NASCAR Chairman Brian France discussed shorter races, midweek events and the new Chase during his appearance Tuesday night on Motor Racing Network’s “NASCAR Live.” France appeared on the show with host Eli Gold and took questions from fans, discussing a variety of subjects.
Asked about shorter races, France said: “We think that shorter races in general makes sense. Sometimes a specific venue or a track believes differently, and they have their own fan base and research that says, “Hey we like a 500-mile race on this particular weekend’ or in the case of Charlotte a 600-mile event. Generally speaking, we’re very open to working with the tracks and the local markets “¦ to shorten races whenever it’s possible and we will continue to do that.”
One notion that has been discussed in recent years has been the idea of a midweek NASCAR Sprint Cup race. France talked more of the challenges of such events than any possible advantages. He said no track operators want to trade a weekend race for a midweek event.
As to the idea of a road course in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, France said neither of the two road courses on the circuit are willing to trade their dates. France said that officials are not opposed to it but doesn’t see it happening soon.
While the Chase provided some memorable moments, not all fans were happy with the format that saw drivers eliminated every third race. France said any changes to the Chase would have to keep the format simple. “We will be open-minded, but we want to balance making sure that whatever format we have that everybody understands it,” France said.
France also discussed how the sport will react to domestic violence issues. Dover Police stated Tuesday that it has completed its investigation of an alleged domestic violence complaint against Kurt Busch and forwarded its findings to prosecutors who will determine if to charge Busch.
France also said there is no specific timeline on when officials will sign a company to replace Sprint as series sponsor. Sprint’s sponsorship goes through the 2016 season.
France also was asked by a fan about ringing tracks with SAFER barriers. “I’m in favor of SAFER barriers wherever they need to be,” France said. “If that’s the whole racetrack, that’s fine. If it’s just to put them when there’s no impact, that doesn’t make a lot of sense to us. That’s how we view it. It’s always under review. We typically do add quite a bit of SAFER barriers depending on what venue every year.”
Another fan asked France how series officials determine when to penalize drivers for their comments. “We try to give the most latitude of any other sport in terms of what our drivers and our other participants can say and do,” France said. “Where we take objection is when there “¦ (are comments) derogatory toward the racing product. When that happens, we have to draw a line.”(Motor Racing Networks)(1-7-2015)
