The NASCAR Cup Series season is perhaps one of the most demanding motorsports schedules anywhere in the world. The season starts in February and goes on till November with no break in between. It’s just non-stop racing action week after week and after a point, one can’t help but imagine the toll it takes on the drivers, teams, and everyone associated with the sport. This year, NASCAR has a two-week break owing to the Olympics, giving the drivers some much-needed respite from the season.
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Formula One has a break like this every season. It’s called the summer break and this year, it started after the Belgian GP. As per Article 21.8 of the FIA F1 sporting regulations, all competitors have to observe a complete shutdown period of 14 days in July or August. The sport is also not as grueling as NASCAR since races are balanced out throughout the calendar.
These weeks with no competition (apart from the summer break) also give teams a chance to work on the car and come back stronger after the break. It’s also important for the drivers to spend some time with their loved ones in the middle of the season and come back with a fresh mind. It also gives the teams and Formula One a chance to engage in fan interactions which might not be possible if there was an onslaught of races.
NASCAR drivers back the idea of F1-like summer break
RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher is a big fan of the total shutdown concept in Formula One. In a recent media interaction, he said that a couple of weeks like that would be nice as he could spend more time with his family and just kick up his feet for a while. “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,” he said.
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Preece also agrees about a break where there is a total shutdown. However, he said that something like that would have to be heavily monitored. “I think it would be good for everybody, as long as everybody was doing it. I think it needs to be monitored because, selfishly, if other teams are working, you’re getting behind. This is a competitive series and our results are really how everybody’s bills get paid,” he said in a media interaction.
Others have also called for cutting down the grueling Cup Series schedule. Earlier, Alex Bowman mentioned that he wanted a break for the teams’ road crews more than the drivers. With so many arguments in favor of a break, it will be interesting to see if NASCAR goes ahead with it.
