Why NASCAR Doesn’t Run Many (Saturday) NIGHT RACES Anymore

[@TheIceberg]

Do you prefer night racing or day racing?

[@FallBoi_]

Night

[@briangriffinfamilyguyfan81]

Night

[@Cyanstrat]

Night

[@semiojeleye8805]

I prefer day races because it gives me something to watch in the afternoon

[@Hi33.]

Night time is the right time

[@YankeesFan-yq1fc]

I hate how NASCAR has less night racing I really enjoy staying up late and watching the races something cool and peaceful about it

[@tannerensign5055]

Right, kick back have a couple beers on the couch and have all day Sunday to accomplish life's little things

[@andrew1181]

I'm from England so every race is a night race for me it ain't that good trust me

[@YankeesFan-yq1fc]

@@andrew1181 well for us in the U.S. most races are day so its different

[@tannerensign5055]

@@andrew1181 your hour ahead though so you guys are probably watching it late late Sunday or early monday

[@andrew1181]

@@tannerensign5055 5 hours ahead east coast 8 hours ahead of west coast so races usually finish 1 in the morning for me no fun when I have work in the morning

[@IsaacV24]

I miss night races. The nighttime always gave the race a sense of importance that daytime tracks don’t generally have

[@sqweeps.03]

Yes! I’m not the only one!

[@quentinparhiala9415]

me to

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

Saturday Night Racing and Night Racing in general is badass and an amazing different feeling and I love it for any Motorsports Series! It’s a shame that there’s not a lot of Night Races in NASCAR nowadays….

[@nascarsam6161]

Say what you want about it, but it makes each Saturday night race that still occurs feel more special.

[@kjprodouctions9050]

I'm just thankful they're still around despite it being less.

[@quentinparhiala9415]

I agree with you

[@tylerclifton4759]

I’m in the “if it ain’t noon, it better be at night” mind. The way forward in some respects is our roots, and that’s night racing

[@chrish931]

At the same time when I was kid in the 80'a the night race in cup was dead since all the old little local short tracks had been purged from the schedule in 70's, then they started lighting all the speedways in the 90's and all the shifts to Saturday night races in the late 90's early 2000's is part of what killed so many local short tracks, since Saturday night had been their night for years, and they could not compete with cup. The night races were unique and cool in the late 80's early 90's, then they scheduled so many it became par for the course and no big deal anymore. I agree noon or night but let the night races remain unique, don't schedule too many.

[@coca-colatrackhousewarrior9925]

As a kid I would stay up until 11 watching the Saturday races at fall Charlotte July Daytona and both Richmonds on FX and TNT

[@IMOUTBACCK]

Nighttime racing has always been the reason why I watched it as a kid. It felt so cool watching your favorite drivers speed under the lights. I understand the network contracts but I feel like the best option is to revive Speed TV

[@T3CMAD9]

there’s something amazing about the energy of a summer night race

[@kennyb1472]

Me and my dad used to go to the Richmond races all the time because they were at night and when they started doing day races we stopped. We hated sitting in the heat for hours upon hours. I used to enjoy sitting up on a Friday or Saturday night watching trucks, Xfinity and the few Saturday night cup races. But sunday day races are better for ratings so I guess thats whats best for nascar.

[@caseysmith544]

Sunday night is becoming more and more a thing, as long as the schedule is not conflicting with the 2--3 sports they could be on a station like NFL, NCAA Football and MLB. This is less of an issue as Fox has moved its time covering NASCAR to the point they have very little overlap.

[@packisbetter90]

I miss when Atlanta, Auto Club, Phoenix, Chicago (when it was around), and Texas had night races. Both Richmond races were always night too

[@noahcoleman5556]

I always say if a track (with lights) has two dates, one should be in the day, the other should be at night.

[@ChrisPMuffin]

I can’t speak for everyone but I go to church on Sunday and it ends just before noon. We get brunch and the pre race starts just about when I get home and can get comfortable. 3pm is great because of it. I imagine a lot of Americans have a similar Sunday schedule.

