Harvick questions value of night races

Night racing has long been popular among Sprint Cup Series drivers and fans.

From the sight of sparks shooting out from under 3,500-pound stock cars to the nostalgia invoked of Friday or Saturday night shootouts on local short tracks, night racing is widely considered to be good for NASCAR for many reasons.


Kevin Harvick isn't so convinced.

"Night racing is kind of a fad," the Richard Childress racing driver said this week. "I don't know if that's the best thing in the world to have. I like racing at night, but I don't know if that's the best thing for our sport."

Television networks disagree.

In the United States, so-called prime-time television hours - when networks and local stations reap their highest ratings and advertising revenues - are 8 to 11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time and 7 to 10 p.m. Central and Mountain time Monday through Saturday.

On Sundays, prime time begins at 7 p.m. Eastern and Pacific and 6 p.m. Central and Mountain, ending at the same time as on the other six days of the week.

More races held in prime-time hours are therefore an attractive proposition to many television networks. This season, two non-points races are being held in prime time as well as at least part of 11 points races, including next weekend's race at Chicagoland Speedway, where the Cup series will compete under the lights for the first time.

"I don't know exactly what the night race is going to do for the crowd," Harvick said. "I'm sure there is a lot to do in Chicago on a Friday and Saturday night, so it will be interesting to see how all that works. "

Other tracks, including Daytona International Speedway, site of Saturday night's Coke Zero 400, as well as Richmond International Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway have added night races since 1992.

Bristol Motor Speedway has hosted a night race since 1978.

Though races run in prime time may drive ratings, Harvick fears that it will hurt attendance. "I guess it's all a matter whether you want people in the grandstands or you want people to watch it on TV," he said. "I like to watch my TV shows that come on at the same time because that's the only way that I can remember that they're on. NASCAR racing for a long time was on Sunday at 12 or 1 after everybody got out of church, and you go home and you watch the race and then you still had an evening.

"I think that you can argue it both ways. If the grandstands aren't full and you want a prime-time race, you can't have it both ways, I guess is the best thing to say."

Harvick is also concerned that Saturday night Cup races hurt attendance at local short tracks, which often host events during the same time slot.

"I don't think it does them any good," he said. "I know talking to some of the short-track owner's, they have a hard time drawing crowds when the races are on. Obviously you get your competitors, but the crowds are definitely down when we race on Friday and Saturday nights. Like I say, we go to have Prime-time TV stuff, but we also have to have consistency so the fans know when to follow it."