March 6, 2006
By Pete Pistone
Special to CBS SportsLine.com

t's time for the Nextel Cup schedule to be blown up. The current slate is an ad hoc design that has been cut and pasted together over the years as new tracks and markets joined the tour.

And it doesn't work.

What sense does it make to have the first of only three off weekends happen just two weeks into the season? NASCAR kicks off the year with its biggest event, and then follows it with a snoozer of a race in Fontana with an off weekend chaser.

Now the series heads right back to the west coast for this weekend's race in Las Vegas, just a week after returning from California.

NASCAR needs to redesign the schedule from top to bottom, keep some dates in their traditional spots (returning Labor Day weekend to Darlington in the process) and pump up the Chase playoff season with a better mix of tracks and markets (another short track, Las Vegas and ending at Daytona would be start).

Until then, the current hodge podge will keep the sport from growing.

* Obviously NASCAR wanted to shine the spotlight on the Busch race in Mexico City on Sunday. I needed a spotlight to stay awake trying to watch the race on television. Until Mexico or Canada can build an oval track that will showcase NASCAR racing at its best, these trips outside the United States will continue to be boring.
* Felix Sabates says he's talking to several prominent Mexican businessmen about building a .75-mile track like Richmond outside Mexico City. If that happens, a Cup race would be a lock.
* Kudos to Busch rookie Joel Kauffman for running the entire Busch race in Mexico with the same malady that Tony Stewart had at Watkins Glen a couple years ago and my two-year-old daughter battled all weekend. Viva el Mexico!
* The highlight of the Mexico City weekend had to be the fight between J.C. France and Chris Bingham in Saturday's Grand American race. Two guys pounding on each other in the middle of the race track while still wearing their helmets is the stuff that makes every local sportscast across the country.
* Manzanita Speedway's World of Outlaws weekend has been reportedly successful with more than 45 cars signing in both nights and a packed grandstand. So far, it seems the winged sprint car split is a push with both sides off to strong starts.
* Kenny Schrader spent his weekend playing in the dirt, coming home second in a late model show Saturday night at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track.
* Both SPEED reporter Robin Miller and ESPN's Dr. Jerry Punch believe a unification of open wheel racing will come for 2007, despite Tony George's recent dismissal of meetings between he and Kevin Kalkhoven.

This story was provided by RacingOne.com