There has been a lot of talk about how NASCAR can improve the product on the right track. Elton Sawyer doesn’t see more practice as the answer. Teams and drivers have complained in the past that the sessions were far too short.
In fact, Jimmie Johnson, who plans to run a total of nine times this season, That’s how I felt last weekend in Texas. Denny Hamlin was also a conductor on this train. However, there are those who don’t want more practice, they want the same practice, or even less, in fact.
For Elton Sawyer, as the head of NASCAR, it comes down to a few things: Does this improve the racing product? Does this give more value to fans?
I would say that more training means more teams can use their cars to be competitive. It would also give fans more of that full weekend experience that once existed, more chances to see your favorite driver, and much more.
Elton Sawyer doesn’t seem to agree. Because of “data” and the “eye test”.
“I think we proved that just a few weeks ago at COTA we did a partial repaving with the facility, we did an aerodynamic change with the diffuser, and just to make sure the teams had the “opportunity to get familiar with these two changes, we added a 50-minute workout for the Cup,” Sawyer said on The Dale Jr. Download: Reloaded. “So it’s not that we just tabled this proposal and we’re not going to discuss it. As NASCAR has proven for over 75 years, when topics like this are discussed, we bring all of our stakeholders together.
“Again, our TV partners, our tracks, our teams and all of us are stepping up because everyone has a different point of view on this, and whether it’s better, whether it’s going to increase the value of our product than we put on the race track and our fan experience, so I’m sure we would dive a lot deeper into making that happen. But as I mentioned earlier, that doesn’t seem to be the case at the moment. »
Right now, Elton Sawyer sees this as a good topic for debate. But NASCAR does not believe action is necessary at this time.
“It’s a good dialogue, it’s a good topic of discussion. But again, and I can’t repeat this enough, I think what we’re doing today is just working on the view and the data with the number of overtakes and the type of racing that we see on the track. track.
Honestly, it seems tone deaf. This sounds like the same attitude that pushed NASCAR to test minor aerodynamic adjustments in hopes of radically correcting the short-track package. Stubbornness and inability to admit you are wrong.
NASCAR fans go to the races. A lot of fan culture is camping, making a weekend or a whole week of it. So why not reward these fans with more things to see? Now I see the argument that 3 hours of practice every week is no longer feasible. But 20 minutes?
Elton Sawyer is a smart guy. He was racing. But somewhere along the way, there was a disconnect with what fans want in a race weekend. Cars on the track, drivers jostling and interacting with the fans. More practice gives you that.
There is surely a happy medium between a snippet of practice and an entire afternoon.
