Drivers Want NASCAR to Go the F1 Way with Monitored Shutdown

NASCAR’s two-week break due to the Olympics is set to end this weekend. During this time, certain drivers were asked if the competition would benefit from a Formula One-like summer break structure every season.

In F1, two weeks are given off to everyone working in the sport. The FIA monitors all the teams to ensure nobody works on the cars during this time. The Cup Series has a more demanding schedule than the open-wheeled series and drivers believe that a similar break would be beneficial if executed properly.

“I’m all about taking a little bit of a break and I think it’d be a cool thing, too, if it was actually a full, total shutdown where you couldn’t do anything. People in other sports don’t realize how long our season is,” Chase Briscoe told the media. He explained how the work is non-stop throughout the year. Even during the off-season, drivers and team members sometimes work harder than they do during it to prepare for the coming season.

Ryan Preece echoed his teammate’s sentiments but his main concerns lay with monitoring during such a break. “I think it needs to be monitored because, selfishly, if other teams are working, you’re getting behind,” he explained. NASCAR has more teams and competitors than Formula One so the monitoring job gets tougher if applied to stock car racing’s highest echelon. The 33-year-old elaborated on how teams working during this period can gain an unfair advantage over others.

The current break NASCAR is on is not a yearly affair. Usually, it’s a continuous season from February to November as the races come thick and fast. Drivers and crew members hardly get to spend time with their families as they traverse the country. That’s not the case in Formula One. A smaller schedule allows the FIA to have multiple off weeks during a season. This gives teams, drivers, and personnel a chance to rejuvenate. While that might not be possible in NASCAR at the moment, there is something else they can do.

Noah Gragson opined on what might help everyone to take a breather. He is a proponent of an F1-like summer break. He also believes that a few Saturday night races would benefit everyone involved in the sport.

“If you just gave people some Saturday-night races, too, that’d be pretty nice. Just something where you have maybe one or two days to be able to not think about racing and regroup, mentally,” he explained.

Almost every driver has reacted positively to the current break in racing and NASCAR might act on that next season.