The length of NASCAR races has sometimes been a hot topic of contention amongst the NASCAR community. This is mostly owing to how some races can be a bit too long. However, looking at recent times, when these long races were cut short by factors such as rain, the interest factor peaked amongst both the fans and the drivers on the racetrack. Since then, a lot of the drivers would start pushing harder as the unpredictable weather came in closer, the most recent of which was Kyle Busch.
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Furthermore, citing the examples of the rain-shortened Chicago and Atlanta, a journalist asked Busch if it made sense to shorten the race lengths for some of these races. Subsequently, Busch shared his thoughts regarding the matter whilst maintaining an open stance on the notion.
Kyle Busch keeps an open stance toward shortening race lengths
Speaking at the press conference, Busch stated, “Yeah, I’ve kind of noticed that sometimes when the races are over and I’m like, damn. I didn’t have a chance to get back to where I wanted to go. It just takes a while; it takes a lot longer.”
“It’s like a truck race, you know? You go to Pocono (Raceway) next weekend – you run a stage and the stage is 12 laps long or something like that. So shorter races, yeah – it’s fine.. it can be done.”
He further added, “I think it can be done successfully. I think you kind of saw maybe a little bit of rain factor last week in the racing at Atlanta (Motor Speedway.) Where guys were really pushing because they knew the rain was coming, so they wanted to be upfront. So the aggression was high. But besides that, race distance, race length – I think if you can find a happy spot with a TV window, then just stick to that.”
Busch highlights the races that can be shortened
Speaking further into the press conference, he added, “If it’s a three-hour window and it takes ‘X’ amount of time per lap to do it and you’re going to have eight cautions. Add up that time, figure out the distance that you need, and go from there.”
“I think to have one, two, three, maybe four Crown Jewels that have always been long-distance races, as long-distance races, is cool. Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500, you know what I mean. I would say keep those going the way they are, and maybe some of the other ones can be shortened.”
Perhaps Busch’s idea does make sense. But it is up to NASCAR to make changes that would allow for shorter race lengths. Maybe not for the crown jewels, but the others can definitely be looked upon to make the racing a bit more interesting, rather than having a several-hour-long affair.
