NASCAR yesterday announced start times for its races next season, and there will be 11 Cup Series races that "will start later" in '17 "in hopes of finishing closer to prime time Sunday nights," according to Bob Pockrass of ESPN.com. Thirteen of the 36 points races in '17 will start at 3:00pm ET and 12 races will start at 2:00pm, including the season-opening Daytona 500. Only three races will start at 1:00pm in '17, compared with 12 this year (ESPN.com, 7/27). NASCAR also announced the Brickyard 400 will air on NBC next season, marking the first time since '06 that the Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will air on broadcast TV. The race will be one of the Cup telecasts with a 3:00pm start (THE DAILY). USA TODAY noted the announcement was "part of a wider push to help the industry and fans plan further in advance." NASCAR Senior VP/Broadcasting & Production Steve Herbst in a statement said, "It’s our responsibility, collectively as an industry, to ensure the sport is healthy, strong and growing by delivering great racing in a way that best meets the needs of our fans. Earlier insight on start times benefits not only fans, but also our teams and tracks, as it provides more opportunities to plan travel and to purchase race tickets" (USATODAY.com, 7/27). SPORTING NEWS' Ray Slover wrote while the changes are "nice for the whole family Sunday thing," it is a "departure that might leave stock car racing fans" questioning the decision (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 7/27).
EARLY RISER: In Daytona Beach, Godwin Kelly notes the Daytona 500 in '18 "will be held on its traditional date, Sunday, Feb. 18, which corresponds to the Presidents Day weekend." The plan at Daytona Int'l Speedway is to "keep that date on the calendar in future years until further notice." NASCAR "moved the Daytona 500 date to the end of February" in '12 at the "request of its television partners, which wanted to compress the opening half of the season" (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 7/28).
