Hamlin: Shortening Races and Season Could Help Interest in Sport

During Daytona 500 Media Day, Denny Hamlin was asked about the length of current races and the Cup Series schedule in general and whether shortening either could help with the popularity of the sport.

Do you think the length of the races could help the popularity of the sport?

“I don’t know. I don’t know really the analytics of it. What fans want to see, but I know that when you tune into the Olympics, the most popular event is the 100-metre dash. It’s not the 25-mile marathon. Maybe there’s something that could be said about that.”

Do you think we’ll see shorter races in the future?

“I think that certainly it could be shorter. I don’t know that it’s shorter as in races, but the length in time in the calendar year, it could be shortened up for sure. It’s not as easy making those changes as what we would all like for it to be because of all the stakeholder and what not that are in. I think in the next few years, you’ll probably see some of that.”

When does it start to feel like a long season?

“You always feel it about September or October that this is a very long season.”