I haven't agreed with every decision that NASCAR has made recently. I'm not a big proponent of the Chase, nor am I that happy about the "wave around" option for the double file restarts. But the new change in starting times for 2010 is certainly a great move.
I remember just a few years ago, watching the Daytona 500 pre-race show starting at around noon and the race starting around 1 pm. The end of the race wasn't as perfectly staged as those of previous years but think about this years race.
If this year's Daytona 500 had been started at 1:15 or so instead of 3:15, then the race quite possibly would've been completed by the end of the day and a driver more deserving than Matt Kenseth would've won the race. (I'm not saying Matt Kenseth isn't a good driver, just that he wasn't the best car in the race).
This change is tremendous, especially in the central time zone, when most races will start at around 12:15 local time which is pretty early by their standards. But it is the right decision. Most of the diehard fans, from my perspective, live in the eastern and central time zones. Live races that start in the early afternoon are perfect for us. NASCAR has been trying to attract the casual West Coast fan and has been thinking that later starting times mean more of them will watch. Well, they finally realized that it doesn't matter about the casual fans because NASCAR is losing more diehard fans right now than it is gaining casuaul fans.
Also, for networks like ESPN, ABC, TNT, and FOX that usually have primetime programming scheduled after the race, moving the start times earlier gives them more time to show the race before it has to displace it's primetime shows. Or if you're ESPN, you can just move the race to ESPN classic and show your previously scheduled programming.
But with this decision, we also lose the day-to-night races that we have come to enjoy, especially because the races seem to have two different stages: one in the day and one at night. These types of races were often competitive because teams had to keep up with the track throughout the race.
Despite this loss, we are gaining our Sunday nights back. Our Sunday nights will be with our families instead of with our eyes glued to the television. And we fans will be able to return home earlier after seeing a race.
Next year, we will see how this change is implimented. It will be weird seeing NASCAR Raceday be aired at 10 am instead of 11 am, which may cut into Formula One races. But that is only a minor side effect. Hopefully by next year, Jeff Gordon will have the Drive for Six instead of the Drive for Five.