Listened to Trackside from Tuesday night and while they're mostly Indycar-focused, they of course took this discussion to encompass most of the motorsports world. NASCAR has reached F1 status as far as live attendance is meaningless in comparison to TV rights fees (not the case of Indycar where tracks don't get anything from TV rights, it's still mostly a live attendance-based model for the track owners). So they think they're going to be putting races in the Olympic break and running weeknights because they have to guarantee 38 race weekends for their TV partners and their race teams, otherwise money has to get paid back. So live attendance be damned.

(The nice thing for running during the Olympics is that was for NBC, but the races being delayed now are on Fox, so Fox has the programming time in comparison to NBC that does not.)

Doubleheaders was also mentioned. The monkey wrench in that is there's a hard cutoff of when the playoffs start and NASCAR doesn't want to move the playoff start date or extend the playoffs, which is why say Texas they don't want to have a fall doubleheader there. If they have to delay the spring Texas race, they'll create another race pre-playoffs for it, probably on a weeknight.

(I feel sorry for the team personnel that would have to do turn-around of racing Sunday/ Wednesday/ Sunday at 3 different tracks.)

F1 of all the races, only Australia has been cancelled, all the others are "postponed". For Indycar, Long Beach apparently are gung-ho of setting up a race in September if they can. Also, no one thinks the Indianapolis 500 will run without fans if this hasn't been resolved by late May, it'll run later in the year. That's many many millions of dollars that new track owner Roger Penske would be giving up.

[Edited on March 19, 2020 at 11:05 AM. Reason : /]

3/19/2020 10:58:51 AM

https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2020/03/19/dale-jr-kyle-busch-brad-keselowski-william-byron-iracing/

I'm gonna watch but worried it's gonna be a shit show. A few of these guys just got on iracing this week

3/20/2020 9:03:59 AM

As my friend said, “I would watch sweat drip off a Mountain Dew bottle at this point”. It should be entertaining as long as it isn’t a technical disaster.

3/20/2020 10:10:44 AM

Monaco Grand Prix cancelled. Won't be held for first time since 1954.

Start of F1 season now set for June 7th in Azerbaijan.

3/20/2020 2:02:53 PM

Its gonna be bad til the people that just got on it wreck themselves out and the people that know what theyre doing can race. Just like last week where the backmarkers were wrecking every 2-3 laps and then the last 50 laps or so were green

3/20/2020 2:05:57 PM

Nascar video games are boring as fuck.

Unless you turn around and drive the wrong way

3/22/2020 3:19:34 PM

i was entertained, Jr should have wrecked hamlin coming to the checkers

3/22/2020 4:32:04 PM

It was entertaining once they turned off the cautions

3/22/2020 6:08:47 PM

Quote :

"Nascar video games are boring as fuck. Unless you turn around and drive the wrong way"

And turn paintball mode on

3/23/2020 8:12:01 AM

Quote :

"Nascar video games are boring as fuck. Unless you turn around and drive the wrong way"

You are the exact type of cunt that I would expect would do stupid shit like that. Good on you for living up to the stereotype

3/23/2020 12:10:44 PM

Quote :

"It was entertaining once they turned off the cautions"

next week they should turn the cautions off and run heat races or stages

[Edited on March 23, 2020 at 2:07 PM. Reason : s]

3/23/2020 2:05:28 PM

https://racer.com/2020/03/23/miller-a-call-with-uncle-bobby/

miller: "We spent an hour discussing the golden era of IndyCar racing: the heroes that are gone, and the ones still kicking that we idolize. So sit back and enjoy the world according to Uncle Bobby as he expounds on the warriors he raced against…


[Edited on March 23, 2020 at 6:00 PM. Reason : d]

3/23/2020 5:49:50 PM

So watched the iracing. I do not think this is meant for spectators.

I'm sure Garrett Smithley and Timmy Hill enjoyed being talked about and running up front.

I hope Anthony Alfredo makes it to Cup. My nickname for him is Fettuccine.

[Edited on March 24, 2020 at 8:19 AM. Reason : .]

3/24/2020 8:18:31 AM

Quote :

"next week they should turn the cautions off and run heat races or stages"

Either need to turn cautions off outside of the top 10 or stop allowing resets. It was mostly the same cars wrecking every caution. The Busch brothers, jimmie, etc...aka, guys that have little to no iracing experience.

3/24/2020 8:21:27 AM

Indy 500 postponed until August 23rd.

The Indy GP on the road course will run the Saturday before the NASCAR race on the 4th of July.

3/26/2020 2:12:09 PM

Quote :

"You are the exact type of cunt that I would expect would do stupid shit like that. Good on you for living up to the stereotype"

Chill out fam. I haven't played a Nascar game since like 2000. Going around in a circle dozens and dozens and dozens of times brings me no joy. It's not like I go online and ruin your races by doing this.

3/26/2020 3:42:00 PM

Circuit of the Americas laid off most of their workforce. They were a racetrack that used it for s lot of other entertainment, like concerts.

Feld which organizes Supercross, Monster Jam, Disney on Ice, among other things, put 90% of their employees on severencd a few days ago.

