NASCAR insiders name the largest factor to consider with start-time decisions

One of the top points of contention over the weekend that was at Michigan International Speedway for NASCAR was the issue of moving up the start-time if rain is in the area.

On the latest episode of The Teardown with Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi, the two analysts debated whether NASCAR should move back to 1:00 p.m. start-times for most of their races, with Gluck making an impassioned statement for the fans who had to leave Michigan without seeing a full race.

“I’m conceding, that in the world we live in, we’re probably not going to get back to standardized 1pm start times, because TV is paying literally billions of dollars, and the higher ratings they can get, the more money they can charge for their commercials to try to recoup some of their investment, which is keeping the sport afloat,” Gluck started. “So they get to say, ‘I’d like to end the races closer to prime time, if possible.’ And so it’s tough for me — Look, I’d love to be like, ‘This is crap. This is —,’ but it’s not — it’s not my money, right? So, I’m trying to work within the framework that currently exists, and be a realist about this, right? My concession is, okay, if you’re gonna do that, if you’re gonna do that, then when you have the opportunity to move a race up and make sure you get people as many laps as possible, even if that’s not a whole race, I just — I feel very just, disappointed, for the people that had to leave.

“I mean, you saw people’s tweets like, people spend a lot of money and time to come. People don’t have endless money to just go to these races and buy tickets, and a lot of times, people are picking one or two races a year. If this is your chance to see it, do everything you can for your fans. That’s all I’m saying. You know, I’m not gonna — that should be fair, why is that not a fair trade off? Just, just move the time up, if you can do it, if there’s rain, and if there’s if it’s a surprise shower, okay, too bad. But this was a situation where all week it was like, ‘Oh boy, have you seen the forecast? Oh, yeah, I have.’ You know?”

Gluck’s statement stems from NASCAR having the opportunity to move the FireKeepers Casino 400 start-time up to get the race in on Sunday, but opting to remain at their scheduled green flag. Of course, we now know Mother Nature forced the race to be postponed until Monday after Stage 1.

In response, Bianchi played devil’s advocate, explaining why we’ll likely never see the early afternoon start-time that many NASCAR fans have come to love again, due to various broadcasting reasons.

“It’s dollars and cents. This is how NASCAR makes money. Like, your TV partners want later start times. This is why they’re paying all of this money, to maximize their ad rates, and later in the afternoon, closer to prime time, is going to get you more money. This is how the sport survives. And this is how sports in general survive, is TV money, and you want to get as many eyeballs on your product as possible,” Bianchi responded. “The numbers are overwhelming, that more people will watch races in mid-afternoon, you know, 3, 3:30 start times, which we have seen a lot of, at that time, than they will earlier in the day. That is indisputable, the numbers will not go against that. And so I get it, and that’s the way it is.

“You can bemoan that if you want to, and I’m not saying you are but, people say, ‘Oh, we want 1pm start times.’ It doesn’t work that way. Like this is — this is how sports are nowadays. Any sport is beholden to TV, and TV decides everything you know, good or bad. College football is blowing up all the conferences for the worst, and it sucks, but that is it. Money rules everything, and that is what it’s about. They have to make their money in return, when they spend a lot of money to bury your product, and that is advertising. So, I understand what people are saying, but later start times are the way to go, and that is indisputable.”

NASCAR fans don’t need all early afternoon start-times, but if officials could move the green flag up when there’s rain in the area later in the evening, there aren’t many who would be against that strategy. Nevertheless, television certainly rules all, and that’s a tough pill to swallow for fans at the track in-person.

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