be 267 laps around the Homestead-Miami Speedway and the length of the race should come in between 3 and 4 hours. Last year (2011) the race clocked at 3 hours, 29 minutes.

Naturally, we set the DVR. Done.

However, we want to see the start of both in real time. We have to trust that God loves us enough to not have the green flag drop at the exact same time for both races so the chances are good we’ll be able to see the start of both.

If you have “picture in picture” on your TV just shut up now… Don’t even want to hear about it… Go watch football.

After the start it is fairly straightforward. Flip over on commercials or when the announcers start to explain the difference between “loose” and “tight”… (We know or we would be watching football)

We’re going to want to really pay attention to Formula 1 for the final 20 laps so we’ll only be flipping back to NASCAR for 3 or so minutes during commercials. Essentially just enough to catch up on who is leading or which Miss Sprint Cup is where…

After the checkers for the United States Grand Prix the afternoon will belong to NASCAR. Sure, we’ll flip back a time or two to catch the podium from the Circuit Of The Americas but that will be done.

Our best guess will put the EcoBoost 400 at a point with approximately 70 laps left, give or take a few, or about an hour and a half left to run. Things should just be getting good about now.

This will be the finale for NASCAR and Sprint Cup. The championship will be wrapped up for 2012 on the checkers at Homestead.

Formula 1 has one other to go, in Brazil, on November 25.

To watch, set your TV to SPEED for Formula 1 and ESPN for NASCAR and let the flipping begin!

Forget football. Let’s go racing!