Ryan: Bringing back July 4 race would be wise decision

• Daytona International Speedway is getting a %24400 million overhaul to upgrade its amenities
• The Firecracker 400 became a midsummer staple while being held July 4 every year from 1959 to 1987
• Four-time champion Jeff Gordon has lobbied NASCAR for midweek races for years

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daytona International Speedway will break ground Friday on its master plan for moving into the 21st century via state-of-the-art sensory overload. The "Daytona Rising" project — a $400 million overhaul that's the largest capital improvement project in International Speedway Corp. history — will outfit the 54-year-old track with amenities commonly found in modern NFL stadiums: 40 escalators accessing multiple concourses, dozens of spiffy video screens and enhanced Wi-Fi capability.

All the new bells and whistles are swell. But in a sport that feels the tug of war between appealing to a more youthful audience and placating a graying fan base that clings to its shrinking traditions, it's a lot of sheen on a speedway whose reputation rests on some of the most memorable finishes in NASCAR history.

So here's another modest suggestion for ensuring the stock car showplace remains worthy of its World Center of Racing moniker: upgrade while taking a simultaneous step back into the 20th century.

Move the second annual Sprint Cup race at the 2.5-mile oval back to the July 4 date that once made its original name — the Firecracker 400 — apropos.

Track President Joie Chitwood said the concept had been considered and had merit.

"As a promoter, I'm never opposed to bold ideas," Chitwood told USA TODAY Sports. "What can we do differently that makes us special? I'm not opposed to being bold, especially if you're going to run Daytona."

That's encouraging, because going backward with the track's schedule while moving forward with its facility would be bold.

It also could serve as a template for how to trim the fat from a bloated Sprint Cup season that could use a larger dose of urgency.

The controversy surrounding TNT and Speed analyst Kyle Petty's analysis of Danica Patrick's ability is an indictment of the recent lack of compelling story lines in NASCAR's premier series, which should own the headlines during the lull between the end of the NHL and NBA playoffs and the start of football season.

But instead of staying front and center during the dog days of summer, NASCAR seems caught weekly in a social media-driven echo chamber of vacuous analysis and outrage over recycled quotes.

What fixes that? More racing, more often.

This isn't done by elongating a schedule that already runs from February through November. It can be accomplished by compressing the slate and running midweek races. Sprinkle a few strategically placed one-day shows — practice, qualify and race in a roughly 12- to 15-hour window — over the summer, and suddenly the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway isn't bumping up against Thanksgiving.

An excellent litmus test would be an annual July 4 race at Daytona, which would have fallen on a Wednesday and Thursday the last two years.

Jeff Gordon, whose rise to four-time champion was sparked in part by his exposure as a budding USAC star on a popular ESPN series known as Thursday Night Thunder, has lobbied NASCAR for midweek races.

"I would love to see that," Gordon said. "I'm not saying we do it every week, but if you could find the right week and make it special, it seems to make sense. I think July 4 might ... because it's where everybody is off looking for something to do."

There would be grumbling. There are legitimate concerns about how teams would handle the logistics of a schedule that conceivably could require three races in eight days.

But these are first-class organizations whose well-oiled travel departments operate with the efficiency of a long-haul trucking company. In recent weeks, many of them have begun testing incessantly from Monday to Wednesday at tracks across the country, proving the wherewithal exists for quick turnarounds.

There's plenty of upside for making the June to August stretch more grueling by adding races. It would raise garage tension while creating a more harried push to determine the Chase for the Sprint Cup field — again, keeping the focus on track.

It also would slice roughly a month off the season while not subtracting any races (as many tracks can't afford to lose their multimillion-dollar cash cows in an era of declining revenue from attendance and concessions) and refocus on the roots of a sport that loves celebrating its heritage.

NASCAR once was more synonymous with U.S. holidays, but much of that date equity was ceded as a casualty of its expansion from regional to national phenomenon. The Southern 500 was a Labor Day weekend staple for 53 years until Darlington Raceway's legendary spot on the calendar was shipped to Southern California in a failed experiment that lasted five years.

It's been 26 years since Daytona's annual July race regularly was held on Independence Day, but the Firecracker 400 became a midsummer staple while being held July 4 every year from 1959 to 1987. With a 10 a.m. start, it set the stage for a postrace annual beach party.

It's unlikely TV would permit a return to a.m. racing. That's one of several reasons it'll take heavy lifting to make a Fourth of July race a reality.

"You can come up with many reasons it'd be too challenging," Chitwood said. "Shame on us if we're not thinking about how we can keep improving. We've got to push to continue to be relevant."

When a reimagined Daytona opens in 2016, here's hoping the relevance also can include a retro touch.

Follow Nate Ryan on Twitter @nateryan