Junior prefers day races over night

A relative lack of side-by-side racing with an overwhelming advantage given to the leader in so-called “clean air” has sparked plenty of debate this week over ways to enliven the annual invitational event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Among the more novel concepts was running the race during daylight hours, an idea given a thumbs-up on Twitter by reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s most popular driver.

Earnhardt elaborated on the suggestion Tuesday at the Charlotte track, where he finished 10th in the All-Star event just three days earlier.

“I think everywhere, you prefer racing during the day as opposed to night,” Earnhardt said. “Night racing sort of has its places, and certain tracks can put on a great show at night. Certain tracks put on a better show during the day. I think that your potential to have a good show doesn’t really depend on the time of day, but you’ve got I think a better opportunity during the daytime.

“There’s a bit of a science to it — the track surface is hotter, the track’s slicker, the groove’s wider. You saw this past week in the All-Star Race, a lot of guys struggled with running in the top, making the top an advantage. You could get up there and use it. You saw some guys maybe make some passes up there, but it was never really a place somebody spent a lot of time with and dominated with or found a really competitive time up there consistently throughout those little runs.”

Those “little runs” referred to the All-Star Race’s format, with short segments of no more than 25 laps at a time. But Earnhardt also made reference to cornering speeds and how drivers tend to stay on the gas during the nighttime’s cooler temperatures.

“Any time you’re in the throttle more, using more throttle, driving deep in the corner and getting on the throttle sooner, that’s not really what you want as far as trying to have good racing,” Earnhardt said. “You want guys sliding around, out of the gas, able to move around, and that’s why I think it races better during the day. I think when we practice during the day, you see us running against the wall and moving all over the place in practice. That’s what you’d see in the race if we ran here during the day. It’d be hot as heck, but. …”

The All-Star Race began in 1985 and went under the lights at Charlotte in 1992, a revolutionary event in the sport because until then, no track of its size had ever been illuminated for nighttime racing. Dubbed “One Hot Night,” Davey Allison edged Kyle Petty in a dramatic crash across the start-finish line, cementing the event’s legend.

In recent years, the All-Star start time has pushed further into the heart of prime time. Because of scheduling, TV needs an extended period of pre-race ceremonies, this Saturday night’s All-Star event didn’t take the green flag until shortly after 9:40 p.m. ET.

The sanctioning body may have won over plenty of new young fans with title sponsorship from Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants the previous weekend at Kansas Speedway, but even NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said that the All-Star event’s green-flag time this year might have pushed the limit for younger viewers.

“I think it’s a fair point. I think it is something we want to look at,” O’Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday. “We all certainly like the intros and everything that goes into it. (Track president) Marcus Smith and his crew do a terrific job with that, but I’ve got kids who like watching sports earlier and I hear the same thing. I think that is something we’ll sit down and address and look at, and see if we can’t get it off a little earlier and a little sooner, but still have all the fireworks and everything that goes into the event.”