[@matthunwick5230]

As a Brit, I have to stay up late to watch any race, but I like a balance of the two. Some tracks like the road courses, talladega and pocono work well in the day, but short track racing and daytona after dark (or delays) looks fantastic. My favourite though has to be a sunset start, watching the sky above darken as the race culminates gives that big race feeling

[@bigronimal06]

I gotta say...it'd be a lot of fun to watch a night race somewhere like the Roval. That would be awesome.

[@vtec5862]

As a European who had to stay up till 5am watching sundays ( for me Monday ) race i loathe night races. But i can understand the appeal of them. As long as they stay on saturday and dont start doing sunday night or midweek night races im happy.

[@JeremyLeech]

I miss night races. I've always loved them.

[@isaacgaming2176]

night racing+Car of tomorrow= the perfect childhood

[@willyhearrell9060]

I am all for more night races. Especially at unusual places. A road course for example...(Sonoma would would be hell and I am all for it. Does it even have enough lights? I used to drag race there but never ran the full course at night)

[@tylerclifton4759]

Dude, that sounds awesome

[@jackarmstrong7285]

The Charlotte Roval is the only roadcourse currently on the schedule that has lights and I’m not sure how bright they are. The Daytona RC has lights too if we ever go back to that. Beyond that it is logically a nightmare to add lights to an existing roadcourse 9 out of 10 times unfortunately

[@hootowl2112]

Install an actual headlight/taillight system and ANYTHING becomes possible

[@austinemms9772]

I think Saturday races with early start times are better because in the event of rain. Half of the fans don’t skip out on the race in person and the ratings are still there for fans watching on tv.

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

Yeah I think a 4 pm start for east coast races works great since since total darkness comes sooner but not so much for West coast races.

[@cam7684]

Sunday night, night races have a way better vibe to me personally, not to mention saving the fans from hot summer temps

[@liamhoppy95]

It is hassle not having as many Saturday Night races anymore, I live in Australia so Sunday avro races start like 4am on monday morning and Sunday night races are during work on monday morning. At least I used to beable to watch a few races on Sunday morning when they were ran Saturday night. Now I barley get to watch any live, and basically just keep up through Door Bumper Clear and Highlight Videos.

[@RaceCarRobbie]

Speaking from experience Night Daytona > Day Daytona in terms of views and visibility. Obviously the 500 > coke zero 400, but in the evening the cars are much more visible and the action on the backstretch and into 2 and 3 is easier to follow. And Bristol night race is top 3 races on the schedule. Always delivers and if youve ever been in person, that show at the colosseum is a spectacle

[@piperboy91]

Night races are the best. I’d love to see them make a comeback

[@TheBigDawgSL]

Something I can speak on from my experience. Way back in the 80s and early 90s the only night race was the fall Bristol event. Then Richmond got lights when the fairgrounds came off the schedule. So it was 2-3 races a year till 1992..then came the lights at Charlotte. Then Daytona. Then the rest save a handful of tracks. I think as long as the networks have a say the schedule will be their whim. But frankly to spice the schedule up...run the roval at night. Even though it rained when they did it drivers proved under the lights they can still run it. Lights give tracks flex as well if weather screws things. But pure night races...it's networks making them...not tracks or NASCAR...

[@rockies2728]

Why can't talladega have lights when Daytona has lights

[@mrj3217]

Night racing on a Saturday night allows more people to honor the event in a cooler environment. The cars shine so bright at night and I feel the races are better.

[@coreypayne1208]

I think NASCAR should consider moving the Bristol night race to NBC considering that NBC isn't showing nothing during Saturday nights during early September and you can always preempted the local news

[@Cyanstrat]

If I’m being honest, at least most playoff races should be run at night

[@jamesdb7115]

Definitely. Adds a sense of purpose and importance, as well as prestige (at least to the casual fan)

[@xNobodyOfConsequenceX]

Night races always seemed more special to me as a youngster. I miss them.

[@ErikZarins]

I prefer night races because the action seems more intense!!!

