Wednesday, August 28, 2024

NASCAR Is Ignoring the Obvious

NASCAR announced that Mexico City will host NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series events beginning in 2025. The first thought at this news may well be, “wow, that’s interesting, but which track will lose a race?” According to Nick Bromberg in this Yahoo Sports story, Richmond Raceway will lose one of its race dates. Yet again, NASCAR tries to grow while gutting its heritage and its past – when it isn’t necessary.


They are killing off the short tracks.


Mexico City is for sure, an excellent addition to the NASCAR schedule. Unfortunately, the loss of a Richmond date is another blow to the history, the foundation of NASCAR: the bull rings. The Cup Series long ago gave up on most of the great short tracks, keeping Martinsville, Bristol, and Richmond as the only venues at or less than 3/4 of a mile. Those who run NASCAR have either forgotten or choose to ignore that short tracks promote great, close racing. 

 

 

Granted that NASCAR recently announced the annual Busch Clash will in 2025 be held at the historic Bowman Gray Stadium. This is a great move, running this event at the 1/4 mile flat track that was once a mainstay on the NASCAR calendar. It is a return to roots, and although it’s not a points race, it does highlight the history of the sport and short tracks. NASCAR should continue to move in this direction, although it seems unlikely that they will do so.

 

NASCAR’s 2nd tier series ran on some of the truly special short tracks well into the 1990s. Some of those tracks are ill-suited for both the Cup and Xfinity Series now, however some still host races in other stock car series, while others could and should be revived. 

 

 

Have you noticed that the stands at the big tracks are never full anymore? NASCAR race crowds are not what they used to be. Why is that? It’s because NASCAR fans are tired of the engineered racing that NASCAR has become, and they miss the real racing that we used to have in the sport. Adding more short tracks to the schedule would be a bonus in many ways – including competitive racing that happens at the short tracks. An added bonus would be the television camera shots highlighting packed stands at these smaller venues instead of the recent practice of not showing the seats to avoid pointing out huge, empty areas (or demolishing large sections of stands).

 

 

There is something truly special about the nearly lost art of short track racing. It beats the hell out of the modern, contrived product that is NASCAR today. If you want ‘pack’ racing, do it the natural way – on a short track.

 

Really, dudes – there is only so much space on a 1/2 mile venue. Just watch Martinsville, Bristol, or watch YouTube videos of the old Busch Series at Hickory, South Boston, Myrtle Beach, or any one of many such exciting race venues. The racing is close because… wait for it… there’s no place to hide on those old tracks. The racing is naturally close and exciting, not manufactured. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. agrees that NASCAR should add more short tracks.

 

 

While I welcome a change like adding Mexico City to the racing calendar, I am not in favor of allowing the short tracks like Richmond to be gutted. Let’s get rid of one date for one of the boring big tracks like Las Vegas or Kansas. What would you rather see: close real racing on a bull ring, or the forced, staged close pack racing at a cookie cutter, 1.5 or 2 mile big track? That should be an easy choice. I’ll take real racing any day.

 

The NASCAR brass does not seem to notice or understand what is happening to their sport. How long will it be before Martinsville and Bristol Speedways become ghost towns? It’s all because those who run NASCAR have no clue what real racing is all about, and what NASCAR fans want to see. 

 

 

Yes, the addition of a Mexico City race is a good move. But not at the expense of the nearly lost art of short track racing. Keep the spirit of the short tracks alive – stop killing off the historic, exciting venues. Bring more short track, actual competitive racing to both the Cup and Xfinity Series.

 

 

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Larry Manch is an author, teacher, guitar player, freelance writer, and columnist. He has written 24 books; available in paperback and e-book on Amazon.com.

 

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Posted by Larry at 2:37:00 PM
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1 comment:

  1. LarryAugust 31, 2024 at 12:08 PM

    Reminding readers that if you want to comment, you'll have to sign in. If you think your opinion is valid, you won't hide behind an anonymous label.

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