Why NASCAR should dump the All-Star Challenge/Open/Shootout/Whatever
Allow me to preface this with one point: I hate All-Star games. All of them. Maybe it’s because my childhood awe for pro athletes was vanquished a long time ago, or that I just don’t have as much time for exhibition games, All-Star games just can’t do anything to get me worked up (aside from disgraceful decisions that lend meaning on the World Series). In most cases of All-Star games it comes down to a simple theory of “Why should I care about the game if the athletes don’t?” For NASCAR drivers it’s a race and the same rewards await him in the Victory Lane, so there’s plenty of incentive to care about the All-Star race. It’s still a contrived race weekend trying to mirror stick-and-ball sports. Pit crew challenges, crew chief races and burnout contests? None of these will appear next to a Nate Robinson dunk on Sportscenter or Youtube (nor should they).
-It's expensive for teams. All of the individual events feature their own costs. It's not like basketball where they have the gym rented for the whole weekend so they can just add 3-point and dunk contests with little additional cost.
The race itself is guaranteed overtime for anyone working in the fabrication department. The burnout contest is costly, especially when you consider that a blown engine is much more costly than simply wadding up your hood. Further, it's hard to see the motivation for an unsponsored, under-funded team to show up. They don't have a sponsor to show off, there are no owners points to chase, and unless someone pulls off a David Gilliland/Brad Keselowski type upset, running a "Your Ad Here" sign probably won't do much either. It seems like a floundering team would be better off taking a week off to get ready for the 600 and the chance at a decent pay day.
-No one knows the rules. Even drivers have trouble remembering what the format is because it gets changed every year (old school fans might chime in and say so does the championship format). Similar to the Bud Shootout, the format changes yearly. It's four 20 lap segments, no 25. You have to pit twice for fuel, especially on qualifying, although only in the final segment. Inverted restarts, This year the first draft of the rule book had drivers begin on the new drag strip, then do 80 laps with no pit stops for fuel or tires, then get out of the cars, do a snow angel while each crew chief shotguns a PBR (I haven't seen the final copy of the format, some elements may have been dropped).
-It's not really a week off. I hear the argument that since it's a short race at NASCAR's unofficial home track in Charlotte, that it's like giving the teams an extra week break during the season. Tell that to the crew and shop workers. Sure everyone can sleep in their own bed (heck, Dale Jr has a condo at the track), but it still looks like a lot of prep work to get the cars to the track, through inspection and set up for all the practices and heats. On top of that, there is the potential for more work thanks to the other silliness of the weekend (did I mention fab shops will likely pull in time-and-a-half?).
One of the few bonuses I see for the All-Star race is that it's about two days shorter than the Coke 600. A better solution is to use the Bud Shootout as the only exhibition in the preseason, and then have a true off weekend for the teams and crews, Even better move up the races and save the off week for late August or September leading up to the Chase.
What do you think of the All-Star race? Watch it and love it? Watch it and tolerate it? Or do you consider it an off weekend and do yardwork? Share your thoughts.
