Debating the pros, cons of possible schedule changes

I'm no movie critic, but I give NASCAR's proposal to have more two-day race weekends a big two thumbs up. The benefits to fans, race teams and track employees would be immeasurable.

Economic times still are tough. It has become difficult to get a full field of teams that are financially able to compete. Budget cuts have forced many teams to slash their payrolls. Why don't we spend fewer days at the track, resulting in reduced costs and therefore fewer layoffs?

Fans face similar issues. Going to a race isn't cheap when you add up tickets, food, lodging, transportation and time off work. Some of those costs would be reduced drastically by simply spending one less day at the track. If it's cheaper to attend an event, more fans would show up -- that's great news for NASCAR.

Tracks also would benefit, needing fewer employee hours to maintain the grounds, help with traffic and assist patrons. Lower costs for the tracks hopefully would result in even lower ticket prices.

With more "standardized" start times, I wonder how that would affect night races or day-into-night races. Just so we can remember when the race is on?

Teams and fans have a lot of things to do other than three days of thinly spread-out events. Concentrate the schedule and restore a day to everybody. The financial and scheduling benefits far outweigh more consistent start times.

Consistent start times have been needed in NASCAR for quite some time and if one of these two options is considered -- I hope the powers that be make the right decision and eliminate the confusion.

Each week one has to look at the schedule to see when the Cup race starts. We know it's usually on Sunday, but as far as a time, no clue. It doesn't matter where they are in the country, start times appear like they were set by throwing darts at a dart board.

This season, Sunday races have shared 10 different start times. That's just flat out ridiculous. I bet you can tell me the four times NFL games start each week on Sunday and Monday. Not so in NASCAR. That could be part of the reason TV ratings are down -- no one knows when to watch.

And the fix is so easy. East Coast races go green at 2 p.m. ET; West Coast races go green at 4 p.m. ET. Of course, there are exceptions. Obviously, some races are held on Saturday night and that won't change. And night races on Sunday like the Labor Day race and the Coke 600 wouldn't be affected, either.

There are 26 races on the schedule that would fit the mold of consistent start times. Instead of randomness, let's get some uniformity in the Cup Series. Going to two-day race weekends just adds more chaos, let's hope NASCAR chooses the simpler solution.