This season, the Coca-Cola 600 was going to be the highlight with Kyle Larson attempting the infamous “double”. Fans flocked to the arena to watch history in the making. The Memorial Day race was sold out for the third consecutive year. But as luck would have it, rain washed away all the excitement and fans sat on the stands for two hours before NASCAR asked them to be well on their way home.

Fans are mostly disappointed because they didn’t sign up for a race only to be cut short! And amidst all of them, Toby Christie was seen hoisting the flag of “I am disappointed” the highest! 

Toby Christie’s bold proposal to NASCAR 

It was 9:30 pm on Sunday when the race was halted after 249 out of 400 laps. NASCAR was hopeful that they would restart the race and dispatched its Air Titans, blowers, and jets. But unfortunately, fans were left waiting as the start never came and Christopher Bell was called to the victory lane. According to NASCAR, the humidity was too much to overcome and officials said the race couldn’t have resumed before 1 a.m.

Looking at the heartbreaking turn of events, Toby Christie didn’t shy away from expressing his disappointment later on and even had a proposal for NASCAR! He said, “I propose all four crown jewel events (Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400, Southern 500) and the championship race to run to their scheduled distances, even if that means finishing it the next day.” According to Christie, the NASCAR Xfinity Series race went past 1 am last year. Hence, the race being cut short made no sense.  

But this isn’t the first time that NASCAR’s crown jewel races have been called off. It has happened before because of weather or unforeseen circumstances. The 2009 Daytona 500 was cut short by 48 laps because of rain and Matt Kenseth took the victory. Similarly, rain delayed the 2019 Southern 500, but even that started around 10 pm and ended by 1:52. 

However, while some fans were disappointed, some understood NASCAR’s stance and even called out Toby Christie for his statements.

Fans push back on Toby Christie’s unrealistic proposals

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Fans were quick to give Toby Christie a reality check of his proposal of starting the crown jewel races even if finishes the next day. According to most, restarting the race when just a few laps are remaining is not worth the headache. One Reddit user commented, saying, “Devil’s advocate is what if there’s 6 to go in a 400-lap race? Are you really going to make everyone wait it out overnight and show back up just for 6 more laps? The diehard fans might like the excitement and drama, but what a damn headache that would be on basically everyone.”b

Another fan pointed out that NASCAR fans attending the other races wouldn’t be fond of if the organization going the extra mile just for the crown jewel races and not other races if the time comes. He said, “I agree and disagree. Every attempt to get the entire race in should be made for every track. I’m pretty sure fans in the Kansas area or Bristol or anywhere else would get pretty perturbed if NASCAR is willing to go the extra mile for some tracks, but not theirs.”

One fan said that Christie’s outrage seems relevant only when much of the race is left. He said, “I would say that’s fine when there is 40 percent of the race left. However, what happens if there are 5 laps left? I think that would be silly.” 

A user just plain called out the insider saying, “Jeez we get one race cut short and people start losing their damn minds.” This is not the result anyone wanted but it’s not something NASCAR could have avoided. 

One person bluntly stated the realistic costs it would be to rerun a race at that point in time. He said, “Who is gonna pay for the hotel rooms, the employees who aren’t scheduled that day, the emergency services, the film crews, the pit crews.” This is all very true because there are overhead costs that sometimes NASCAR just cannot ignore.

Another user echoed the same sentiments. He said, “Get lost. Does it suck when races get cut short? Sure. But it’s part of the sport. There’s more to a race event than the actual race. Police presence. Concession workers who sign up for the specific date of the event. It’s unfortunate when events get cut short, but it’s part of life.”

Christie’s disappointment is understandable, but sometimes it is just the part of the sport. What do you think, could the race have restarted? Let us know!