If There Are Fans, There Can Be Practice
Many events this year have taken place behind closed doors due to the pandemic.
Formula One has run its first six rounds behind closed doors and plans on running the next three rounds without spectators. The upcoming Indianapolis 500 will take place with empty grandstands. The 24 Hours of Le Mans next month will take place behind closed doors. None of the MotoGP races this year have featured spectators. NASCAR did not have spectators for the Coca-Cola 600, Atlanta, Martinsville, the Brickyard 400, Kentucky and Kansas to name a few venues.
Every series has had to accept that sacrifice this year. The show can go on, but it requires limiting the number of people on the grounds and lowering the risk of covid-19 spreading from person to person and from potentially entering the paddock areas.
Spectated events have been the exception to the rule this year and there have been a few exceptions. Road America has hosted fans for all its events, from IndyCar to IMSA to NASCAR. IMSA had limited crowds at its Daytona and Sebring rounds in July. IndyCar had a smattering of fans at Iowa. NASCAR had reduced crowds at Bristol, Texas, Loudon and at the Daytona road course this past weekend. Supercars in Australia has hosted some fans since it restarted.
It is going to be sporadic over the rest of 2020 whether or not an event will feature spectators. It will be depended on location and gathering restrictions that are in place for those areas. Gateway plans on having spectators for IndyCar. NASCAR will not have spectators for Dover but should when it returns to Daytona at the end of the month and for the Southern 500 at Darlington. Formula One might have spectators for Russia and locals think it could host 30,000 people.
NASCAR has been keeping the number of people on the grounds low since it returned to competition in May. It has cut the number of road crew members allowed at the track nearly in half. In turn, it has reduced almost every round to race-only events without practice or qualifying. NASCAR has already announced it will not have practice or qualifying for any of the remaining events in 2020. However, if the events are allowing fans, why aren't the full road crews allowed into the venues?
Spectated events have been the exception to the rule this year and there have been a few exceptions. Road America has hosted fans for all its events, from IndyCar to IMSA to NASCAR. IMSA had limited crowds at its Daytona and Sebring rounds in July. IndyCar had a smattering of fans at Iowa. NASCAR had reduced crowds at Bristol, Texas, Loudon and at the Daytona road course this past weekend. Supercars in Australia has hosted some fans since it restarted.
It is going to be sporadic over the rest of 2020 whether or not an event will feature spectators. It will be depended on location and gathering restrictions that are in place for those areas. Gateway plans on having spectators for IndyCar. NASCAR will not have spectators for Dover but should when it returns to Daytona at the end of the month and for the Southern 500 at Darlington. Formula One might have spectators for Russia and locals think it could host 30,000 people.
NASCAR has been keeping the number of people on the grounds low since it returned to competition in May. It has cut the number of road crew members allowed at the track nearly in half. In turn, it has reduced almost every round to race-only events without practice or qualifying. NASCAR has already announced it will not have practice or qualifying for any of the remaining events in 2020. However, if the events are allowing fans, why aren't the full road crews allowed into the venues?
It is understandable if NASCAR wants to decrease the chances of an outbreak in the paddock but if it is willing to allow 5,000 strangers or 25,000 strangers into a facility, why couldn't it allow five more people for the 40 teams in the Cup series into the garage area, into the bubble in place and allow at least a practice session to take place?
If each Cup team is bringing five extra people to the track, that is only 200 extra people entering the bubble. Two hundred people is nothing when thousands of people are allowed in the grandstands. Fans are not allowed in the garage area. Autograph sessions are not taking place but more people at the facility means a greater risk of the virus spreading.
It also doesn't make sense to allow patrons into the facility while still restricting teams. Major League Baseball would not allow a team to have 15,000 people to attend a game but limit each game roster to 15 players per team because of the increase of people in the stands.
A competent progression would be to allow full teams into the facility then limited crowds before hopefully returning to full capacity events. The teams should not be the last ones back to normal capacity. They are putting on the events after all.
NASCAR is trying to reduce spending for the teams and five extra people at the track per teams means more spent for travel and lodging. Not holding practice or qualifying eliminates the need for a backup car and having an extra engine and transmission ready. NASCAR is looking out for the teams during this difficult time.
Although, we are going to need to get back to qualifying at some point, especially if NASCAR hopes to have new teams joining the series and could have greater than 40 entries. Justin Marks has stated he plans on starting a Cup team for next year. NASCAR cannot be sending teams home without even giving them a chance to compete for a spot in the field. The current system during the pandemic has seen teams turned away because they have not made enough starts. In this system, if you are not competing at the start, there is chance you will never be able to break in, see David Ragan and his two failed attempts to start a Truck race. This is not a friendly system to new teams and cannot be sustained for the future the series.
