The 2012 NASCAR Season Starting at Least a Week Later - Reasons for the Date Change Explained

If you are a NASCAR fan, the season for 2011 just started off mid-February like it does just about every year. The Daytona 500 was a great race that many fans look forward to getting the season started for another exciting year. It was announced that in 2012, the NASCAR season was going to start at least a week later. Many fans are left wondering why this decision was made having to wait longer for the season to start. There are many valid reasons for the delay.

One of the biggest factors is the National Football League. There are currently a couple of issues that might push the Super Bowl into later weeks in February, which could cause it to overlap NASCAR's start date. This would ruin the kick off to the racing season because the Super Bowl would take away interest.

The NFL's players union might strike over pay as well as the 18 week season that is being discussed. Since there is a potential for a player strike, this would mean that the NFL season could be pushed into mid-February because of a later season start or because of the addition of two weeks to the regular season. Either of these would interrupt NASCAR's usual start time.

Another advantage of a later start date is that the mid-March week off won't cause as much of an issue for fans. Many fans haven't liked the season getting off to a great start to only have a week off a few weeks into it. This will be eliminated, meaning fans can enjoy races each week for the entire season.

While it wasn't a factor for the change of date, some have argued that the later weeks in February can offer better weather because it's closer to spring. It's an additional benefit to consider on the date change.

While these reasons might not be good enough for every fan, they are practical and make sense for the 2012 and later seasons.