Have you taken the time to see where they are racing or do you simply check the TV to see when the race is on…? All we do is plant ourselves on the couch and click the remote but those folks at NASCAR have to arrange all that stuff. At first glance it looks as if they arrange it with a dart board and blindfolds…

Race 1 – Daytona. Fine… Tradition and all that. The Daytona 500 starts the season and always will.

Race 2 – Phoenix. Let’s roll right by Texas to get there…

Race 3 – Las Vegas. Hey! Just up the road! Cool!

Race 4 – Bristol. What…? OK… Road trip!

Race 5 – Fontana…? Where is that? Next to Los Angeles…? California…? We were practically there in Vegas!

Race 6 – Martinsville. Back to Virginia…? What day is it?

Race 7 – Texas. What…? Why didn’t we stop there first and then go to Martinsville? It was on the way!

and so on…

Yes. Scheduling is a nightmare. There is the balance of tradition with newer facilities. There is the consideration of weather and temperature. There is the case for keeping the racing interesting with a variety of track length and technical skill. There is that dart board that doesn’t get used nearly enough…

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Seriously… It is a tricky thing. When the schedule was announced nearing the close of 2011, Mark Aumann of NASCAR.COM spoke with NASCAR Senior VP of Racing Operations, Steve O’Donnell, on just this subject:

“Q: NASCAR makes three trips to the West Coast in a four-week stretch. Are there alternatives to that, or is it a matter of a limited number of warm-weather venues?

O’Donnell: By starting where we do in late February, you’re really challenged, weather-wise. There’s no secret that when we used to go to Rockingham and Richmond, it snowed in Richmond and was very cold in Rockingham. For us to go somewhere where we give the fans the best chance to get out to the race and have an enjoyable experience depends on climates. And obviously the West Coast — Phoenix, Vegas, Auto Club — all provide that for us. Then we delicately try to balance the traditional dates where we go from there: Bristol, Martinsville.

In an ideal world, it would be 75 degrees everywhere. But the weather challenges kind of dictate to us where we can go. When we look at the schedule, we take into consideration of racing “on top of each other,” so to speak. But we’ve looked at it as almost a West Coast swing, and the more we can get the word out about NASCAR as a sport on the West Coast — which is fairly new from a Cup standpoint — we’ve still got a lot of work to do. So the more buzz we can create by multiple events taking place early in the season, it’s like the rising tide helps all boats. I think it helps for the tracks, as well.”

One of the tracks in this ping pong schedule is Martinsville which is coming up the weekend of April 1st. We contacted the Director of Public Relations, Mike Smith, to find how the schedule works for them. One point he brought out concerned the short tracks and audiences. Spacing the short tracks so they are not back to back may be more interesting for fans, especially those viewing from home. The racing style is similar so having these types of technical races spaced, even if by just two weeks, may add some vitality to the mix. He also said Bristol, which had been the week before, traditionally pulls from areas west while Martinsville pulls from a more eastern area, both north and south of the track.

Smith also said the later date Martinsville has now compared to just a couple of years ago means an average increase of temperature by 3 or 4 degrees by race day. The expected average high is also more comfortable. “Not a huge difference, but if I’m camping three or four degrees is a big deal.” he said.

He added:

“NASCAR is doing as good a job as can be expected. It isn’t as simple as saying we’re changing the schedule. There are so many considerations in a change… Fans have been coming to the same race at the same time for years; the ticket sales time frame; television; the list is lengthy…”

With everything to consider, we would tend to agree. Live fans in the stands is paramount to making it all work. Television ratings drive the money train. It must, however, be a logistic nightmare for the teams. Naturally, the same car would not be used for shorter tracks and the larger speedways. Naturally, the teams have multiple haulers and support equipment to get cars to Fontana and Martinsville, as an example. You still have to shuffle the drivers and pit crews and other “race day” personnel on some of these long distance, back to back races. Fuel is expensive. They may be running green biofuels in the cars on race day but diesel and jet fuel come into play Monday to Thursday.

It is obvious NASCAR has many factors to look at for scheduling. Thirteen facilities have two races in the season. There are fifteen facilities in the eastern time zone, four in central and four others in mountain/pacific. Is there a way to accommodate facilities’ ticket sales, foreseeable weather, fan interest and growth while also considering the budgets for team and equipment travel? Can they do it differently or better?

Are we merely asking the same questions that are asked when NASCAR considers the schedule for the coming year? Quite possibly. Perhaps the point is not asking NASCAR what they do to get it straight but bringing the complexities of putting it all together to the fans so there is another level of understanding about the sport they follow.

They simplified the Points System. Maybe instead of points NASCAR can award Flyer Miles. There is an incentive to win, right?

Visit NASCAR online for more on their schedule and TV times.

Visit Martinsville Speedway online for details about the upcoming Goody’s Fast Relief 500 weekend.