The NFL Has Decimated Speedweeks in Daytona, and Things Could Get Even Worse
The National Football League continues to creep its schedule deeper into the month of February.
And that's not something NASCAR wants to see, since its own Super Bowl is traditionally held on Presidents Day weekend.
There's no way NASCAR would put the Daytona 500 head-to-head with the Super Bowl... and therein lies the problem.
Long before the National Football League created the Super Bowl there was Speedweeks in Daytona, a month-long motorsports celebration of sports cars, stock cars and motorcycles.
But then the NFL decided to extend its season, and it fragmented Speedweeks to where it is a shadow of its former self.
Now, the NFL wants to cause even more destruction to NASCAR's hallowed dates by expanding its season and stealing Presidents Day weekend from the Daytona 500, stock car racing's biggest race. This year, the Daytona 500, with its record $30 million purse, will be broadcast in more than 190 countries and territories in 26 languages, reaching more than 650 million households.
However, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently said his ideal league calendar would contain 18 regular season games, two preseason games and the Super Bowl on Presidents Day weekend.
'We're keeping tabs on it, having a lot of conversations with our partners,' NASCAR executive Ben Kennedy says. 'Have had a couple of conversations with the NFL as well.
'We're gonna be talking about next year's date this weekend, and not really any big changes, which I think is going to be helpful. Long term, it is something that we're mindful of, because we don't want to go up against the Super Bowl.
'We talked about do you want to go the weekend before? Do we keep it the weekend after? I think we lean towards the latter trying to come out of the Super Bowl and go to the Daytona 500. We'll stay close to them because it has an impact on this date, but then as you think about the season in totality, talk about off weeks, when we end Fox and start Amazon and other broadcast partners. We have to be mindful of that as well.'
Even though the Daytona 500 didn't officially open the Cup season until 1982, those involved in the sport always considered it the start to the new year of racing.
From the beginning, Daytona's 24-hour race kicked off Speedweeks. The following weekend was the ARCA race, the Clash and Daytona 500 qualifying. On Sunday night of that weekend, motorsports community members participated in a bowling tournament for charity.
The following week was practice, various live radio shows at clubs and restaurants lining the historic beach, the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary fashion show at Volusia Mall, dinners and autograph sessions honoring the sports legends, and the four-day Circle Track and Trade Show at Daytona's Ocean Center. It wasn't uncommon for people to leave the Daytona track and drive a short distance to New Smyrna Speedway each night to watch the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing.
Four days of stock car racing at the 2.5-mile track culminated with the Daytona 500. Next on the agenda after a week's break was motorcycle racing and Bike Week.
Those were glorious days for race fans, who could spend a month in the Daytona Beach area going from sports cars to stock cars to motorcycles.
However, then came the NFL and decided it wanted the weekend that once belonged to the Rolex 24. That moved Daytona's 24-hour race to January, creating a two-week break between that event and Daytona 500 week.
Presidents Day weekend works well for NASCAR because it gives fans an extra day to travel without missing work or taking vacation. It also means more fans can remain if rain forces any of the events to Monday. If the NFL has its way, it will further decimate Speedweeks, ruining the month that has been cherished by race fans for decades.
That would be a travesty for motorsports.
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