We who love racing have a problem that we need to address, and this weekend at Pocono Raceway, that dependency will be on display for the world to see … for at least 3½ hours.
No, Mr. President, I’m not talking about our “addiction” to oil.
And no, Mr. Cruise, I’m not talking about the need for speed.
I’m talking about our obsession with the number 500. As in, why exactly are we enduring 500 miles of racing this weekend?
“Are races too long?” Jeff Burton answers the question by repeating it. “Some of them, yes. Some races you’re so busy in the car you don’t realize you’ve been out there for four hours. But in others you’ll swear that you must be near the end and the spotter clicks in and says, ‘One hundred laps to go.’”
Same goes for the fan at home watching on TV, or the guy sitting in the searing summer sun in the grandstand. Do we really need to be tied down for four hours every week?
When Major League Baseball games last four hours, fans react as if they are being tortured and the league tells the umpires to get their act together.
If a regular-season Sunday afternoon NFL game lasts more than three hours, commissioner Roger Goodell’s office is likely to send out the National Guard.
So why do NASCAR track owners insist on keeping races such as this weekend’s Pocono event eternally stuck on the five-century mark? Eighteen of this year’s 36 Cup Series events have “500″ in the title. That’s at least eight too many.
“There’s something romantic about that No. 500,” says former Lowe’s Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler. “When stock car racing was desperate to capture the imagination of sports fans, they did anything they could to conjure up images of the Indianapolis 500. And the number was the easiest way to do that.”
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I’ve never had anyone in my living room forcing me to relax in my
recliner while enjoying a 500 mile race with good friends, good food and
beverage. I have also never had anyone force me to sit in the stands
for a 500 mile event. Maybe the writer of this piece of crap article
shouldn’t attend or watch races any longer. Sounds like it might be bad for
his health.
I kind of agree with them… 500 milers get boring as hell for long stretches of time. I usually end up watching the beginning of a race and then getting some projects done around the house with it on in the background and jumping back in at the end. Short tracks and road courses are about the only races that hold my interest from start to finish these days.
When the series makes its swing through Atlanta, I usually enjoy going to the truck or Nationwide races more than the Cup races. It has a lot to do with the amount of time I’m there. Of course promoters want the Cup events to be as long as possible… More ad revenues, more concession sales, etc. They couldn’t care less what the fans thing as long as their bank accounts are growing!
Short track=great racing. I think they should change Bristol, Richmond & M’vill to the last car running wins!
I wish all races were 500 miles.
Call me crazy, I think 1 400 mile race with pit stops every 10 laps is far more boring then a 500 mile race.
was that REALLY nessisary??
anyway i think 500 is fine. true SOMETIMEs they get boring but like fisha said, a 400 miler with 10 lap bursts is way more boring than a 500 mile daytona race
if anyone will be at pocono this weekend let me know, ill be there, howie im sure you will be there
Ganja,
that was me that said that not FISHA, Im at pocono now, im not sure where youll be but if your in the infield tommorow, if you see a guy in a WHITE BUBBA ARMY shirt driving a lifted orange and blck and grey golf cart flag me down
Yeah that wasn’t me I just got home from the shop… l0l
I’ll be up at Pocono tomorrow from about noon till about 3-330 then we gotta leave drive 30-45 minutes, make sure we have everything and head out to the track for our races that night.
As far as the thing about the article, I do agree that IMO 500 mile cup races are boring. Honestly I do pretty much the same thing that Jeff said he does, watch the start, do stuff with the race on in the background, and then watch the end.
my apologies rowdy not sure how i saw fisha there lol.
anyway im just getting grandstand and pit passes, ill be wearing my green jr shirt and my jr team hat, my girl will be wearing stewart gear, in the pits… well we will be lookin for stewart and jr lol. Ill definately look you guys out. shoot me an email if you wanna try and meet up somewhere - pmalloy4391@gmail.com - its always cool to meet the people you chat with on a daily basis IMO, this will only be my 2nd pocono race (3rd cup race)
I don’t respond much but Rowdy if you keep writing stuff like that I might have to start liking you so be careful.lol
rowdys been kinda cool lately, hes toned down the hate, lost the caps, i like the guy now, just not his driver lol
They do get boring a lot on tv unless its like bristol richmond etc.but if im going to a race shelling out all that cash and driving time I dont wanna see a hour and half or 2 hour race.
You have got to be joking, I love long races, why do you think that lots of us take our old converted shcool buses and go to ‘Dega and spend Friday midday till Monday morning in the infieid, it’s because the race is an experiance ,and if it’s on the tube, well, that’s where I want to be, getting high and drinking wine. Roll on rollercoaster, roll on. Short races are for yuppies. C-YA!
ROWDY BUSH wrote:
Thank you…that was the WORST race last weekend! I know that I will be sitting HAPPILY in the stands for the Bank of America 500 with not a complaint on my mind!
I do the same as Jeff to my ear ia allways peeled to the tube. short tracks never miss a lap
On Sportscenter this morning, they mentioned that Jr said he wished Pocono was a 400 miler. I completely agree with him on that one!
ROWDY BUSH wrote:
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Fix one thing at a time before griping about a 500 miler, I think 500 milers are way much better than a 400 miler, you get more for the money if you attend in person…
Yup Jeff even as somebody who lives maybe 30 minutes from Pocono I wish both races were a bit shorter, but here is the thing.
They seem long when you watch on Tv
They seem long when you are driving in them (just a guess based off what drivers have said)
When you are there they seem long, but it’s not too bad because there is tons of other stuff to do besides watching the race.
“If you can do BETTER then GOOD is not enough!
ROWDY BUSH wrote:
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Get rid of the COT’s and bring back the Monte Carlo’s and Indy will be back like it was before.
Less pit stops is the key here, COT’s are too top heavy!!!
As die-hard of a nascar fan that I am, I think more 500 and 600 milers are the ticket here and get rid of some of the dumb rules as well!!!
Jason wrote:
I’m sure that if you can convince Chevy to start making Monte’s again that they’ll be the model that GM will want to promote in the Cup series.
BTW was at Pocono for the ARCA race, left about 50 laps in (had to go run our own races), and I got tickets for the Cup race now too.
I love the 500 hundred races. Iam unable to attend the races but i would love to be there. If you don’t like to go don’t go. If you don’t like to watch then don’t. It’s not as if some is holding a gun to your head to make you. Leave the races alone for some of us who love them.
Hmmm. As a jr fan and also a fan of many drivers (I just like good racing) I’m about ready to
kick his whining 500 miles is too long butt to the curb. I pay good money to travel to a few
events in the SE every year and if he doesn’t want to drive 500 miles maybe he should stay on the
porch. The way I see it is he’s not paying me to be there or buy his shirts and hats, I’m paying
him.
Rick wrote:
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WHO, Junebug was whining about doing 500 miles???
I never heard him, must have missed it…
Yeah, during an interview he said something about race being too long. Again as a Jr fan, my first thought was stay at home. Nobody is forcing you to drive or get paid for it.
I didn’t hear any whining,he was just stating his opinion (on 2 500 mile tracks Pocono and California)much like everyone here.
Rick wrote:
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Well I cannot blame him too much being it’s hotter than hell in them cars especially on a hot day, maybe they should spread the 500 milers out more…Not so close together…
If you don’t like it, stay at home! What an asinine comment. We who enjoy “racing”, like to see racing, not an endurance contest. The overextended formats are booooring! Watch the start and then the end. How dull!