Elton Sawyer: Data and eye test prove NASCAR product is ‘as good as it’s ever been’

While NASCAR has issues with short track and road course racing, as well as passing on a variety of other tracks, Elton Sawyer isn’t worried. The SVP of NASCAR believes that the product is as good as it’s ever been.

This week, Elton Sawyer went on the Dale Jr. Download Reloaded to speak about the limited practice in the sport. Ever since the pandemic in 2020, practice has been severely rolled back, and in some cases eliminated from tracks altogether.

When it comes to adding more practice, Sawyer doesn’t believe it’s necessary. Right now, he thinks that the “data” and the “eye test” prove NASCAR is as good as it has ever been.

“Once we were able to get back to full racing, if you will, and get fans in the stands, as we took a deeper dive into what the qualifying, what the practice model looked like,” Sawyer explained. “Again, there was so many things that we learned, efficiencies. It wasn’t all about the cost which was a huge part of it for all of us. Not just the garage area, or the TV partners or our track partners. Collectively, all the stakeholders weighed in on what we needed and we arrived at the format that we have today.

“And I would say if you look at the data as well as the eye test, our product on the race track is as good as it’s ever been. At Atlanta a few weeks ago … we had our 20-minute practice for the Cup guys and we had a three-wide finish at the start-finish line. Which I don’t know whether another 40 or 50 minutes of practice was going to add to that. Maybe we would have had five-wide, I don’t know. I don’t think so. Then this past weekend at Texas in the Xfinity Series, a very comparable finish with that series and also drivers with a lot less experience. I think the debate is there, obviously, but I also think that again the data and the eye test gives us a really good point that what we’re doing is not wrong.”

I get the point that Elton Sawyer is making. NASCAR still has exciting races. Would more practice make short tracks better? Probably not. Would it help teams dial their cars in to be more competitive? I believe so.

It also feels like a fallacy. The evidence of close finishes does not negate the fact that more practice could be beneficial. I’d argue the fact that Hendrick and Joe Gibbs have won all but one race this year, that three-wide finish at Atlanta, shows that less practice benefits them.

The dismissal of more practice is one thing. However, to say the data and eye test tells you the product is as good as ever, that’s a stretch. Until you get this short track and road course stuff figured out, you can’t say that. It feels very out of touch.

More practice will not revolutionize NASCAR. That doesn’t mean Elton Sawyer should be so dismissive of adding time. With the concerns around passing in the Cup Series, it seems silly to say the eye test proves racing is as good as ever. No one is saying three hours each weekend. How about 40 minutes?