zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
If It Rains During A NASCAR Oval, Just Throw On Rain Tires And Race The Road Course
If It Rains During A NASCAR Oval, Just Throw On Rain Tires And Race The Road Course-November 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:10:59

Image for article titled If It Rains During A NASCAR Oval, Just Throw On Rain Tires And Race The Road Course

This weekend, we celebrate a beautiful thing: NASCAR competing at the Daytona International Speedway road course. And it’s got me thinking about how we can solve the whole “rained out NASCAR race” thing.

Last weekend’s Daytona 500 was… a thing. The field didn’t even make it 20 laps before demolishing a good portion of the field in a massive wreck, and then the race was delayed for hours due to rain. Because of that, ratings suffered. You’re not going to hold anyone’s interest if it takes almost 12 hours to complete an event. You’re not going to convince me to watch the Days of Thunder documentary again.

Some folks argue that NASCAR should just throw on rain tires and hit the oval again, but I’m not one of those people. Doing so is an egregious risk, and I’m not about to advocate for anything that will unnecessarily hurt people.

But I will advocate for race teams slapping on those rain tires and competing on a road course instead.

Nowadays, plenty of oval circuits have well-maintained internal road courses because it opens up way more opportunities to host events. Not all of them are as gorgeous as, say, Daytona’s, but hell. If an oval track has a raceable road course, why shouldn’t it get used in an emergency? Why not get the racing action kicked off again?

Now, I know that an oval car is set up to perform much differently than a road course car, but y’know what? I don’t care. It’s already raining. You can take 45 minutes of this rain delay to re-set up the cars, or you can sit for six hours and hope the rain dries up. I know what option I’d pick—and it would make for a fascinating show just watching the crews scramble to get cars prepped for a totally different adventure than they were expecting.

It’s definitely not the conventional way to do things, but it makes more sense than just sitting around twiddling your thumbs and hoping to keep your audience interested. During the Daytona 500 rain delay, I finished Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel and started The Queen’s Gambit, and it was hard for me to drag myself away. A more casual viewer probably won’t bother.

So, there it is. If we all start talking about it, maybe it’ll be like the Bristol dirt race and we can speak it into existence.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Weekend Motorsports Roundup, Feb. 27-28, 2016
Weekend Motorsports Roundup, Feb. 27-28, 2016
Welcome to the Jalopnik , where we let you know what’s going on in the world of racing, where you can see it, and where you can talk about it all in one convenient place. Where else would you want to spend your weekend? Happy weekend, everyone. Hopefully you’ve survived...
Nov 7, 2025
This Ultra-Close Near Miss Will Make You Thankful For Small Spaces
This Ultra-Close Near Miss Will Make You Thankful For Small Spaces
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Korbin Forrister lost control of his truck coming out of the pits today during practice for the Great Clips 200, giving fellow driver Tyler Reddick a bit of a surprise. While broadcasters in this clip originally thought Forrister may not have had his steering...
Nov 7, 2025
Guy Allegedly Steals A Bunch Of Stuff At Daytona International Speedway, Gets 10 Years In Prison
Guy Allegedly Steals A Bunch Of Stuff At Daytona International Speedway, Gets 10 Years In Prison
From 2007 to 2012, a Georgia man rolled through various events at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida and stole from team trailers and motorhomes. This week, his conquest culminated in a 10-year jail sentence. The man, 55-year-old Steven Sanders, allegedly kept a log of all of his thefts—the...
Nov 7, 2025
Now This Is How You Pass Three Cars And A Helicopter
Now This Is How You Pass Three Cars And A Helicopter
Sometimes you’ve got three cars in your way, and one dusty lane to get around them. That’s when you want a lot of skill, luck and bravery. And horsepower. Can never have too much horsepower. Epic moments like this are what make the Mint 400 “The Great American Race.” This...
Nov 7, 2025
NASCAR Fans Are Freaking Out Over Stewart-Haas Racing's Switch From Chevy To Ford
NASCAR Fans Are Freaking Out Over Stewart-Haas Racing's Switch From Chevy To Ford
In a surprising move this week, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series powerhouse Stewart-Haas Racing announced that they were moving from campaigning Chevrolets to for 2017. Naturally, some NASCAR fans are coping with this news better than others. Why is this switch such a big deal? Stewart-Haas’ four-car effort has traditionally worked...
Nov 7, 2025
Meet The World's Dumbest Sheep
Meet The World's Dumbest Sheep
English farmer Andy Burton one of the fastest, loudest rally cars in history. Apparently that didn’t impress one very dumb sheep. This was shot at the Quinton Stages rally in the UK back in 2011. How Burton’s made it out unscathed, I do not know. Contact the author at ....
Nov 7, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved