Christmas wishes to make NASCAR merrier in 2009 (cont'd)

A shorter season

OK, so the schedule is out and nothing is going to change -- not for '09 and not for the foreseeable future. Plus this is an old topic.

But NASCAR needs to face the facts as the economy continues to struggle. A shorter race schedule would save race teams enormous amounts of money. To lessen the blow on existing tracks that obviously would lose some races in the scaling-back process, the governing body could start alternating which tracks get two races a year based on who is doing the best in attendance and, yes, television ratings.

No matter how they do it, cutting about six weeks out of the schedule would help everyone -- and keep fans more interested down the finishing stretch. Consider this a wish for the long-term future, but a topic that needs to be taken more seriously by the powers-that-be if the economy within the sport, and outside of it, fails to improve significantly as 2009 unfolds.

Here's wishing Marcos Ambrose and Brad Daugherty good will in 2009.

Real progress on diversity

So the Mauricia Grant $225 million lawsuit that alleged sexual and racial discrimination against NASCAR officials has been settled out of court. That's good news, but the fervent hope is that the incident serves to move the sport closer to not only making certain racial and gender harmony exist in the garage area, but also as a catalyst to improve and accelerate its overall diversity efforts.

In 2009, former NBA standout and current ESPN NASCAR analyst Brad Daugherty will increase his role in the ownership arena as a partner with JTG Daugherty Racing, which will field the No. 47 Toyota to be driven by Marcos Ambrose. Daugherty, like Grant, is black. It would be great to see his team, which will partner with Michael Waltrip Racing for technical support, enjoy some success as it also fields two teams in the Nationwide Series.

And hey, if nothing else, some success by the seemingly talented Ambrose would spice up the '09 season as the sport continues to wait on a competitive black driver to emerge in some decent equipment. At least Ambrose is Australian.

Tuned-in TV

Speaking of the good folks at ESPN, and more specifically at their parent company, ABC, here's wishing that they avoid taking any more of the stupid pills that led them to switch television coverage from ABC to ESPN2 with 39 laps remaining in the Chase race at Phoenix.

The reason? The race was running long because of an earlier rain delay and a spate of cautions, and the network wanted to honor a commitment to televise an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos in the time slot it was encroaching upon.

Um, this was a playoff event in a major sport. At least ABC had insisted to everyone that it was a major sport when it agreed to televise its races. Can anyone imagine a network opting out of a World Series game or an NFL playoff game for an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos, just because the game in question was running long?

That just wouldn't be very funny, and wasn't.

The Wood Brothers' 21 and Petty's 43 are two iconic car numbers.

Send out a thank you

Their days as major competitors in the sport are coming to an end, but no one should ever forget what the giants known as Wood Brothers Racing and Petty Enterprises have done to pave the way for everyone else.

As the Wood Brothers contemplate running a part-time schedule with limited funding, Petty Enterprises braces for "a merger" that is likely to be more like an absorption of the famed No. 43 car into the stable at Gillett Evernham Motorsports (the only other option, to run it as a single-car entity at a scaled-down-to-the-bones Petty operation, is less appealing). No matter how it plays out, these organizations represent the foundation upon which today's NASCAR was built.

They should be getting appreciative Christmas cards wishing them well from everyone in NASCAR, now and forever more.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.