NASCAR Cup Series teams have been anticipating this week for almost 300 days.
On Oct. 4, 2023, NASCAR announced its 2024 schedule. In doing so, it became known that Cup Series teams would not stop racing until hitting the two-week Olympic break after competing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is the only non-travel weekend of the year before the series picks back up at Richmond Raceway Aug. 9 and goes through the Nov. 10 finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Cup Series have gone 21 straight weeks in competition. The time to breathe and reset is finally here.
“It’s definitely time for our traveling people to get a little time (off),” Team Penske competition director Travis Geisler said. “We’re trying to figure out how to count up the days and make sure everybody has kind of a two-week period where they’re off. They knew that in advance so they could plan their vacations with families and actually make use of the time.
“A lot of times when people get time off in this industry, it’s like, ‘Well, here is your [one] day.’ You can’t really utilize it. We felt it was really important everybody gets an opportunity to utilize the time and I think everybody has good plans and is ready to use it.”
The approach to the break is being taken differently by each Cup Series organization. Hendrick Motorsports, Spire Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Legacy Motor Club, and Trackhouse Racing will make their shops quiet for a designated period.
Hendrick Motorsports will close Wednesday through Sunday, giving employees an extended weekend. But there might also be some who tack on additional days through their personal time, and the company will support those who do. Hendrick Motorsports vice president of competition Chad Knaus said the organization will also shut down its communication avenues during the three quiet days.
“If we encourage everybody to take off, it cuts back on the emails and the text messages and everything that you inevitably end up checking,” said Knaus. “So, we wanted to get it to the point where the whole company was trying to check out and get some breath, because even if you’re on vacation, people are sending you emails or asking questions. It doesn’t stop.”
Spire Motorsports president Doug Duchardt believes the organization will be quiet this week following Indianapolis, particularly for the folks who travel. Richard Childress Racing is giving the shop time off beginning Wednesday and going through Tuesday. Torrey Galida, the team president, spoke of the organization looking for a way to maximize both weekends.
“We made that announcement probably about two months ago and everybody was really happy,” Galida said. “It gave them time to plan something if they hadn’t already. The road guys will be different, they’re already on their own schedule, but for all the shop people – top to bottom – it’ll be a week off.”
The last day of regular week for Stewart-Haas employees will be Thursday and the organization will be closed through August 4. It goes back to business as usual Aug. 5.
Rick Ware Racing is also doing a split week of time off. Legacy Motor Club is giving employees time off by closing during this first week of the break, and Trackhouse Racing will be doing a split week of closing down starting Thursday through Monday. JTG Daugherty is also looking to shut down for a few days, per crew chief Mike Kelley during a recent SiriusXM NASCAR Radio interview.
A full industry shutdown, similar to the summer break in Formula 1, never came to fruition, although some were in favor of doing so. Brad Keselowski was one of them. Keselowski, the co-owner of RFK Racing, told Kevin Harvick last month he argued heavily for team owners to find common ground during the Olympic break.
An occurrence that only comes around every four years, Keselowski finds it to be the perfect time to allow the Olympics to shine while NASCAR teams refresh. And there was no better time to implement such a policy, given there was no other off weekend during the first half of the year.
“Unfortunately that kind of fell on some deaf ears,” Keselowski said. “It’s one of those things where all the team owners have to do it; it can’t be half of them or it doesn’t work. And it’s really hard to get all the team owners into that state of mind.”
NASCAR has no policies about teams taking breaks (like the F1 regulations) or how teams need to manage their employees. So, without a consensus on approaching the Olympic break, each team does as they see fit. And for some, that means marching forward per usual.
Joe Gibbs Racing, for instance, is staying open but is encouraging employees to take time off. Dave Alpern, the team president, joked that he could guarantee that Joe Gibbs would be working. Kaulig Racing is also not shutting down but will work its schedules to stagger the flow so everyone gets about a week off.
There are a few different variables for Cup Series teams to consider. The employees who work every day in the race shop, those who work in the shop and then travel, and then the pit crews who arrive on race day. Usually, the latter are on their own schedules with training during the week and any other responsibilities either within the organization or outside of racing.
It will likely be more of the same for the pit crew guys during the Olympic break. However, the focus on getting travel crews and shop employees a rest was a central theme for Cup Series teams when looking at this part of the calendar.
“I don’t know that any of the road crew guys are going to be around that first week,” Front Row Motorsports general manager Jerry Freeze said. “I think the plan is for the travel people to be out the first week and it’s like non-charged PTO days. Then, the second week, come back in and start getting prepared for (Richmond).”
Denny Hamlin trusts his management team to do what is best for 23XI Racing. Hamlin, the co-owner of 23XI Racing, praised the organization for knowing how to keep everyone fresh throughout a season by rotating road crew guys. He believes that will be the same during the break with working out time for a break.
And for Keselowski, it’s the same approach. Since his idea for an industry-wide shutdown didn’t materialize, Keselowski has decided to defer to the organization’s department managers for the best approach to utilizing the next two weeks.
“The last thing you want to do as a leader is supersede your management team,” Keselowski said. “So, I defer to them and certainly strongly encourage them to make the most of the opportunity to get some rest and take the time to sharpen their ax and come back even stronger.”
Richmond will be the first race in a 14-race stretch to finish the season.