NASCAR Start Times Uniform in 2010

Beginning with the 2010 Daytona 500, NASCAR fans won't have to deal with much variation in terms of start times for Sprint Cup races.

NASCAR and its three television broadcast partners announced Wednesday that they are moving to a uniform -- and often earlier -- drop of the green flag for races in 2010. It boils down simply to three options: East Coast races will start at 1 PM ET, West Coast races at 3 PM ET and night races at 7:30 PM ET.

Brian France, NASCAR's chairman and CEO, said the decision ultimately came down to going with what the fans wanted.

"Our core fans want to start watching NASCAR earlier in the afternoon," said France, referring to a focus group that NASCAR uses involving over 12,000 fans. "We haven't been as consistent as we can."

NASCAR calls the focus group its "Fan Council," and said that half of those fans were unclear when races would start and two-thirds requested earlier start times on Sundays.

Twenty races will start at 1 PM ET in 2010, six at 3 PM ET and nine at 7:30 PM ET in 2010. One race, the Coca-Cola 600 during Memorial Day weekend, will still start at 5:45 PM ET. Overall, 28 races will start at an earlier time from 2009.

The new start times are really a return to the past for NASCAR, after one TV partner, FOX, tried to increase ratings and visibility by pushing the finishes of races deeper into prime time. For example, the Daytona 500 in 2009 started around 3:40 PM ET -- some three and a half hours later than the 2000 version started. It will return to a 1 PM ET start in 2010.

FOX Sports Chairman David Hill -- his network carries the season's first 13 races with Daytona included -- acknowledged that while trends in television point to higher ratings with later starts, it didn't work well with NASCAR.

"I think we started to tinker with something we shouldn't have," said Hill. "I'll put my hand up and say, 'guilty.' "

Television ratings have been lower for several races in 2009. Does Hill think this switch will flip those around in 2010?

"I expect the ratings to drop next year," said Hill. "I think what you're going to see is an increase ratings for the Chase."

Hill attributed his assumptions to fans getting a better feel for the time schedule as the season moves on.

The listed start time is often a confusion for many fans because the television networks often list the time for start of the pre-race show. In 2010, that won't be true. A 1 PM start time will mean the pre-race invocation will start at that moment, with the green flag dropping 15-20 minutes thereafter.

While it wasn't a factor in the decision, the earlier start times should also have a positive effect on races that feature weather problems.

"It will give us more flexibility if rain should occur," said France. "We did have, especially earlier in the year, quite a bit of challenge with rain. Having more daylight, time to get events in, definitely will be an added benefit. It certainly wasn't the reason that we all did this but it will have an added benefit."

Had this been implemented in 2009, race fans would have seen an entire Daytona 500 (it was shortened due to rain) and they may have seen the Watkins Glen race on a Sunday instead of a Monday after rain swept in. Track drying efforts were thwarted by darkness.

Don't expect the changes to be a temporary grab at elevating ratings for 2010.

"We're not in this for the short term, but we are in this for long term," said FOX's Hill. "We believe firmly by making this move, it's going to give us long term ratings growth, because we're giving the fans what they want."