3/26/2020 9:52:18 PM

[Edited on March 27, 2020 at 9:19 PM. Reason : f]

3/27/2020 9:05:18 PM

the NBC indycar broadcast team doin iracing at watkins glen 4pm. cool

3/28/2020 2:58:50 PM

Here's a sim racing podcast a couple friends of mine were doing.
https://www.spreaker.com/user/12183654/off-the-chain-episode-001

3/28/2020 9:05:56 PM

^cool



the LCQ for texas iracin will be streamed this week at 11am

3/29/2020 9:09:41 AM

crap, virginia says its closed until june 10th now

[Edited on March 30, 2020 at 5:35 PM. Reason : f]

3/30/2020 5:35:01 PM

motherfucker

3/30/2020 10:46:03 PM

Everything racing through Memorial Day is shut down...except NASCAR.

4/1/2020 8:52:51 PM

This schedule is out there as a possibility:

May 24: Charlotte
May 31: Kansas
June 7: Texas
June 14: Sonoma
June 21: Chicago
June 27: Pocono
June 28: Pocono
July 1: Martinsville (Wednesday)
July 5: Indianapolis
July 8: Richmond (Wednesday)
July 12: Atlanta
July 15: Kentucky (Wednesday)
July 19: New Hampshire
July 26: Talladega
July 29: Homestead-Miami (Wednesday)
Aug. 2: Bristol
Aug. 8: Michigan
Aug. 9: Michigan
Aug. 16: Watkins Glen
Aug. 22: Dover
Aug. 23: Dover
Aug. 29: Daytona
Sept. 6: Darlington
Sept. 12: Richmond
Sept. 19: Bristol
Sept. 27: Texas
Oct. 4: Talladega
Oct. 11: Charlotte
Oct. 18: Kansas
Oct. 25: Las Vegas
Nov. 1: Martinsville
Nov. 8: Phoenix

4/2/2020 11:24:44 AM

Michigan AND Pocono doubleheaders. Over/under for engine failures we'll see in the Sunday races?

4/2/2020 9:39:34 PM

^i think they can change valve springs and and a few other top end parts so might not be that bad. not sure

"Heat races Sunday #ProInvitationalSeries at virtual Bristol will be 50 laps with main event 150 laps. Heats set lineup for main event & heats will be televised, 1pm ET on FOX "

heat races should have eliminations!

4/3/2020 7:18:26 PM

I think when asked years down the road by my grandkids "how crazy was that virus thing in 2020 like?", I might respond "well, a NASCAR driver once quit doing a video game and it cost him his primary sponsor".

Indycar: Belle Isle doubleheader has been cancelled. Season opener now Texas on June 6/7 weekend. They've made Iowa a doubleheader and added an October Indianapolis road course race they're calling the Harvest Grand Prix. Word is St. Petersburg are trying to have a race later this year. Long Beach officially cancelled after they tried to do the same. Looks like Barber and COTA are the same, so what was a 17-race schedule is now 15 with the St. Pete race part of the 15 and TBA.

Formula One: Season opener is now France on June 28th. 7 races have been postponed and 2 cancelled (Australia and Monaco). The organizers Liberty for now have said they'll run all races and have the 2020 season go into 2021 if necessary.

(Bernie dealing with this would've been something to see. Probably would be doing the Dana White and telling everyone "you're still racing".)

Supercross: looking to finish their season in the fall to run the remaining races. There's a question of stadium availability with baseball, football, concerts going on. But they say they'll finish their full schedule.

[Edited on April 9, 2020 at 11:21 AM. Reason : /]

4/9/2020 11:13:16 AM

RIP Kyle Larson.


Said the n-word live while streaming racing video game.

4/12/2020 11:18:59 PM

Haha. Probably will just apologize, and go through some Nascar diversity program.

4/12/2020 11:33:24 PM

idk man, NASCAR has made big strides in getting away from that racist redneck image. The biggest star of the sport said the stars and bars had no place at the track. I think they'll make it pretty difficult for him to come back.

4/13/2020 5:05:48 PM

^yeah, his major sponsors quit on him, making the decision for his owner i guess.

4/14/2020 6:55:29 AM

Who would Ganassi replace him with, notorious tightwad he is?

So this meaningless entertainment in iRacing has now helped to wreck 2 real-life racing careers: Larson and Bubba Wallace.

4/14/2020 8:13:08 AM

^ Newman in 6, watermelon man in the 42 probably

4/14/2020 4:05:23 PM

dOuBlE sTaNdArD, lOoK aT tHeSe LiL wAyNe LyRiCs

4/15/2020 12:42:31 AM

^^ You're right, I forgot about Chastain driving the 6.

With how money-dependent auto racing is, via sponsors or ride buyers, I kind of wonder what other changes we see once things start back up. First Bubba Wallace and now Larson, I think sponsors are going to jump on any excuse they can to jettison sports sponsorship. Larson that's just the zeitgeist of the time, Bubba's situation though is serious "WTF?" territory.

