Home > NASCAR Realignment
NASCAR Realignment refers to current changes in the schedule of NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series. In a January 2003 press conference, NASCAR's Chairman of the Board, Bill France, Jr. , caused a stir when he interrupted the conference to announce big changes for 2004. France said that many tracks were under fire and being looked at as having race dates taken from them, and given to other facilities. Among the scenarios being looked at by France were how tracks did with ticket sales, and how the weather affected those races. Two tracks immediately looked at by the media were the North Carolina Speedway and Darlington Raceway. Both tracks' events almost never sold out, and the weather, especially at Darlington's Mountain Dew Southern 500, had been a major problem, as rain forced many races to be postponed until the next day, typically Monday, which is even worse for tracks because most people who planned to attend the race on a Sunday couldn't be there on a Monday because they had to work.Basically, the message being sent with the realignment was "Sell out, have good weather, or lose".
1 Realignment 2004
"Realignment 2004" was announced in June 2003 at the Winston Cup race weekend at the Michigan International SpeedwayMichigan International Speedway is a two-mile (3. 16 km) tri-oval superspeedway located off U. Highway 12 on more than 1,200 acres (5 km²) near Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. It is used for NASCAR and high-level open wh. While there weren't very many changes, those changes were still big. In June 19971997 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of the Reef''. Events January January 3 NBC's Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time January 8 Mister Rogers receives a star on t, the California SpeedwayThe California Speedway is a two-mile D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. It is a relatively new race track, opening in early 1997, and has additional began hosting a Winston Cup race. Since the track's host city, FontanaFontana is a city located in San Bernardino County, California. Originally a sleepy, dusty town of citrus orchards and cattle ranches astride Route 66 and numerous rail lines, Fontana was radically transformed during World War II by the construction of a, is located just outside Los Angeles, many fans flocked to the first race, and very quickly, the Los Angeles area became NASCAR's largest market. So, it was announced that the Mountain Dew Southern 500, held on Labor Day weekendThe weekend is a part of the week lasting one or two days in which most paid workers do not work. This is a time for leisure and recreation, or for religious activities. In Christian countries the weekend typically covers Saturday and Sunday, while in Mus for many, many years, would be moved to November for 2004. In the process, the North Carolina Speedway's November date, the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400, would move to Fontana, become the Pop Secret 500 , and be run from the late evening into the night on the West Coast on the day before Labor Day, while also being shown live on NBC in primetime. The move of the race to September left the Rockingham, North Carolina-based track with just one race to run in 2004—its February date, the Subway 400.
2 Realignment 2005
"Realignment 2004" was unpopular with many, but unlike "Realignment 2005", the previous realignment in the schedule wasn't tied in with a lawsuit. In April 1997, two months before they debuted in Fontana, the Winston Cup Series began racing at the Texas Motor Speedway in Justin, Texas, near Fort Worth. O. Bruton Smith 's Speedway Motorsports, Inc. , which also oversees operations of tracks like the Bristol Motor Speedway and the Atlanta Motor Speedway, which have two race dates a year, thought that the first race at Texas was popular enough to warrant another date. Soon, the company began pressing NASCAR to give them another date. Then, it boiled over. Early in the 2000s, SMI shareholder Francis Ferko filed a lawsuit against NASCAR, saying that it failed to come through on a "promise" to give Texas a second date. NASCAR denied making any promise of any kind. What's even odder is that although he wanted the second date, too, when presented with the lawsuit by Ferko, Smith had no interest in filing it, so Ferko went in on his own.
In May 2004, NASCAR announced that they and Texas had reached a settlement. Texas would be given a second date, but at a cost. The France family, most of whom are involved in some way with NASCAR, also owns the International Speedway Corporation (ISC), which oversees operations of tracks like the Daytona International Speedway and the Talladega Superspeedway. ISC took the one date from the North Carolina Speedway, which it also owns, and gave it to Texas. This not only cost Rockingham its Nextel Cup date, but left it with no dates in any of NASCAR's national racing series—Nextel Cup, Busch Series, or Craftsman Truck Series—in 2005. The ISC also owns the Phoenix International Raceway, and they gave them a second date for 2005 as well.
Compared to "Realignment 2005", "Realignment 2004", despite the big changes announced, was basically a whimper. The 2005 Nextel Cup Series schedule (by the way, the Busch Series schedules for 2004 and 2005 were/will be affected by these changes, while also having a major change announced for just its 2005 schedule) will look very different. For just over 10 years, the North Carolina Speedway hosted the second race of the season with the Subway 400, a week after the Daytona 500. Now that it is gone from the schedule forever, the California Speedway's Spring date will be moved to that slot. The new race for Phoenix will be held in mid-April, while the date that has been on the schedule since 1988 will continue to be run in November. The new Texas race will be held in November as well, one week before the second Phoenix race. While Rockingham was the biggest loser with all these changes, losing its one date, Darlington might have paid an even bigger price. How? The new Texas race phases out the Mountain Dew Southern 500. In May 2005, the 500 and the Spring race at Darlington, the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, will merge to become the Carolina Dodge Dealers 500, making it the only race Darlington will host in 2005. The race will be held on a Saturday night on Mother's Day weekend.
