NASCAR to shorten weekend schedules (2nd Update)

UPDATE This rumor is downgraded to 'false' today. NASCAR has backpedaled on plans to significantly reduce practice time at most tracks this year. Tentative schedules released a few weeks ago for race weekends early in the season showed a reduction in practice time of 34% to 46%, but the most recent schedule for the March 5 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway shows the same 165 minutes of practice time for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers as a year ago.

In its tentative schedule released Jan. 24 to help teams and media plan, NASCAR initially had dropped 30 minutes from each of the Friday and Saturday sessions at Atlanta, but it added back the 30 minutes in a schedule released Monday. NASCAR was looking to streamline race weekends, but a NASCAR spokesman confirmed Monday that the schedules will be more similar to last year. The issue of practice time isn't as simple as trying to figure out how much preparation drivers and crews need. Track operators often want more track activity to attract fans, and the practices often are televised. ESPN

01/31/17 The realization of having a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session occur on race day seems imminent. Exploring the race weekend schedules for 2017, CATCHFENCE.com found the Jun. 11 Pocono 400 race from Pocono Raceway is scheduled to host qualifying at 12:10pm with an anticipated green flag less than three hours later at 3:00pm.

Furthermore, practice for NASCAR's top series is not scheduled to begin until Sat., Jun. 10. The proposed schedule change is listed through NASCAR's mobile app. A NASCAR spokesperson could not confirm the new schedule alignment, but expressed that the series' schedules are often influx and are subject to change. Catchfence

Brad Keselowski

01/26/17 What else is coming down the NASCAR pike? One-day shows for the top touring series – including the newly named Monster Energy Cup Series.

When Brad Keselowski was asked whether the driver's council is behind the decision, he replied, "I think the whole sport is. We're trying to be smart with our time, especially with late starts.

"We'd like to see – because you don't get home to see your family until two, three in the morning if you're on a race team, so you lose part of Monday, too – so you have to find a way to get that day back and tie it all together. If you move qualifying closer to the race, you get that day back which is so important to everyone's quality of life in this sport." Motorsport