Time to consider tweaking the NASCAR Cup tour schedule? Yes: The Chase -- Think Vegas, baby!

  This is where Mark Martin launched his title charge in 2009. Will he do it again here this spring? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   PHOENIX
   Springtime in the desert, Sprint Cup time in Arizona's Valley of the Sun, and all's abloom...though up at the Canyon a snowstorm can still roll in.
   But momentum? NASCAR had it, however now it's got to get it back again.
   Daytona -- forget the pothole -- had a great finish. But then California, the following week, was again less than thrilling, at least till those final laps.
   Las Vegas, good race. Great, hot town....and loves NASCAR.
   Atlanta, good race, plus the Carl Edwards-Brad Keselowski controversy.
   But then a week off.
   Fox sports execs, when NASCAR was doing its early-season Mexico City stint -- which, when things quiet down down there, it should resume, but as a Cup event, with all the stars – complained about the Sprint Cup tour when it featured a break after the year's first three races. Said it cost the network valuable momentum.  And they were right.
   Mexico City should have been a Cup event all along; bill it as a 'special event,' like those Japan races, to leave an 'out.' Montreal too, in late summer.
  
  

  NASCAR's team haulers parade down Las Vegas Blvd. Does Vegas deserve a second Cup date? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   But back to this season, and 2011: Bristol and Martinsville were two of the best short track races in years....but with Easter coming so early this season, that drama was left to wither on the vine. If Nashville were a Cup event, well, maybe there might have been a livelier crowd, and the tour wouldn't have lost momentum. (ESPN's telecast of Saturday's Nashville race earned a final national household rating of 1.1 -- averaging 1,378,643 viewers. The rating was down from the 1.3 rating earned for the race in both 2008 and 2009.)
   Now it's Phoenix, Texas, Talladega, Richmond, Darlington, Dover, the Charlotte All-star race, the Charlotte 600, Pocono (still 500 miles?!), Michigan, Sonoma, New Hampshire, Daytona and Chicago (well, Joliet).....before there's another break. That's 14 in a row, criss-crossing the country, east-to-west-to-east, north-to-west-to-east-to-south-to-Midwest....whew!
   Hope NASCAR's truckers got their rest; they'll need it.
   Does the NASCAR tour schedule need tweaking?
   Yep.
   But the first tweaks should come in the championship playoffs, which should open in mid-September with more of a bang.
   Nothing wrong with Loudon, N.H., now. Great place, lobsters and all, and picturesque to be sure. And track boss Jerry Gappens does a great job.
   However unless owner Bruton Smith can persuade the New York Yankees to play the Boston Red Sox at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon may not be the best spot to kick off NASCAR's championship chase.
   Las Vegas. Now that's the place. Fireworks, sis-boom-bah! Plus the town certainly deserves a second Cup weekend.
   Of course Smith would like to have the season finale at his Las Vegas track.....
   One big point to keep in mind in all this is that NASCAR Nation is no longer some monolithic creature. It is divided – perhaps starkly in some points – into two camps: the long-time loyalists, who understand all this, though whose patience has been sorely tested by Daytona bosses in recent years; and the new casual fans that the sport has been working so hard to attract the past 10 years. A problem – some of those newcomers appear rather fickle, and when something new comes along, they may move on. Plus, for some of those new fans, when it comes to NASCAR racing, it may be Short Attention span Theater.
  
  

  Is it too early to start thinking about NASCAR's championship playoffs.....for 2011? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   The 10 chase races should feature 10 of the sport's best events.
   Of course maybe 10 races – which span nearly three months – may be too long a playoff run.
   The good news is that NASCAR's 2011 opening stretch looks stronger than 2010: the Daytona 500 (Feb. 20, two weeks after the Super Bowl) comes a week later. Easter also comes much later in the spring, April 24th. So it looks like the 2011 Sprint Cup tour will open with nine straight weeks of action: Daytona, California, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Bristol, Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix and Talladega. Actually, 10 straight weeks, considering SpeedWeeks drags on.
     In fact, it appears the 2011 Cup tour, if the 23 tracks generally follow the 2010 order, would feature only three off-weeks, for Easter (April 24th), in mid-July (between Chicago and Indianapolis), and in late August (presuming the Nationwide series plays Aug. 27th in Montreal).
     Not much breathing room there.
    Not much margin for rain delays (such as are likely at Martinsville, Watkins Glen and Pocono).
    Then, where to add that second Cup race at Kansas City?
   
   

   New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where NASCAR's championship playoffs open (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
   


    Is this NASCAR's 2011 Sprint Cup schedule?

    Feb. 20       Daytona 500
    Feb. 27       California
    March 6      Las Vegas
    March 13    Atlanta
    March 20    Bristol
    March 27    Martinsville
    April 3        Texas (NCAA Final Four weekend)
    April 9        Phoenix (Saturday, Masters weekend)
    April 17      Talladega
    April 24      Easter (Nationwide Saturday in Nashville?)
    April 30      Richmond  (Saturday)
    May 7        Darlington (Saturday, Mother's Day weekend)
    May 15      Dover
    May 21      Charlotte All-star (Saturday)
    May 29      Charlotte 600
    June 5        Pocono
    June 12      Michigan
    June 19      Sonoma/Infineon
    June 26      New Hampshire
    July 2         Daytona (Saturday)
    July 9         Chicago (Saturday)
                     Off week
    July 24       Indianapolis
    July 31       Pocono
    August 7    Watkins Glen
    August 14  Michigan
    August 20  Bristol (Saturday)
                     Off week (Nationwide Montreal?)
    Sept  4      Atlanta (Labor Day weekend)
    Sept 10     Richmond (Saturday)
    Sept 18     New Hampshire
    Sept 25     Dover
    Oct 2        Kansas
    Oct 9        California
    Oct 15      Charlotte (Saturday)
    Oct 23      Martinsville
    Oct 30      Talladega
    Nov 6        Texas
    Nov 13      Phoenix
    Nov 20      Homestead-Miami

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   Lots of good lobster up in New Hampshire...but does Loudon has the right panache to open the championship playoffs? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)