Head2Head: Should there be more Cup night races?

There are two things done best at night with the lights on: stock-car racing and ... well, this is a family Web site.

I don't think I'd be going on a limb by saying the racing today needs some extra excitement. Night races deliver the drama. It's eye candy at high speeds. You see the sparks flying, the fire belching, the flash bulbs popping, the rotors glowing, the lights shimmering off the cars. Daytime doesn't do the sport justice.

The spring race in Bristol is just one of 36 on the schedule while the Sharpie 500 has taken on a personality of its own. There's a reason it's the "must-see" event of the year.

Imagine doing your job in a workplace that is 120 degrees. Cup Series drivers do it every Sunday. If you could work when it was cooler, wouldn't you want to? As a fan, you could leave the sunscreen and extra deodorant at home. Sweltering heat and a bright sun is replaced by a cool breeze and a moonlit sky. Look ma, no sunburn!

Saturday night races hold true to the racing roots of local short-track events. It's what most drivers, especially those raised on dirt, are used to. Fans could watch the Cup race at night like they would at home and still be back in time for church on Sunday and work on Monday.

Elton John said it best -- Saturday Night's Alright [For Fighting]. In this case, it's perfect for duking it out on the track.

When I think NASCAR, I think Sunday afternoons with my dad. A nice breakfast followed by the best racing on the planet. I don't think about racing under the lights until well past midnight.

NASCAR belongs in afternoon -- that's how the sport started and that's how it should remain.

Bristol in 1978 was the first night race for the Cup Series and remained the only nighttime event until the early '90s when Richmond and Charlotte added lights. Now, with money the driving force and TV ad time premium in the prime-time hours, we are seeing more and more nighttime events.

This weekend marks the first of 10 night races on the Cup schedule. That's almost a third of the events run. Do we need more? Absolutely not.

Don't get me wrong, I like night races. There's something to be said about seeing the cars sparkle under a fluorescent glow at tracks like Bristol and Daytona. But it should be a special event, not the norm -- it takes away the uniqueness.

Plus, there are times when it is down-right cold at some of these tracks in the evening. And if it rains -- which it has done in the past -- start times either move to the wee hours of the morning or the race gets pushed to Sunday, where it belonged in the first place.

I'm all for a couple of night races a year, but NASCAR adding more to the schedule -- let's turn the lights off on that idea.