NASCAR river David Ragan (34) passes Carl Edwards (99) with the help of teammate David Gilliland (38) on the last lap at Talladega Superspeedway, May 5, 2013
Photo – Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images

Yesterday, FOX missed live coverage of a crucial point in the race during a commercial break. This only adds to fan’s frustration over the amount of commercial breaks during green flag coverage of Sprint Cup races recently.

With rain threatening and drivers making moves for the lead at Talladega, FOX went to commercial only to miss what could have been the winning move by Carl Edwards before the red flag flew for rain. Fortunately, NASCAR was able to dry the track and finish the race.

What if Edwards’ move had won the race? What would fans’ reactions have been?

Missing the winning move of the race is like missing the game-winning field goal in football or the game-winning three-pointer in basketball. Fans never miss those moments in other sports. But there is one thing that NASCAR must compete with that other major sports do not, no stop in action.

Other major sports, like football or basketball, have natural stoppages in play. For example, time-outs, fouls or the end of a quarter. NASCAR does not have any points in a race where the action stops. Yes, there are cautions, but in the bigger scheme of racing, some races more than others, cautions make up a small part of the event. So networks must use time during green flag coverage for commercial breaks and has always been part of the sport.

The most similar example to NASCAR, is soccer. Soccer has no commercial breaks during play because they play non-stop for 45 minutes straight in two halves. All commercials run before the match, during halftime and after the game. This will most likely never happen in NASCAR, especially with an event that lasts over three hours.

So what are the alternatives, networks could take to have more green flag coverage?

There is side-by-side coverage which has become more prominent in recent years, but sometimes the side-by-side action comes during a caution when full commercials could be played. So an idea would be for networks to use their discretion when using side-by-side coverage.

Here’s an example; this year FOX used side-by-side coverage during the first 20-30 laps, even under caution, and the last 20-30 laps of the race. Instead, if the race is under caution during the first 30 laps, go to commercial and use side-by-side later,  when action is intense and demand fan attention.

Another alternative is to play an abundant amount of commercials during pre-race coverage, cautions, and post-race. That’s one alternative fans would come to terms with because they’re less likely to  miss important racing action.

At the end of the day, fans want to see as much live, green flag coverage as possible and see the race at the most crucial times. Having networks with more flexibility in showing commercial breaks during their coverage, could go a long way. I am no expert in this area, but I am willing to say, going forward there are alternative ways to bring more coverage to fans.

Fans ultimately show their displeasure in coverage by not tuning-in and finding other media outlets to follow races. But the only way to see a live race, other than buying a ticket, is via television. Commercials are a part of life in television, it’s up to the networks to get the most bang for their buck to keep their viewers engaged.

If you have more ideas on how to better run commercials/commercial breaks during NASCAR coverage continue the conversation on Twitter by tweeting @NASCARInformer or comment below!

This is will also be a topic of conversation on Fan4Racing Fan2Fan NASCAR Talk Monday, May 6, 2013 starting at 8:30pm ET. Click this link to listen to the show LIVE or to the REPLAY after the show.  Call 347-996-5176 to join the LIVE show discussion.