[@josephbettano2569]

The history of night racing in NASCAR is quite fascinating. Of course prior to 1992, all racing on tracks one mile or greater was conducted in the daytime. In fact, from 1985-1990, the only night race on the Cup schedule was the Bristol night race. During that time frame, Bristol was also the only track on the Cup schedule to have lights. Richmond installed lights in 1991 with the fall September race becoming a night race while the spring race still remained a day race until it became a night race in 1998. Then in 1992, Charlotte installed lights for the All-Star race and became the first track greater than one mile in length to host night racing. The next year, the Coca-Cola 600 was moved to the late afternoon and finish under the lights start time no longer clashing with the Indy 500. Charlotte also held the record for longest-lighted speedway until Daytona installed lights in 1998. The title of longest-lighted speedway anywhere in the world is currently held by the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Also in 1998, Atlanta installed lights mainly for its IndyCar race. Despite that, Cup races at Atlanta in November 1998 and March 1999 would finish under the lights due to rain delays. This went to show lighted tracks were instrumental in preventing postponements as they were no longer confined by a sunset curfew and could simply just be run later in the day and at night should a rain delay occur. During this time in 1997 and 1998, new races were added to the Cup schedule in Texas and Las Vegas, both lighted speedways. However, both tracks hosted day races. Texas, on an unrelated side note became the first superspeedway to host night racing for American open wheel racing. Fontana was also added in 1997 but was not a lighted speedway at the time it was built. Likewise, Chicago and Kansas were added in 2001, but both would not see the addition of lights until 2008 and 2011 respectively. In 2001, Kentucky was added to the Xfinity Series and every year was scheduled as a Saturday night race prior to 2011. Prior to this, the Xfinity Series never had scheduled night races on tracks 1 mile or greater. In 2000 a race at Atlanta and a race at Texas for the Xfinity Series both ran at night due to rain delays further emphasizing my point lights are instrumental in helping tracks avoid postponements. The trend of adding superspeedway night races to the Xfinity Series schedule continued in 2002 when for the first time Daytona gained a second Xfinity race in July run on a Friday under the lights coinciding with Cup's 4th of July Daytona night race. In 2003, following a 2002 rain delay that shifted the race to prime time, Charlotte's fall race became a Saturday night race. In 2004, Darlington installed lights and that year's Southern 500, which was moved to November finished under the lights before Darlington was trimmed to one race with its only race becoming a Saturday night race in 2005. 2005 also saw Texas gain a second Cup race that started in the afternoon but finished under the lights in November. Also in 2004, Fontana installed lights with the addition of a second Cup race on Labor Day weekend that ran at night. In 2004, Phoenix also installed lights, and 2005 saw the addition of a spring Saturday night race to coincide with that. In 2005 Homestead installed lights, and the season finale race finished under the lights that year. Then in 2011, Kentucky was added with a Saturday night race. Also in 2011, the spring Texas race became a Saturday night race while the Phoenix spring race which was added as a night race coinciding with the track's installation of lights became a day race and has been run as one since. I look to TV ratings and cost as big factors for why the bigger tracks did not host night racing for so long. For cost, I bet it costs Charlotte at least twice what it costs to light up a local short track as one example. TV was also a big factor. The broadcast networks historically probably felt NASCAR was not popular enough to chase after a primetime audience. In 1992, when the All-Star race switched to night from afternoon, the race also saw a shift from network television to cable with notably lower TV ratings. The 1999 summer Daytona race would be the first NASCAR night race on network television. Of course, several of these night races were either removed from the schedule or moved back to the daytime as was the case with Richmond's races. Night racing for NASCAR is a complex subject.

[@nicholastotoro7721]

The increasing number of night time races were killing business at the local small tracks in the late '90's and early 2000's.

[@brandonbaker7468]

I enjoy night races a lot more than day time. From watching on TV and in person at the track I'm kinda mad they moved the Richmond race in the fall. I loved going to the track sat afternoon partying/tailgating all day and watch the race in the evening. Honestly I wish 1/2 of the races were at night

[@duskrem_]

Richmond, Atlanta, and Phoenix should all have night dates for their second races. A nighttime finale is amazing, the Richmond night race used to be a favorite, and Atlanta is hot as hell in the summer so a night race could make the at track more tolerable.

