Smack: NASCAR took the easy way out on schedule

1. The 2010 Sprint Cup schedule came out this week, and aside for a few simple date swaps, there were no major changes. Should there be any?

David Caraviello: Yes. For years I've advocated a shake-up in the Chase races. The 10 events we have now are there not because they're the 10 best to determine the title, but because they were lucky enough to be that late on the schedule in the pre-Chase era. To me, that's something that needs to be corrected.

Joe Menzer: Where is Kentucky, dadgumit? Bruton Smith is waiting, and so am I. But the truth of that matter is that there will not be a Cup race there until that lawsuit brought on NASCAR by previous owners is resolved. And it hasn't been yet.

Dave Rodman: Of course. I'll beat the old, dead horse until I die. But there should be black-and-white parameters for having Sprint Cup races. Anyone should be able to apply, if you meet the criteria. If you fail to meet the parameters, you're off the schedule for a year.

David Caraviello: Yeah, Joe, Kentucky is killing itself with that lawsuit appeal. The longer it goes on, the longer that facility will have to wait. Plus, they have a seating expansion they have to finish, too. They're not ready for a Sprint Cup date, not yet. Maybe one day. Not now.

Joe Menzer: The problem with shaking up the schedule too much -- and this is what the track operators will tell you -- is that these tracks plan so far in advance and get comfortable with promoting certain dates. But Dave is right. If they aren't working in a particular place, yank 'em.

David Caraviello: Joe, they didn't have too much trouble yanking dates during the Rockingham-Darlington realignment era that drove so many fans away from the sport. But I'm not talking about yanking them. I'm talking about rearranging them. I mean, I know the place loves its August weekend, but the fact that Bristol is not in the Chase is ludicrous. The fact that the Chase starts in New Hampshire is equally as crazy. This thing needs to be tinkered with, and nobody seems to want to do it.

Dave Rodman: Part of the business plan for these tracks is they get to hold people's ticket money for a long time -- and make money with it, you could argue, for doing nothing. I don't fault them for that, but that is a poor excuse for not diversifying the schedule. Confessing that ignorance, and knowing you guys as I do -- give me the three least-amenable NFL venues, in no particular order. There is a question at the end of this trail, I promise.

David Caraviello: Well, the old Texas Stadium would have been up there, but it's gone now. And I'm sure Giants Stadium is on its last leg, but it's on the way out. Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Many NFL stadiums are relatively new, so I don't know if there's an accurate comparison there.

Joe Menzer: Agreed on that, DC2. Maybe the Oakland Raiders ... do they still play in that dump they used to call the Coliseum? I do fear we are comparing apples and, well, grapefruits here, however.

Dave Rodman: You could be right. But my point would be that you don't hold the Super Bowl at one of your three worst venues. I won't point fingers (unless you make me), but that's where we're at with the Chase schedule, both in quality of venues and diversity. I still think the Chase should be both classic short tracks, a three-quarter-miler, a road course, a speedway, two longer short tracks (since they now consider everything from Darlington on down to be a short track), and three intermediates.

Joe Menzer: I like the variety Roadman proposes. In fact, I think I wrote a column about this last year -- proposing that the season start and finish at Daytona. Carl Edwards told me I was crazy -- not the first one to do so, nor will he be the last.

Plan your trip

NASCAR released its 2010 Cup, Nationwide and Truck schedules and while things look the same, some big changes took place.

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• Audio: NASCAR Today

David Caraviello: They got lucky with Richmond. It's the perfect place to end the regular season. But could you imagine if the 26th race had happened to fall on Pocono or California? That eve-of-the-Chase race would be nothing like it is today. That's the way it is with a lot of these Chase races, which were grandfathered in because of their spot on the schedule, not because they earned it.

Dave Rodman: It's another example of NASCAR's inconsistency. They could do it. It would be for the good of the sport. I think you'd have a more fitting champion. And just like the Super Bowl, to a degree the dates could rotate.

Joe Menzer: I think we would all agree that Homestead is not the best place to finish the Chase, right? I mean, it's a decent facility and all that, but to finish the season there every year? Not necessarily helping matters, especially when they have trouble selling out 60,000 seats.

David Caraviello: I don't have a problem with finishing in Homestead, which since the renovation is a better track than people give it credit for, and holds its own at the ticket window. I have a problem with too many cookie cutters. I have a problem with only one short track. I have a problem with no road course. I have a problem with where it starts. And remember, you have to take weather into consideration the last week in November. If not Homestead, you're looking at Texas or Phoenix or ... egad ... California.

Joe Menzer: What's wrong with New Hampshire? They pack 'em in at that place!

David Caraviello: I have no problem with New Hampshire. They do pack the place. But it's a flat, technical track that doesn't exactly start the Chase off with a bang.

Dave Rodman: I still think the schedule should be more liquid and tradition shouldn't mandate maintaining the same schedule. That would apply to the Chase events as well. I think New Hampshire is a great place to start, and Homestead has stepped up and worked hard at being a great place to finish. But the parameters should be put in place, and if you don't meet 'em -- bye-bye for a year. Finish at Daytona, and you don't have the weather problems! And Las Vegas would be a good place to start the Chase.

David Caraviello: Thanks for chiming in, Bruton! (Continued)