Qualifying aside, when you have an event like the Daytona road course, a track that none of the three national touring series had tested, with a new chicane that was a complete unknown because no series had ever used it before, one practice session would have gone a long way. Drivers should have at least gotten an idea of where braking points were located and gotten a feel of the track.
It is one thing to go to Texas, Martinsville, Bristol, Dover and Michigan without any practice. All these teams and drivers have been to these tracks multiple times before. They know these places. The Daytona road course was a complete unknown, and while that sounds like a great equalizer for all the teams and was fair for everyone, that is not how you should go into an event. You should not go into an event with everyone being clueless.
With NASCAR's final ten races approaching, practice should be more essential down the stretch. The Cup Series hasn't had a practice session since March and there have been a few issues with cars at the start of races. It has not been a weekly occurrence where a team has a mechanical issue at the start ruin a race that otherwise would have been caught in practice, but there have been some minor issues.
With the playoff nature of the final ten races and eliminations, the last thing any team would want is for a minor problem to end a race on lap ten and eliminate a driver from championship contention when it could have been caught in a practice session. No driver should have that be the case and this year NASCAR runs the risk of souring its championship fight if a contender is eliminated when a one-hour practice would have prevented a minor issue from becoming something cataclysmic.
NASCAR should want the teams performing at their highest level in the final ten races and it should want to reduce the variables that could eliminate a driver. A one-hour practice session allowing the teams to shakedown the cars and find any issues would go a long way. Would it increase the chances of going to a backup car? Yes, but that cost is worth it for the final ten races.
NASCAR should want the teams performing at their highest level in the final ten races and it should want to reduce the variables that could eliminate a driver. A one-hour practice session allowing the teams to shakedown the cars and find any issues would go a long way. Would it increase the chances of going to a backup car? Yes, but that cost is worth it for the final ten races.
This problem would be bad enough for an early elimination race but imagine it popping up in the championship race at Phoenix. The last thing NASCAR should want is one of its four championship-contending drivers to be taken out on lap 15 because of a loose wire that could have been found almost immediately in a practice session.
We are entering a period when not having a practice session could be detrimental to competition if it is ending championship chances. NASCAR should want to avoid that. From March through August, it has done a good job of reducing costs for the teams and keeping them from over-spending during this difficult time. When September comes around and the final ten races begin, the time has come to do a little more for the sake of competition. It should want to be fair and make sure no driver has championship hopes dashed because of a minor issue.
NASCAR should not be short-changing the fans it allows to scatter throughout the grandstands by limiting the number of people working in the garage area.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Marco Andretti but did you know...
Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix, his fourth victory of 2020 and that victory was Hamilton's 156th podium finish, breaking a tie with Michael Schumacher for the all-time record.
Nobuharu Matsushita and Felipe Drugovich split the Formula Two races from Barcelona. Jake Hughes and Oscar Piastri split the Formula Three races from Barcelona.
Andrea Dovizioso won MotoGP's Austrian Grand Prix, his first victory of the season. Jorge Martin won the red-flagged shortened Moto2 race, his first grand prix victory since the 2018 Moto3 race at Sepang. Albert Arenas won the Moto3 race, his third victory of the season.
The #7 Toyota of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López won the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The #22 United Autosport Oreca-Gibson of Filipe Albuquerque, Philip Hanson and Paul di Resta won in the LMP2 class. The #92 Porsche of Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre won in the GTE-Pro class. The #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Emmanuel Collard, Nicklas Nielsen and François Perrodo won in the GTE-Am class.
Chase Elliott won the NASCAR Cup race on the Daytona road course, his second victory of the season. Austin Cindric won the Grand National Series race, his fifth victory in the last six races. Sheldon Creed won the Truck race, his second victory of the season.
Chase Elliott won the NASCAR Cup race on the Daytona road course, his second victory of the season. Austin Cindric won the Grand National Series race, his fifth victory in the last six races. Sheldon Creed won the Truck race, his second victory of the season.
Anton de Pasquale, Scott McLaughlin and Jaime Whincup split the three Supercars races from Hidden Valley Raceway. It was de Pasquale's first career victory.
Nico Müller and René Rast split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Lausitz.
Coming Up This Weekend
The 104th Indianapolis 500.
Coming Up This Weekend
The 104th Indianapolis 500.
Indy Pro 2000 and U.S. F2000 will be at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
NASCAR runs doubleheaders at Dover.
IMSA's GT classes will be at Virginia International Raceway.
MotoGP remains at the Red Bull Racing for the Styrian Grand Prix.
Supercars remain at Hidden Valley Raceway.
MotoGP remains at the Red Bull Racing for the Styrian Grand Prix.
Supercars remain at Hidden Valley Raceway.
DTM remains at Lausitzring.
Super GT will be at Suzuka.
Super GT will be at Suzuka.
