Schedule me this: How about a 72-race slate? (cont'd)

For the Cup Series, and keeping the value of the show for the fans at the forefront, the critical thing is having a three- to four-hour main event, in total racing time. This would put the venues in a position of not having to alter ticket prices, because virtually the same caliber of show is in place.

Maintaining the television window is critical, but seems to be simple. If networks put somewhere between a six- to eight-hour window in place for pre-race, a race broadcast and post-race, simply eliminate pre-race broadcasts completely.

I'll guarantee if fans were given a choice between watching two high-pressure, high-action features with post-race coverage for each, they'd vote to eliminate pre-race coverage completely -- without even thinking twice about it.

There would be a one-hour break in between the feature events. This is ready-made for the venue to bring in a portable stage on the frontstretch and have some type of concert or entertainment.

If the venues could be structured, or restructured in such a way as to sell pit or garage tours that would enable fans to observe the teams rebuilding or preparing their cars between events, that's a potential revenue stream or at worst, an opportunity to further engage the fan base.

Staging mandatory 30-minute driver autograph sessions in between the two events is another possibility that would further engage fans.

Starting positions for the second Cup features would be based on finishing positions in the first event. A critical element is that backup cars would be allowed in the second events -- with a strict set of criteria in place to determine who could and could not unload a backup car.

An interesting part of the process is that NASCAR would have to institute some type of penalty for going to a backup car -- probably something as simple as starting at the tail of the field. But the last thing NASCAR would want to do is eliminate teams' ability or desire to race their guts out to the very end of both features.

Finally -- and what might be great news to a lot of fans. This format, at least for the first year or two, would allow NASCAR to put the Chase on the shelf -- temporarily, and maybe permanently.

But that doesn't mean some aspects that have been positives in the Chase would be forgotten. There needs to be the racing equivalent of the "home-run ball" in place during the stretch run of the season.

Possibilities might include a point bonus for winning any event in the last 10-15 events in the season; or at the very least a sizeable bonus for winning races in the stretch run. Others have suggested an additional bonus that would be given to a team winning its first event of any season, and for a team striving to get into title contention, this extra incentive wouldn't hurt.

And bonuses for victories would eliminate one of the less desirable aspects of the Chase, namely a team that closes the season in a rush currently being prevented from rising any higher than 12th in the standings.

Of course, the one thing that knocks any of these machinations into a cocked hat is this: Teams already are trying as mightily as they can to excel, to beat everyone they can and to win races. So artificially messing with formats to create more competition seems insulting at least, and non-productive at best.

At any rate, it's a work in progress -- or a work that might never get out of mothballs, so go easy on me.

Or at least, get out and support your local NASCAR venue in the meantime -- either this season or in 2011 when the latest iteration of schedule-changing is in play.

Last word on 'real' schedule changes

At virtually every venue the series has visited this season, crowd counts have continued to falter. And Jeff Burton said that's what should prompt the kind of changes that appeared on the 2011 national series' schedules NASCAR released this week.

"I always hate to see a race track lose a date," Burton said, speaking of Atlanta Motor Speedway, which along with Auto Club Speedway each were cut back to one date next year, "because I know there are a lot of fans that do make both of those [Atlanta] races and love that race track and love the area where the race track is.

"At the same time, it's capitalism. If there's another venue where more people can come in and more people can enjoy it then that's where you can expect the show to be going."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Related:
• NASCAR releases 2011 schedules for three national series