2015 Cup Starting Time

[lepage71]

This starting time poll is a little different than usual. You'll see that we've actually listed both days and times here.

We had questionable attendance during the Fall Truck Series. Much of that was due to fear, a premise that we've always disagreed with, but some of it was probably legitimate, too. Going forward, however, if you're not in peak form each race, caution flags will provide plenty of forgiveness. We're also wondering if some alternative times might be of interest for the league.

We'd appreciate any feedback that you can provide. It's always a balancing act when it comes to determining what times work best for everyone.

[Hammer]

If I can even make the races, it has to be Friday nights.

[lepage71]

Interesting results, so far. It seems that preferences are mixed. I'm wondering, if we changed to Cup to Sundays, would anyone who has been active, as of late, be rendered inactive by the shift (ie. unable to race)? Our goal is to promote a time that is best for attendance.

[Hammer]

For me, weekends are an absolute no go. Thursdays and Fridays are the only nights I'm home before 10pm.

[Spike]

Interesting results, so far. It seems that preferences are mixed. I'm wondering, if we changed to Cup to Sundays, would anyone who has been active, as of late, be rendered inactive by the shift (ie. unable to race)? Our goal is to promote a time that is best for attendance.

Sundays @ 7 or 8 would work for me, 9pm I'm usually headed for bed though. Fridays @ 10pm would be good if you want to work around Hammer's schedule plus you could probably get the ARL bunch after their races.

[lepage71]

Yeah, given the results, there seems to be a few ways in which we could eventually go with this. At least if we're starting in January, we can have slightly more time to think about what's best. One fact to note is that we've historically hosted different series on different nights, so a change for one series might not necessarily mean a change for another series. Recently, Nationwide has typically been on Friday nights, with Cup and Trucks on Saturdays.

I suppose a follow-up question to the Sunday one would be, if we were looking to adjust things in order to get Hammer back into the fold, does a shift instead to Friday then rule someone else out? These are the kinds of details that we'd like to know before making changes. Please comment, if so.

All in all, if there's no consensus, then the best thing to do might just be to keep the Cup scheduling the same.

[BlackKnight]

Friday nights would be awesome cause most are already racing in ARL and could come race here after that might draw a bigger crowd of drivers and easier to promote to others that haven't raced here before

[lepage71]

Friday nights would be awesome cause most are already racing in ARL and could come race here after that might draw a bigger crowd of drivers and easier to promote to others that haven't raced here before

Hard to disagree, BK. From the lack of responses indicating otherwise, Friday seems like a pretty good option for a large contingent of drivers.

From earlier:

I suppose a follow-up question to the Sunday one would be, if we were looking to adjust things in order to get Hammer back into the fold, does a shift instead to Friday then rule someone else out? These are the kinds of details that we'd like to know before making changes. Please comment, if so.

I've also heard from a few others about Friday nights being a pretty good time.

From what I can tell, league members also wouldn't mind a somewhat earlier starting time. I have been discussing the possibility of hosting races at 9:00 or 9:30 PM ET on Friday nights with DusterLag, whose leagues occasionally race at that time. We would be able to host series at this time during those periods in which LCHRL, traditionally held on Friday nights at 9:00 PM ET, is not in session. Basically, both leagues would use Fridays at various times.

We'd like to hear any final comments regarding the Friday night idea. Asking around, it seems like this is the plan that works the best for the most people.

[Hammer]

Still don't know if I'll even be able to run them, but as it is right now anything before 10 is a no go.

But once again, I have a lot going on right now. My availability could change drastically, there's been times during the trucks when I've been home but just didn't have the energy to race.

[Hammer]

And after today I really wont be able to make any races. Sorry boys!

[lepage71]

Thanks for the comments, all.

We're devising a schedule and will release it soon. Our likely starting date is the 30th, after the conclusion of Duster's Friday National Series.

[SpeedyExiter]

I've barely been making the Arl friday night races, (7pm AZ time), unless I RACE across town in major traffic, jockeying for position the whole way while trying to stay clear of any snowbirds. It does warm me up for the race,somewhat.10pm est would be best (8pm Az time) ON March 8th Az will be 3 hour diff. and a 9 pm est race will be hard for me to make!

[lepage71]

To best meet the preferences of everyone, we're going to have to make some compromises here, clearly.

For many on the East Coast, 10 PM ET is getting to be too late, while for those out west 9 might be a little too early.

We're going to set the official starting time to somewhere between 9 and 10 PM ET. So no matter what, Breeze, we'll be starting for part of the season at least a little later than ARL and LCHRL. It sounds like even 15 minutes would make a helpful difference.

Dealing with daylight savings time is a more complicated matter, I simply don't have a good solution for that. Effectively, the rest of NHRL (and the country) is one hour deeper into the night relative to Arizona. I think I have that right.