Whether they’re watching on TV or making trips to a track, NASCAR fans have grown accustomed to watching their favorite drivers race on weekends. Though that likely won’t change for the 2018 season, there’s a very real possibility it could in the future.
NASCAR will not hold mid-week Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points races next season, but unnamed sources told SportsBusiness Daily the idea isn’t off the table for good. The concept reportedly has been discussed among top NASCAR officials, media partners and tracks.
Given the competition NASCAR faces on weekends from other professionals sports, holding Cup races on, say, a Thursday evening, could allow the series to gain more viewers. But while such a move could make sense from a media perspective, it potentially could hurt tracks, who rely on fans making weekend trips to races.
Although mid-week Cup races remain a possibility down the road, there simply are too many logistical issues to resolve to add them to the 2018 calendar.
“Too many hoops to get through,” a track source told SportsBusiness Daily. “Mid-week points races are an idea, but there’s a whole of of work that needs to be done to make them viable.”
Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports, reportedly said in December that the network is interested in the idea of airing mid-week races.
Thumbnail photo via Michael Shroyer/USA TODAY Sports Images
