Read the opposing arguments from Loyal Homer and Babe Ruthless .
What are our future children going to think of us? When searching through the annals of sports history in newspapers (if our kids even know what those are in a few years), our kids are going to seriously question our sanity for popularizing a sport where the biggest event of the entire season takes place on its opening weekend.
Should the NFL begin its season with the Super Bowl? Should the World Series kick off the MLB season? Should the Stanley Cup Finals open the hockey season? Perhaps The Master’s should be golf’s first tournament of the year.
Or not.
There is a good reason why most legitimate sports do not begin their respective seasons with their premier events – fan interest will dwindle once the event is over. So it is difficult to understand why NASCAR maintains a resolute preference to hold its premier event – the Daytona 500 – as the season’s first event. But, even with all of the requisite build up, the Daytona 500 is vastly overrated. After all, it is still a bunch of dudes turning left for four hours.
I submit two primary reasons why the Daytona 500 is the most overrated event in sports.
Reason #1: The Long, Slow Attendance Death
NASCAR has publically voiced concern about dwindling attendance figures for years. Usually the organization identified a cultural variable to shoulder the majority of the blame for the diminishing figures, including pointing the finger at the recession beginning at the start of last season. But even as the economy is slowly improving, and attendance in other sports has ticked up, NASCAR remains locked in a losing battle of fan attrition. Fan attendance is so concerning now that Daytona officials have even begun to opine on how to improve attendance, and protect NASCAR’s most cherished asset – the Daytona 500.
NASCAR has made many tactically unpopular decisions in recent years, not the least of which is diluting the importance (and fan allegiance) of the manufacturers by forcing teams to adopt the so-called Car of Tomorrow. However, an often ignored reason NASCAR is losing popularity with even the most diehard of fans is that its featured race kicks off the season. While the Daytona 500 remains wildly popular, most fans stop paying attention to NASCAR once that checkered flag drops on the beach.
Reason #2: Timing Matters
Perhaps when the first Hudson Hornet kicked up sand on the beaches of Daytona nearly 60 years ago the event was big enough to draw huge crowds. Times have changed, however, and for fans to take a race seriously it must have more than a historical connection and tradition. It must have timing, and therefore relevance.
NASCAR insists on billing the Daytona 500 as its most popular event, but does not schedule it accordingly. If the Daytona 500 is so great, why does it start the season? The GREAT races, the ones that are remembered, are the deciding races. The more fans NASCAR loses through its seemingly unending regular season, the fewer fans are around for the next Daytona 500.
There is tremendous history to this race. While I am not a NASCAR fan in the slightest, I can appreciate what history means to a sport. Why would the powers within NASCAR, the France family et al, marginalize the organization’s most celebrated and historical event by leading off the season with it? Imagine a NASCAR that ended its season relevant to more than diehard fans?
A two week long speed weeks leading up to the final race of the season is perfect for the Daytona 500, TV, fans, and drivers. NASCAR can even make the change and give another race – like Talladega – the “spring training” treatment that the Daytona 500 usually gets.
I am really confused by NASCAR. The fans, the advertisers, the media, and the drivers simply accept that the Daytona 500 is the first race of the season. Why? How can fans simply listen to the drivel spewing from each of these groups? It is insulting for fans to be told time and again that the Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s most important race. The race does not decide anything. In fact, the season schedule waters down the Daytona 500’s importance since it is dominated by a host of 500 mile races, and even a 600 mile race now.
If the Daytona 500 is so important, NASCAR must begin treating it that way. Or just stop insulting its fans by drumming up a faux importance. No “Greatest Most Important Race Ever” should kick off a season. That’s the formula for being overrated.
You know I’ll give you an even better reason why the daytona 500 is over rated. The claim is always that the winners list reads like a list of nascar royalty. Really? If I compared its list of winners to the list of any other race is there a difference? No. The same drivers run it. Its just any other race.
I will day that moving it to the end of the season would do more to kill its significance than anything. For one the last race rarely decides the ultimate winner of the year and even if it does the actual winner of the final race is even more rarely the nascar champ regardless.
However I may propose that the race could be moved to the last race before the chase and the winner be guaranteed a spot in the chase regardless of his current point standing. That would give true significance to winning it and promote serious competition from all drivers.