[@Hi33.]

I really wouldn’t mind seeing Sunday night racing, as long as if we have like 5-6 night races I would be fine with that

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

So how about Sunday Night racing during the Spring and Summer months?

[@Hi33.]

@@runrafarunthebestintheworld exactly

[@pjartistics]

Agreed

[@Maverick33]

I've noticed with Sunday night races, it's usually when school kids won't be in school the following Monday. Take the CocaCola 600 and Southern 500 as examples. The following Monday for each race, schools would normally be closed. Just a trend I've noticed

[@DennyDeliversYT]

ratings favor Sunday day races while photographers for the aesthetics favor night races… duality as I always am in

[@bigj200016]

We need more Saturday night races. Don’t water it down, but there should be between 8-10 a year.

[@jrsmith5080]

Only way we gonna have night races is if it rains and the track got lights

[@matthewloyster3893]

2:07 That was Red Soxs Vs Yankees at Fenway The game got delayed due to rain late as it was a small period of heavy rain. Contract issues on Nascar Side said that Fox MUST start the race on FOX. Fox thought they can move the race to FX. They instead put both channels on the game.

[@caseysmith544]

Yep another FOX botch where they did think they moved the NASCAR race to FX but instead the MLB FOX division part forget to remove the Baseball game from FX and no communication with NASCAR seeing that FOX was empty, they moved the game to FOX as well forgetting that both stations the MLB game was playing, thus Booting NASCAR off the air entirely as in 2014 few people got FXX and did not want to shove this on FOX news where about 1/2 to 2/3 of the fans would not watch it due to being on then upswing of going more and more to the Right by the hour.

[@littlemooseiv5996]

Not gonna lie tho, a night race at pocono sounds like it could be my favorite race to watch

[@evannuh-koo-la4054]

I wanna see a night race at Atlanta and Auto Club again

[@sebastiandamico2371]

Charlotte Roval on a Saturday night would be awesome

[@johnvandeventer8668]

I would want Atlanta to be a night race again

[@acegarcia3719]

I prefer night racing and while understand to some degree why they're behind reduced I think they're going too far. Races like Richmond, Las Vegas and Atlanta will likely be run in extreme temperatures for fans, and take away from some of the uniqueness of the schedule.

[@Ultrase7en767]

It's a shame because I have always loved night races, just seem to have a fun atmosphere to them

[@westywilson8786]

There is a part of me that misses the night race at Kentucky. It was something I always enjoyed for some reason.

[@alexlambert2003]

They were actually avoiding the Masters in Martinsville not the US Open lol. No big deal I just had to say it!

[@hwan5620]

Sat night races are pretty much the only ones i get to watch as a Australia viewer due to them being Sunday Morning so i can wake up early watch it in bed then carry on my normal sunday, As Sunday races fall after 4am Monday Morning. I only really watched the Coke 600 due to myself staying up to watch the Nurgburg 24h end, Monaco GP, Indy and Itself. but pretty much every other Sunday race, I usually watch after I get home from work.

[@marktemple3353]

I prefer the Sunday days races but if its gonna be a night race, Saturday.

[@81casperflip]

Anyone else have to work early on Mondays? Seems like there's been about 6 Sunday night races this year

[@BradRains]

More Saturday Night races instead of Sunday night especially for those that have to go to work Monday morning.

[@RadiantSportsYT]

i really like the day to night races cuz the night time makes it seem more intense for me but its nice having not a stupid uk time start and the sunset is kinda cool

[@tristonwebb7045]

The 3pm start ruins your day for many. So having the true start time or a real night race. Those fans can do their other things before or after the races and still watcg

[@SMCSRacingNetwork]

Here’s a list of races to have at night (Some already scheduled as such; others not) Coke 600 1 Richmond Race Spring Martinsville Fall Bristol Fall Daytona WWT Bristol Dirt Southern 500 A road course (if eventually possible) Maybe even add a potential Auto Club short track to the list if it gets built

[@recon4786]

Richmond and Martinsville at night are damn unbearable to watch

[@pdawg193]

I would add the second Atlanta race if NASCAR wants to continue having it in the summer.

