Daytona's July weekend no longer a day at the beach (cont'd)

Within the convection oven that is Central Florida in the summertime, the schedule once rotated not around television, but around weather. NASCAR wanted to get its people in and out of the speedway before the blistering heat set in, and the resulting afternoon thundershowers popped up. Now every Pepsi 400 weekend is a meteorological fandango, with the schedule-makers shuffling or cutting on-track sessions to make up for what's inevitably been rained out. Crew chiefs have learned to not rely too heavily on the two scheduled hours of practice, because they're unlikely to get all of it.

"The whole schedule is right smack-dab in thunderstorm time, which has really been frustrating since they started this. Back before, when it was all morning operations, we never dealt with the rain. I never remember, to tell you the truth, it raining on us and upsetting anything, whether it being qualifying, practice or the race," Lopez said.

"Now, since they've switched over to this nighttime format, I can't remember a weekend where we haven't been hampered by the rain. Because it's going to rain here at 4 o'clock. With all these outdoor activities set for that time, it's just very frustrating. We think we might get home at 9 or 10 [p.m.] and we don't, because it rains and everything gets delayed. For the crewmen, this weekend has kind of been ruined. We can bring our families, but we don't get to spend any time with them."

Some crewmen still bring their families, trying to wedge something akin to a summer vacation into the unrelenting Nextel Cup schedule. Lopez, who has two young daughters, understands why Daytona went to night racing. But he also wonders if there's room for improvement in a schedule that seems almost designed to produce headaches and delays.

"I understand why we put lights up, and I understand why we thought running the race on Saturday night would be better," he said. "It's obviously better for the fans, because sitting in the stands from 8 to 11 o'clock at night versus 12 to 3 in the afternoon is a big difference. But to do the schedule with most of our track-time activities scheduled between 3 and 7 [p.m.] ... The people who made that schedule, they live here. So while they were typing on their typewriters making this schedule out, it was raining outside. It's a given. The printed schedule for the Fourth of July Daytona race is really, what do they say in Pirates of the Caribbean? It's just guidelines."

But even if NASCAR returned to a morning schedule, even if they started the race earlier in the day, those lazy summer afternoons at Daytona would likely never return. Too much has changed in the decade since the old Firecracker 400 went nationwide. A change in the schedule wouldn't alleviate the pressure that crewmen feel from sponsors and team owners to perform. Yet that doesn't mean the men who turn wrenches wouldn't like a little more down time, and maybe a chance to build sand castles with the kids.

"It's a different time. Obviously, with technical procedures, the amount of money our sponsors are giving us, it's a whole different arena. But if it were a morning schedule, I think you'd see a whole lot more crew guys make arrangements to bring their families here. Because still, no matter how pressure-packed this place is, or any race for that matter, when the garage closes, it closes. You can't do anything else on the car. So it would be nice to head out toward the beach and meet your kids and wife at 1 or 2 o'clock and have fun the rest of the day," Lopez said.

"But the pressure is there. Probably the crew chiefs would enjoy it the least, because they've got to constantly think about what they've got to do to their cars the next morning, and this and that. But the nice thing about restrictor-plate racing is, you've never had to put a whole lot of thought into handling. I know the 400 is the most handling of all the four restrictor-plate races, but still, it's not that hard to get a handle on. It's still the same thing -- what line you pick, how many friends you got, and that's how good you're going to do. You can't worry about that when you're on the beach with your kids."

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.