Ah, now wasn't that nice? As much as even the most ardent fan or competitor enjoys the drama of the Sprint Cup Series, a weekend off from racing every now and then soothes the soul and refreshes depleted human batteries.

Thanks to the Easter holiday, last weekend was the first one off for the Sprint Cup folks since Speedweeks opened at Daytona International Speedway in early February.

• Send Joe your thoughts
• Joe's Community page

Another weekend off looms in mid-April, in between the April 12 Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix and the Aaron's 499 at Talladega. Then there will be non-stop racing all the way through until mid-July, when a weekend respite is scheduled between the Chicagoland 400 and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

And that's it. Then it's a consecutive 16-week run through to the season finale -- the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

This isn't the first time this has been pointed out, but the season is ridiculously long. All one needs to do to realize the obvious logic of that statement is examine the lengths of the seasons of other major sports, including colleges because they're big business, too.

Sprint Cup opens in early February and doesn't end until just before Thanksgiving. It adds up to roughly 9 1/2 months, with only the three weekends off during its grueling duration.

Comparison shopping

Let's start our comparison journey by taking a look at college basketball, since March Madness currently has the nation in its grip like virtually no other sport can. They start playing in November and the national title game is history by the first week in April -- a total of roughly five months.

College football is about the same, maybe a little longer for those two teams fortunate enough to play in the national title game. But they begin play in August and wrap up by mid- to late January.

From start to finish, the regular season and playoffs all the way through the Super Bowl in the National Football League is about five months. Even if you throw in a month of training camp and preseason games, it's still only six months long.

Major League Baseball's season seems at times to drag on endlessly. Seriously, is it really necessary to play 162 regular-season games and then begin the now-lengthened playoffs, which can add up to an extra five weeks? Yet baseball still wraps up its business within a total of about seven months.

The National Basketball Association, sagging in popularity in recent years, is about the closest to Sprint Cup in terms of its outlandish schedule length -- and perhaps there is a correlation there. The NBA regular season gets going in November and playoffs aren't completed until mid- to late June, adding up to about 7 1/2 months -- more like 8 1/2 if you count roughly a month of training camp and preseason games.

Oh, and the NHL? Who cares? We're talking major sports here -- ones that lots of folks care about, and ones that can draw more than a blip on national television radar these days.

The solution

Too often those who point out an obvious fault in something are taken to task for not providing the solution, so today I will step to the plate and reveal what the good folks at NASCAR headquarters could consider to shorten their season by a full six weeks.

Attendance at venues now struggling would soar. Television ratings would continue climbing (OK, so that can only be said because the ratings for the most recent race at Bristol were up, as opposed to the longer trend of ratings going down). And Sprint Cup seasons would hold the interest of a growing number of fans, new and old, because, well, it wouldn't be so damn long and drawn out.

• 2008 Race Schedule

Let me also preface this by saying that I know my advice won't be accepted. It will, in fact, be ridiculed by those who say there's no way this can be done -- because there is too much money involved. Track officials will choke on their morning coffee and protest vigorously the mere mention that they may have to consider giving up one of their precious, if increasingly challenging, race dates.

All of that is understood going in. But something has to give.

And the fact is it would be great for the long-term health of the sport. Not only for the reasons listed above, but because it would at least then be slightly less expensive for teams to compete for a full season -- thereby reducing the number of dollars required from sponsors. That would make the sport more attractive for sponsors now sitting on the fence, wondering if their investment would be worth it. It also could increase the possibilities of corporations splitting the costs of primary sponsorship for cars during a season.

Let's face it: sponsorship dollars are drying up in this weakened economy. So are the dollars fans are willing, or able, to spend making a weekend of it to venture to the nearest Sprint Cup track. And it's going to get worse before it gets better.

So here is the suggestion: start by taking one race each away from Auto Club Speedway (formerly known at California Speedway), Atlanta Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. What do they have in common? None, with the possible exception of Atlanta, is really close to a major city, and all have had their problems in recent years consistently drawing sellout crowds (an understatement when it comes to California, by the way). Oh, and please don't press the claim that Auto Club Speedway of Southern California (its official name, now) is located in Los Angeles -- because it isn't.

That clears up four weeks on the schedule right there. To gain the additional two "off" weeks, another five current tracks could host two events on a rotating basis and only one event in the years when they're the odd venue out. This would clear the way for the impatient (and rightly so) folks at Kentucky Speedway to get one Sprint Cup event at least on a rotating basis -- even if it meant one year off, two on, one off, and so forth. If crowds there warrant more and lesser crowds elsewhere warrant a further shifting of who gets additional or fewer race dates in the future, the tracks in the rotation portion of the schedule could be altered every five years.

The current tracks nominated to participate in the rotating scheme: Dover, Pocono, Phoenix, New Hampshire and Las Vegas. Said scheme should be tweaked so that Vegas gets the second race it deserves at least every other year, preferably on years when Phoenix is only racing once.

But the greatest benefit would be the shortening of the ridiculously long schedule, not another four days of shows and gambling in Vegas every other year.

Oh, and why include a new track like Kentucky in the mix if the goal is attempting to shorten the schedule? The answer to that question is simple. It's because of personal greed. I'm from the area (just across the border in Ohio, actually), and wouldn't mind the occasional trip home.

After all, the current schedule is built on greed and not necessarily what's best for the sport or the people competing in it, isn't it?

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.