[@votekyle3000]

Gonna put a big ol pin on summer Atlanta, seems like a sweet spot for a night race

[@henrygrootenify]

And i would love for NASCAR too do all three series ( races ) on sunday, so probably more people are gonna watch Xfinity & Trucks because people are at the track from early sunday morning

[@BMoney8600]

I loved night races I really hope they are as prominent as they used to be!

[@soylentgreen7074]

I’m glad it’s not overdone anymore but I would like a few more Saturday night races. I especially miss the Friday, Saturday night Daytona races 4th of July weekend.

[@SuperNASCARrocks]

It’s a shame that we see less and less night races in NASCAR now. I love night races. They just seem to have a different energy to them rather than Sunday races.

[@caseysmith544]

Sunday races do if they are started at 1 pm or earlier for the time zone the race is in or is clearly going to be a Sunday night race.

[@benoden5838]

Nashville starting at 4 central in late June is an awful idea, peak heat, peak humidity, plus higher chance of afternoon showers, that race either needs to start before 1, or after 6. More night racing during the summer needs to be happening, especially in the muggy south.

[@Oat_meal_YT]

Won't lie, more Saturday night races is actually nice to have and schedule wise, it might be better.

[@bullseyearcher1]

Like if night races r better than day races

[@Gamer0024]

I loved the idea of the double headers with Cup and lower series races... Richmond 2021 comes to mind where they had Xfinity/Cup double header on Saturday. Xfinity early afternoon and Cup at night. (I was there in person). But I think that's the ultimate formula for NASCAR because rather than fans needing to take 2 separate half days to watch 2 races they just need to set aside 1 single whole day for all of the weekend action. Granted that doesn't put into consideration other sports competing for same TV slots. But I think for NASCAR fans specifically it would benefit the sport significantly condensing a weekend's main action into a single day rather than spreading it out over multiple days.

[@barrylindsey2518]

One other reason they don't race as much on Saturday night could be they don't want to affect all the area short tracks across the country. Most of those run their races on a Friday or Saturday night and could be affected by having to compete against a NASCAR race.

[@briangriffinfamilyguyfan81]

Can you imagine a race at Talladega under the lights if they get any?

[@charlespetersonjr1994]

why Imagine it? EA Sports did it for us. But yes having Talladega at Night would be cool as hell.

[@edwardradcliffe3441]

I like to see night races consistently . I have mixed feelings for Saturday and Sunday nights, Sunday night is better for viewer ship but it can interfere with minors sense it’s a school night . I’d say in the spring and fall have the night races be Saturday night and during the summer let the night races be Sunday night.

[@tonyrock1983]

I'd like to see a few more Saturday races in general, day or night. The biggest plus side is having the built in rain day on Sunday.

[@ChamplainDivision]

I want LOTS more Saturday Night races. In fact, they should try Friday Nights also. I grew up at Spencer Speedway near Rochester, NY and they had/have Stocks on Fridays and Drags on Saturdays. Worked OK for me at least.

[@hoosierproductions06]

The only problem I have with NASCAR racing later into the nights is if its on Sundays and i have to get up for work in the morning. Like the 600 this year, waking up was awful after that race.

[@BlueThunderO7]

I would absolutely love to go to the Toyota Savemart 350 at night. For real

[@eatBurger123]

You say "but" with a passion loll. Good vid tho

[@Mattgotsdagreenlight]

It wouldn't hurt to go road course racing on a Saturday night if you at least add lights to the track like Sonoma and Pocono and I can't believe all these years at Indianapolis they never added lights and in the game NASCAR thunder 2004 in Michigan international speedway, you can race at night

[@willengland7336]

It’s not just football that prevents night (and day) races on main NBC. It’s also whatever NBC wants to push on its main network like gameshows, national/local news, and other sports like lacrosse, golf, and track. That’s why I think NBC will not renew its contract with NASCAR.

