QOTD: Did The Desert Double Work For You?

by Tim Healey

Published: March 13th, 2026

NASCAR is about to head to Vegas, yet I am still thinking about last week's race at Phoenix.

More specifically, I am thinking about how the NASCAR Cup race followed IndyCar, which was on the same track a day earlier.

Fox, unsurprisingly, made a big deal about the weekend. Of course it did -- the company wanted as many viewers to watch both races as possible.

For me, as a fan of cars that race one another, regardless of series, I liked it. It was cool watching IndyCar and NASCAR on the same track just about a day apart. Usually, when both series run at the same track in the same year, months or weeks separate the events.

It was also nice not having the two series going up against each and having to burn up the "back" button on my remote, or having to consider recording one for later viewing.

Finally, I do wonder if some NASCAR die-hards who've maybe dismissed IndyCar racing as too "wine-and-cheese" came around to understanding how fast those cars are -- and how fun it can be when Alex Palou isn't lapping everyone.

Similarly, I hope some IndyCar fans who dismissed NASCAR as a sport for the crimsoned of neck who speak with a drawl saw how intense and unpredictable stock-car racing can be -- and how the big, hulking closed-wheel cars are almost as fast as the upside-down aircraft that Indy runs.

Anyway, that's my take. If you follow racing, what's yours? Should IndyCar and NASCAR double up in the same place on the same weekend more often?

Sound off below.

[Image: NASCAR]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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4 of 25 comments

Slavuta on Mar 16, 2026

Is this car news or motorsports news?

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- Luke42 on Mar 16, 2026
  
  Motorsports are a thing some people do with cars.
  
  Despite being turned off to NASCAR specifically because of the “let’s go Brandon” stuff, I find racing interesting from an engineering perspective. I’d watch more if I had the opportunity.
  
  Like
Luke42 on Mar 16, 2026

What I want to know is how I’m supposed to stream motorsports events.

Cable TV is a waste of money and has been a poor value proposition in my house for over 20 years now.
How are motorsports leagues reaching out to those of us who cut the cord decades ago?

1 Reply
- Original Guy on Mar 16, 2026
  
  I'm still amazed that you can change the battery in a key fob in 30 seconds, including watching the relevant YouTube video...
  (I don't watch videos to learn how to change a key fob battery, but it takes me a lot longer than 30 seconds to retrieve the correct battery. The spouse's 2013 Highlander fob is behaving a lot better after I 'cleaned' the tiny little weird single-point contacts with a scalpel blade. Thanks Toyota engineers! Or was that outsourced...)
  
  Like

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