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The Vancouver Whitecaps’ biggest game of the season may be their first one at home, and that scheduling looks absurd even to NASCAR, which just opened its motorsports marathon with its biggest race, the Daytona 500.

What NASCAR and Major League Soccer have in common is that their seasons, once started, never seem to end.

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Trying to become just the fifth MLS club to advance to the Champions League semifinals, the Whitecaps play the New York Red Bulls Thursday (7 p.m., on facebook.com/concacafcom) at B.C. Place Stadium — two months into 2017 — after qualifying for this particular CONCACAF championship in 2015.

You may have noticed there were couple of short MLS off-seasons for the Whitecaps since then. Or not.

Yet, here they are, a win or scoreless tie away from advancing to the final four of a tournament dominated by Mexican teams since the Champions League format was introduced in 2008 by the governing body for soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.