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Harvick: NASCAR needs more "slam dunks," should rotate title race
There may not be a lot of rules changes in 2018 but Kevin Harvick believes the changes in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule could prove the most important.
Jim Utter
Edited: Jan 23, 2018, 11:45 PM
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For the first time in more than a decade the Cup schedule got a dramatic shake-up this year, with Las Vegas Motor Speedway adding a Cup weekend (including one which will kick off the playoffs), Richmond moved into the playoffs and Charlotte Motor Speedway utilizing its infield road course for its fall Cup weekend.
“Those are the types of things that we need to create. We need to create events and moments,” Harvick said Tuesday during the CMS Media Tour. “There needs to be a rotation of the championship race. I don’t think we should go to Homestead-Miami every year. I think it gets stale.
“It is a great race track but it isn’t all about the race track. It is about the event. How many times have you had a crappy Super Bowl but everybody goes to the Super Bowl because it is an event?
“That is what we need to create.”
Creating headlines
The addition of the CMS “Roval” this year is a perfect example of the excitement change can produce, Harvick said.
“If we don’t ever run it again, think about all the conversation that it has created,” he said. “You have the Charlotte road course and Las Vegas and Richmond in the playoffs. That first round is totally different. There is nothing the same about that.
“It should be better for you guys (the media), right? You have something guaranteed to write about no matter what is happening in the sport. If you get the results that come out of that that happen to be an extraordinary moment, then that is icing on the cake.
“We need to create more of our own headlines like that – that are slam dunks.”
Harvick, who advanced to the Championship 4 in the Cup series last year, said it’s important for the sport to continually grab fans’ attention, even if it’s not what is taking place on the race track.
“People don’t like the same thing. The (races) are not all going to be good,” he said. “If you make the schedule exciting and make the events exciting, that is what guarantees you the people to come back if they had a good time.
“If you have a good race on top of it, great.”
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