[@PaperBanjo64]

I hope your right NBC suck even compared to FOX now vs prime 2000's FOX they just ain't cutting the mustard.

[@jamesdb7115]

I get it, but I think some of the areas where we have extreme heat during the day, we should see at least a 5pm start time like Nashville is doing.

[@marcelf0252]

Tbh I'd prefer Saturday night races since it's hard for me to watch sunday night races when they start at 2:30 on Monday morning where I live and I have to wake up at 5 am for work

[@alexwells2706]

Split because much prefer having nascar on Sundays to watch (unless it goes up against NFL) but love going to Saturday night races like at Richmond and bristol not having to burn vacation days

[@jaybartlett8106]

If NASCAR/FOX/NBC could get ratings on Saturday night they would configure the schedule to maximize tracks with lights and favorable weather. They can't. Sundays back in the day ESPN would cover the race, then have a post race show that lasted at least 1/2 hour. After that SPEED Channel would have 2 hours of Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain where the main topic was the NASCAR race. Baseball, football, basketball, golf and probably some old movie/TV show reruns beat NASCAR ratings. Partly more options out there, partly NASCAR blows.

[@JJfan48]

I will always be advocate for night races whether it’s Sunday or Saturday let’s race at night

[@caseysmith544]

The reason most places in the way past did night races on Saturday or even the races on Saturday was that they could not race at all on Sunday due to the main religion in the town or nearby town. Then less races on Sunday that were past noon/1 pm due to noise restrictions past a certain time, to avoid those issues. So, it was these two times you saw races start at for a long time even into the Cup era as the tradtions set for them were going back to the early days of the sport and odd rules some cities/counties had at the time. Now that there are better noise reductions for the tracks, less problems with racing on Sunday night and fact that other lower divisions cutting into the Cup series on the previous day like Nationwide/former Bush as well as 2/3 the time the Truck series. Sure, in the past there was Modified series or the old Sportsman series but by mid 1950's Modified and sportsman had a huge schedule that was different from then Grand national, now Cup so for a long time if they did race, it was on Sunday before the Grand National series with no issues until about 1960--1962 when Modified/Sportsman really had almost a 💯% different schedule that only at a few of the tracks did they race on the same weekend.

[@this_is_yapcenter]

Fox could dodge MLB by using FX like they did in the early days Not every Notre Dame game is gonna be a night game so depending on what tracks they're at NBC could totally work in some Saturday night races at the end of the year. (I've always been a big proponent of having all 3 championship races the same Saturday and the cup race being at night) Bottom line is Nascar needs more night races. The atmosphere, the action, and the ode to grassroots racing is essential. Give Richmond 2 night races back. Give Kansas a night race back. If Chicagoland comes back make it a night race. Make the fall Texas race a night race (if the race is gonna suck give it an atmosphere) Nashville and Gateway have lights. There's SO MUCH potential!

[@jacobevenson8702]

I genuinely would like Sunday night races more than Saturday night races. Nothing sucks more than having a race on Saturday then having to find something to do on Sunday. 😂

[@dinococupseries3290]

Bristol night race will always be legendary

[@AllanSmith859]

"NIGHT TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME" Pocono and watkins glen should add lights for future races

[@quentinparhiala9415]

I wish Nascar had more night races now like they did in the 1990's and 2000's

[@dondelchulia3189]

Charlotte roval infield doesn’t have lights

[@camren_kerber]

In my personal opinion I don’t care what day it’s on. I just want more night races, I personally think the cars look so much cooler at night when they shine. We can see the sparks, the fire, the exhaust flames, and see some amazing racing since the temperatures are typically cooler.

