Nextel Cup’s 2005 season finale was Nov. 20 – three weeks after the Chicago White Sox won the World Series. On Jan. 9, more than a month before baseball’s spring training begins, NASCAR began its version of spring training in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Where did the offseason go?
Well, there really wasn’t one, especially for members of top-10 teams. NASCAR’s weeklong “Chase for the Championship” banquet was in early December, and most teams began testing Jan. 2.
And that short offseason has drivers, crews and NASCAR officials concerned. Drivers and crews admit to burnout and absence of family time, and several of NASCAR’s prominent names are suggesting changes to the sport’s schedule.
But these are difficult propositions for a sport that continues to grow in popularity.
“It’s brutal,” veteran driver Kenny Wallace said of the year-round schedule. “It’s the most brutal sport I’ve ever seen on a (personal) life. Then baseball has to be next. In baseball you play 162 games and spring training. That’s hard. But I don’t think anything compares to NASCAR, which is riding a wave but trying to avoid burnout at the same time.”
First-round qualifying for NASCAR’s season-opening and most prestigious race, the Daytona 500, is today, with the big event scheduled a week from today. In all, the 2006 season calls for 36 points races and two all-star races in 41 weeks.
Most events require teams to be at the track four days, causing some to be on the road for more than half the year. The Daytona 500 commitment is two weeks.
“The little bit of time we had off was the week of Christmas, and I got sick – which I didn’t know how to look at that – but in hindsight it was actually pretty good,” defending Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart said. “So I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day by myself with my dog. That was pretty cool.
“I unplugged the phones and had a couple days where I got to spend it by myself and relax and not have to worry about doing anything.”
This season’s schedule, virtually the same as 2005, features fewer races compared with the early 1970s. Back in the day, there were roughly 45 races that primarily were two-day events staged mostly in the Southeast, which helped minimize travel.
“This is a big business sport now,” said driver Sterling Marlin, who is beginning his 30th season in the series. “It used to be a bunch of good old boys out racing just because they liked doing it. Now there’s a lot more involved.
“In the ’70s and ’80s we were more laid-back. You were just there to race. It wasn’t the rushing or the panic mode that everyone seems to be in now. But it’s all good. I never thought the sport would grow to where it is today in popularity, and that’s all a result of the extra stuff.”
There were 31 races in 1980, 29 in 1990 and 34 in 2000. To grow the sport, NASCAR officials began spreading it far from its origin. And with the expansion came more demands on drivers to publicize their sport and schmooze sponsors.
“I think it’s been good for the sport,” Marlin said. “The fans make it what it is, and the more involved they are and the more that teams put themselves out there, the more popular it’s going to become.
“But there’s a balance you have to strike. And while we’re busier with extracurricular things, there are rewards. The money’s a lot better now than what it used to be.”
Stewart earned a record $6,987,535 last season. The 1980 champion, the late Dale Earnhardt, earned $599,926.
aps vary on how to improve the schedule. But with more and more fans wanting to see races, everyone agrees reducing the schedule does not make sense. According to independent industry sources, NASCAR television ratings are currently second only to NFL telecasts among major professional sports.
That said, drivers and crews often feel pushed to the limit.
“It’s definitely too short,” driver Kurt Busch said of the offseason. “Yet we’ve got the demand to be in the car and race. The fans want that and the sponsors want that, and let’s face it, we all love what we do.”
Wallace, who drives for Denver-based Furniture Row Racing, proposes moving the Daytona 500 to January but providing more frequent breaks by giving the circuit a rest one week each month.
“We race 20 weeks in a row, and that’s too much,” he said. “Even in the NFL, which has 16 games, they have a bye week. We need one week off every month so these crew members, family members and truck drivers can breathe a little bit. The problem we have in our sport is burnout. These guys, man, if you’re not dedicated and if this isn’t all you do, you better not be here.”
Richard Childress, who owns cars driven by Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer, has witnessed the burnout. He said NASCAR needs a longer offseason to regenerate the passion of talented crew members.
“If I had the reins, I’d start racing toward the end of February and run 38 straight weekends, then have a longer offseason,” Childress said. “It’s harder on the drivers and owners today because of the business we have to do outside the track, so we’re already year-round. But we need to give the other guys a longer break from the track.”
Busch, the 2004 champion, offered a potential solution for compacting the schedule – stage more than one race a week.
“Let’s say we go from Texas to Charlotte, and we stop off on the way in Atlanta midweek and do a night race, like 300 miles or something,” he said. “That’d be cool, and we’d be keeping it fresh, and earning an extra week off down the road.”
Despite the rigors, Stewart, a two-time champion entering his eighth season on the circuit, said he’s still living a charmed life.
“We’ve been doing this so long now that you kind of forget that you have an offseason,” he said. “You just treat it like any other job, and we’ve still been having fun. I guess when you’re having fun doing it, it’s not hard to recharge your batteries.”
Staff writer Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
