Danica Patrick thinks NASCAR races are too long – 2023 TV ratings show a decrease compared to 2022 season
The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is the longest race on the NASCAR calendar in terms of distance. In the 2023 season, the almost 1,000-kilometer marathon in North Carolina lasted almost five hours. But the race in Charlotte is not the only endurance race on the Cup Series calendar where spectators regularly have to sit in front of the TV for well over three hours to watch the action. Does the format still have a future in this day and age?
Ex-NASCAR driver Danica Patrick would like to see much shorter races in NASCAR’s upper house, as “the consumer behavior of fans” has changed over time. Speaking to Awful Announcing, the former Stewart-Haas driver says she has spoken to a senior NASCAR official to advocate for shorter races. “People have a shorter attention span,” the American argues.
But what do the numbers say? The NASCAR boom of the 1990s and 2000s is over, but motorsport is struggling with ratings worldwide – so the stock car series is not alone. Compared to the previous year, viewer numbers fell by a single-digit percentage depending on the race. One positive surprise, however, was the street race in Chicago, which brought NBC its best viewer figures since 2017.
How are the fans reacting locally?
On the other hand, a different trend can be seen directly at the race track, as many venues recorded their best spectator numbers in years. According to NASCAR President Steve Pelphs, the series had 50 percent more sold-out races this year than last year. These fans come to the tracks to see the cars and drivers on the track, but will they still buy tickets if the action at the venue is severely curtailed?
If the Cup races were shortened, the Xfinity and Truck races would also be affected, as they have a significantly shorter distance than the premier league races. Locally, shortening the races would mean that the supporting program would also shrink – NASCAR would therefore have to compensate for this time with other racing series, show races or additional training sessions. In addition, NASCAR fans are not among the most innovative in motorsport and are therefore often very sensitive to changes.
Classics such as the Daytona 500, the Geico 500 in Talladega, the Southern 500 in Darlington and the aforementioned Coca Cola 600 in Charlotte are crown jewels that NASCAR can only touch with care. But there are also numerous races where 200 to 300 miles would suffice instead of 400. These include Pocono, Michigan, Dover and the numerous 1.5-mile ovals on the calendar. “Asking fans to sit in front of the TV for five to six hours is a lot,” says Patrick.
Need innovative formats?
NASCAR even dared to experiment during the pandemic and organized a double-header race at Pocono. Such a format for select tracks with two short races on Saturday and Sunday could also be a way to meet the ravages of time and make the calendar more flexible, especially since NASCAR clashes with the number one sport in the U.S., American football, at the end of the season with the NFL.
But NASCAR is not the only top series in the world to have problems. While the long-distance races in the USA take up too much time, Formula 1 at the top of the overall standings is a boring affair. Red Bull and Max Verstappen dominate the action, which is also reflected in the ratings, which have fallen compared to previous years. In the USA, however, there is one series that has been able to improve its ratings: IndyCar. In the 2023 season, two percent more fans tuned in than in the previous year, but when the championship was decided, things went downhill here too
“All sports have their ups and downs,” says Patrick. “Formula 1 is on the rise, but NASCAR has its little problems. Formula 1 didn’t used to be on the radar at all in the US, and NASCAR drivers were the biggest. That has a lot to do with the product, but also with the marketability of the drivers and their personalities. “
A new generation needs time
Patrick is alluding to the departures of big names such as Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Tony Stewart and now Kevin Harvick. The 2023 final, which Ryan Blaney won, was the youngest on average since the introduction of the playoffs at around 28 years of age. A generational change is underway, but there have always been such changing of the guard and even today’s legends were not immediately accepted by the long-established fans in their early days.
According to Patrick, there is a wave of popularity in every motorsports series and the series would benefit from the valleys of the other championships. NASCAR President Phelps recently defended the playoffs format, which some fans consider too much of a show. He also sees no reason to hide from Formula 1, saying NASCAR’s different tracks and formats make for an exciting year with 36 points races and two invitationals.
