Ryan Blaney yesterday became the latest NASCAR driver to suggest moving the All-Star Race from Charlotte Motor Speedway after its lackluster weekend, saying NASCAR should go "somewhere different just so it’s not always in one place.” Blaney, asked if NASCAR should move the event, said, "I don’t think it’d be bad to … maybe switch it up every year or two, maybe go to a different racetrack. Maybe go to Bristol or Martinsville" (“NASCAR America,” NBCSN, 5/22). But FS1’s Larry McReynolds said he is "not ready to give up" having it at CMS. McReynolds: "It belongs here. ... This race needs to go back and be run on a Saturday afternoon. That still makes it a special event. These cars don't handle well. ... Get it out of the nighttime." FS1’s Michael Waltrip said he is "kind of indifferent." Waltrip: "I like it at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but I'd enjoy seeing it at other places as well. So my answer is yes, let's move it.” FS1’s Shannon Spake: “I think we move it. ... I just think it’ll open it up to other fans in other parts of the country” (“NASCAR Race Hub,” FS1, 5/22).
TIME FOR A CHANGE? NBCSPORTS.com's Nate Ryan wrote it has been "no secret for many seasons" that CMS "hardly was conducive to holding this event." In 12 All-Star races since CMS was repaved, there "have been two lead changes in the final five laps." The "main objective" of a NASCAR All-Star Race "needs to be answered well in advance of next year." Ryan: "Should it be nonstop action? Showcasing the drivers’ personalities? Highlighting their skills? Saluting the heritage of stock-car racing? You can say all of the above, but this is a zero-sum game." There "needs to be a singular focus." Answering this question "would go a long way toward solving one of NASCAR’s greatest identity crises." Meanwhile, one consensus "positive opinion about this year’s event" was that it ended before 10:00pm ET. Though event sponsor Monster Energy "brought many of its athletes, there was a decided reduction of the pomp and circumstance that prolonged past events (e.g., a concert happened after the race instead of before or during the event)." It is "unclear if that was by design, but for the pace of the show, this was certainly an improvement" (NBCSPORTS.com, 5/22).
CRANK UP THE INTENSITY: In Richmond, Randy Hallman writes the All-Star Race is an "odd duck for NASCAR." A fixture on the circuit since '85, it is a "tricked-out event with clever ways to make the field and requirements that aren’t entirely the same as those for a regular race." The race is "supposed to be short and intense." Hallman writes of Saturday's event, "Intense it was not." Kyle Larson "led all 20 laps of the first segment and all 20 laps of the second segment." Jimmie Johnson then "led 19 of the 20 laps in the third segment," while Kyle Busch "led all 10 of the laps in the final segment." Of the race’s 73 minutes, "about 35 were frittered away between segments -- including 14 minutes between segment three and the final 10 laps" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 5/23).