[@danielfoster3642]

I think the reason that there are very few night races this year isn't because night racing is unpopular. The first and obvious reason are the tracks that do not have lights. But I believe the big reason is that the broadcasters want to take control of when to schedule NASCAR races so that they don't conflict with the other sports they air. For an example, NBC not only has Sunday Night Football but also select Notre Dame games (although I don't think they cover the entire Notre Dame season). That's why the Charlotte Roval and pretty much the entire playoffs outside of the Southern 500 and the Bristol Night Race cannot be scheduled on Saturday or Sunday nights. Back in the 2000s and early 2010s, Fox did have Major League Baseball, but they weren't the powerhouse sports network that it is right now, NBC didn't have Sunday Night Football or college football to compete against, TNT was not big into sports programming as TBS was, and while ESPN did have Sunday Night Baseball and college football, they had more networks that could work around the different schedules of the many sports ESPN had at the time. That might explain why there were more scheduled night races from 2001-2014, and then when NBC came back into the picture with already another big popular sports program called NBC Sunday Night Football and Fox becoming a powerhouse in network sports programming, you saw the number of scheduled night races go down all the way through today.

[@mahliekbenjamin174]

More Saturday Night Race 🏁 🙌 😎

[@ty50bmg11]

Its simple. They don't get as much ratings anymore. If they hold any Saturday Night races hold them in the summer where there's the least competition with other sports.

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

They could even host them on Sunday night too.

[@OGSharpshooter317]

If Indianapolis Motor Speedway got lights and ran the oval at Night. The place will sell out. Id buy my ticket yesterday. And it would be the biggest party youve ever seen

[@nicholasvandeloecht4249]

I definitely get the moves to Sundays, but summer races like Atlanta and Richmond have no business starting and finishing in the daytime. It is way too hot (I live close to Richmond Raceway, and trust me, August in Richmond these days is no joke) and I'm surprised they all made it through Atlanta last year. Maybe take a chance on your southern summer tracks and take a stab at 6 or 7 p.m. start times, especially since they'd both be "shorter" races (400 laps/300 miles at Richmond, 400 miles at Atlanta)

[@devanmarhefka3042]

It's pretty simple honestly. We race on Saturday nights. Most of Nascar’s fans also race at/ support their local short track. I know I would personally rather be at our local short track every Saturday night rather than on the couch watching Nascar and I think most people agree. The other thing is it's a nice break on Sundays where most local short tracks don't race. We have the morning to evaluate our car/ order parts etc.. Then in the afternoon we go home and turn on the cup race.

[@zacharysampiere7362]

@TheIceberg Nascar should honestly add more night racing so they can balance out how many day and night races are on the schedule. Nascar should not move away from night racing entirely but to balance between how many day and night races are on the schedule. It’s kind of like a balancing beam that you might think of.

[@billygsell3625]

If a Sunday race on USA Network gets washed out to a Monday Afternoon race, then could a NASCAR race possibly pre-empt a Monday Night Raw episode??? Imagine Roman Reigns was doing a promo for Monday Night Raw and realized that a NASCAR race is still on USA Network... and somehow did a profane-laced shoot promo on the winner of that race being either Kyle Busch or Chase Elliott.

[@UncleT4life]

Hopefully we get more Saturday night races with the new TV deal

[@richardhogenson594]

I wish they had more because I work during the day on weekends.

[@brotatochip7001]

I feel like I’m wasting less time watching night races. Watching a nascar race from 3 to 6 on a Sunday makes me feel like I wasted my day.

[@4loops43]

I thought it was just so they didn’t have to race in the afternoon heat, I can’t imagine full sun in the middle of summer as a fan or driver?

[@RyanPetrynka]

I like not having Saturday night Cup races. Local short tracks - paved and dirt - usually run on Friday and Saturday nights, with the occasional track running Sunday nights. My local track in Cornwall, Ontario and the excellent Huset's Speedway in Brandon, SD are two examples of Sunday night tracks. NASCAR running Saturday night races potentially takes away revenue from local short tracks because some fans may choose to stay at home to watch NASCAR instead of going to see live racing. Now that the pandemic is mostly behind us all these tracks need every dollar they can get after being closed for the 2020 and some of 2021 racing seasons.