It is fairly obvious that NASCAR races are long, and there is a slight chance of tediousness. To combat that, the governing body has done its level best to implement changes to raise the excitement factor. However, Kevin Harvick recently spoke about 500 mile races. He believes that these kind of races should only be limited to NASCAR’s crown jewel events.
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“There’s no reason that any race outside of a ‘crown jewel’ race is longer than 500 miles,” Harvick said. “It’s not something that is really even necessary in today’s day and age.”
In NASCAR terminology, a “crown jewel’ race somewhat resembles a signature event in the sport. One example is the Indianapolis 500, which is the crown jewel for IndyCar. Such events are steeped in history and are massive crowd-pullers. These races also have a lot of value compared to other races.
In NASCAR, many would agree that crown jewel races are Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500, and Brickyard 400. In all honesty, the race length reflects a race’s importance. So, it makes little sense to have all races last 500 miles, especially if there is a need to have a marquee race like the Daytona 500.
What did Kevin Harvick say about the issue?
The champion elect observed, “Five hundred miles at Texas… it takes forever to run that race and do the things that we do there… The fans and the sponsors even look at it like, ‘Man, it just seems more intense when the races are a little shorter.'”
However, races like the Daytona 500, Coke 600 and Southern 500 have a different significance to the sport. Of course, it is NASCAR’s nature to be grandiose, irrespective of the circumstances.
Harvick admits that fans could have a tendency to get bored when less-important races are too long. If NASCAR hopes to retain its fanbase or attract new ones, it needs to adapt to the times.