4/15/2020 7:58:21 AM

Yeah, the Bubba Wallace thing is ridiculous. The guy rage quit a video game.

4/15/2020 1:27:18 PM

The thing is, he quit because others weren't taking it serious. They were wrecking each other and dicking around. Then his sponsor dumps him because they "want a racer".

[Edited on April 15, 2020 at 1:57 PM. Reason : Wtf is blue emu anyway?]

4/15/2020 1:56:35 PM

Liberty liberty, liberty liberty emu?

4/15/2020 3:48:54 PM

^^ they were waiting for an excuse, it's the only plausible explanation

Thing is if the Petty team disappears for lack of money which has been an ongoing issue ever since Smithfield left with Almirola, NASCAR even moreso in light of the Larson thing are going to absolutely make sure Bubba's in a car even if they hide their fingerprints on the deal, so where does he go?

[Edited on April 15, 2020 at 4:14 PM. Reason : /]

4/15/2020 4:11:28 PM

If it comes to it, I think NASCAR just figures out how to keep the Petty team alive. It's a double whammy. "Not only do we have a minority driver, but he drives one of the most legendary numbers in the sport for one of the greatest to ever compete!!!!1!!!11" Anybody can throw a diversity driver on a shit team. Don't get me wrong, the 43 is a shit team, but the folks they're trying to attract/impress with their diversity efforts don't know any better; they just see the famous 43 on the side of the car.
Disclaimer: I really like Bubba and I do think more diversity in the sport is a good thing.

4/15/2020 5:34:01 PM

^ Roll my eyes about Petty and the 43 really. A.J. Foyt's team in IndyCar is more A.J. Foyt than Richard Petty Motorsports is Richard Petty. Remove the figurehead and the team and car is a JTG Daugherty.

4/16/2020 7:44:32 AM

Listening to Trackside at the moment and they started on the Larson news and got me to realize that he was the guy in NASCAR I probably cared about the most

Feel like it's a problem with NASCAR is how many of these guys can you really get behind and cheer and want to see win. Sure as hell is not the Busch brothers or Harvick, although I know there are Kyle Busch fans.

[Edited on April 16, 2020 at 9:54 AM. Reason : /]

4/16/2020 9:52:46 AM

most folks don't seem to have a problem finding someone to pull for. i was indifferent after Mark Martin finally quit for good, but now i've got Blaney. Chase is fun to pull for. Bowyer is always entertaining. Dibenedetto is always good if you want an underdog who gives his all every week.

4/16/2020 6:15:17 PM

^ I like DiBenedetto too, but how many people are at tracks buying DiBenedetto merchandise? I know I'm not.

4/17/2020 9:38:44 AM

but there are definitely plenty of folks buying merch at the tracks, so they've found someone to pull for.

4/17/2020 10:48:00 AM

It's nowhere close to the '90s and '00s. No one in the field has replaced Gordon, Junior, or even Stewart. And Jimmie is gone this year. The Busch brothers together are kind of a Rusty Wallace/Darrell Waltrip hybrid. Harvick suffers a bit from what I call "Scott Dixon Syndrome" - absolutely phenomenal talented racecar driver that has never sold a ticket in his life (we're many years gone from him kinda sorta getting a little of Earnhardt's fanbase after he died). "The Greatest Thing since Sliced Bread" was first from Arkansas to try and get Mark Martin's fanbase and now he's from Connecticut.

Who's grabbed the bull by the horns besides Chase Elliott? As far as performance and translating it into fans I'm not seeing much from a lot of guys NASCAR's pinning their hopes on once the current top star generation retires.

4/17/2020 11:48:18 AM

90s and 00s is setting the bar pretty high

4/17/2020 1:51:17 PM

Quote :

"If it comes to it, I think NASCAR just figures out how to keep the Petty team alive"

I mean Petty racing has died once before.

4/17/2020 3:20:51 PM

Quote :

"While that was the only official word spread throughout the weekend, reports of additional discussion behind the scenes spread over the weekend. The Athletic reported on Friday that NASCAR had contacted the office of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper about getting permission to open team shops ahead of a potential return in Southeastern states - most notably Florida, whose Gov. Ron DeSantis has shared interest in seeing NASCAR return.   Kickin’ the Tires shared on Saturday that NASCAR officials are scheduled to meet with state representatives this week to try to get shops re-opened. WBTV shared a report on the following day about Republican lawmakers in North Carolina’s General Assembly calling for Charlotte Motor Speedway to be reopened for a Memorial Day return without fans. Peeking beyond Charlotte and Memorial Day, the June trip to Sonoma Raceway remains up in the air. The Press Democrat reporter Lori A. Carter caught up with track president Steve Page, who admitted that racing with or without spectators on the planned June 12-14 race weekend will be a challenge. “The most likely scenario is that we will run at a date in the future,” he said. “Whether fans are here or not, it is too early to speculate.”  With American society currently looking for a path toward a return to relative normalcy, discussions of sport returns are slowly heating up. How long it will take before concrete plans are announced remains to be seen, and depends heavily on COVID-19’s spread over the coming days and government reaction to it. "

4/20/2020 7:12:07 AM