For the second time in seven years, NASCAR is about to have an extremely rare and welcome break of more than two weeks.
Due to the Summer Olympics, which air on NASCAR broadcast partner KeynoteUSA Sports, the Cup and Xfinity Series will have a considerable amount of downtime between the Brickyard 400 on July 21 and the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway on August 11. .
This last happened in 2021 and was really welcomed and refreshing by the industry for a sport that doesn’t stop with only three real home games from January to November.
To wit, Brad Keselowski, speaking with Cup legend-turned-broadcaster Kevin Harvick on his YouTube show Happy Hours, says the entire industry needs to shut down during this period.
The league.
The teams.
All.
“We need to shut down the industry because we have the two-week Olympic break, which I think is great. Perfect,” argued Keselowski. “May the Olympic Games have their peak. Everyone loves the Olympic Games. It’s great for our sport to have a break and not compete against the Olympics. Everyone wins. …
“Just close our doors for a week or two, all the employees go home, go on vacation, spend some time with their kids, refresh and recharge for what is the last half of the season.”
Keselowski has some influence here, as he is also one of the top 15 team owners at the top level.
This is a conversation worth having, as the industry recently expressed extreme exhaustion over the winter, feeling as if reduced salaries and job cuts across the sport over the past three years meant a greater workload for those that remained.
Keselowski believes a breakup like this will ultimately make everyone within the sport feel more positive about their contributions in a way that will resonate with the fan base as well.
“Our sport really depends on this ambassador-type relationship, whether it’s with our fans or at the youth level,” Keselowski said. “We need the entire garage area to have a good mentality and not burn down.”
Formula 1 forces its entire industry to take a summer break every year: all teams and all employees.
Keselowski supported that approach.
“It’s one of those things that all team owners have to do,” Keselowski said. “It can’t be just half of them or it doesn’t work. It’s really hard to get all the team owners into that frame of mind.”
Matt Weaver is a motorsports expert for Sportsnaut. follow him on Twitter.
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