Why NASCAR called the 500 so quickly
Q: There's no thinking then to try to have for the 500 or a couple of races mandates that you go the full distance regardless: "
ROBIN PEMBERTON: "Our rules when it comes to that have been fairly clear and fairly basic over the years. When we get to halfway, it's over with it. For instance, you can look at what we went through with Michigan a couple of summers ago. What if we had gotten 100 laps at Michigan and then actually sat there for three more days to get the race in? Where do you draw the line? I think everybody knows going in what we're faced with and understands. When you look at the odds, only four of those races out of the last 51 being rain-shortened, I think the odds were stacked against us that it was going to happen eventually.''
02/17/09 A reader asks, Dear AR1.com, Why did NASCAR call the Daytona 500 official so soon after the rain delay? The tracks has lights and in the past they would wait till as long as midnight to finish a race. Plus, no one had to work on Monday as it was a holiday. They robbed us fans of a good finish. Jeffrey Dent
Dear Jeff, You are spot on, in the past NASCAR would have waited longer. As with most things in life, when in doubt, follow the money. Once the race was red-flagged the TV ratings headed south in a hurry. If they did not wrap it up quickly the delay would have lowered the overall TV rating, which would mean next year the race would command less money per 30 second advertisement. NASCAR and FOX will never admit it, but we suspect this analogy isn't too far wide of the mark. Mark C.