For decades, NASCAR has been a US-centric sport, with all races concentrated on American tracks. However, there have been occasions where the stock car series went beyond American soil. There are even some places outside the United States, where there are ovals, and NASCAR has not visited them. One of them is the Phakisa Freeway in South Africa.
Africa’s been holding out on us pic.twitter.com/a2L3hdALK2
— Bryan Blackford (@bryanblack33) December 5, 2022
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Admittedly, the NASCAR calendar hasn’t featured it at all, but one driver did have some experience. That driver was none other than Geoff Bodine in 2010 for the American Speed Association. Sadly, Bodine ran out of fuel with five laps to go, meanwhile John Mickel managed a last-gasp overtake on Toni Marie McCray, to win.
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Could the Phakisa Freeway be a realistic calendar contender in NASCAR?
Truthfully speaking, it is very difficult to say, unless it receives a massive revamp. In its heyday, the oval layout resembled the Las Vegas Motor Speedway‘s 1997 configuration. As it turned out, the ASA imported the stock cars to the South African oval just for the race, and Bodine was one of the competitors. Other than that, there was a road course layout that was used by MotoGP riders from 1999 until 2004. There were plans to bring it back in 2014 to the World Superbikes Championship, but they never came to fruition.
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Of course, NASCAR may not be even considering expanding the sport beyond American shores. Especially since the focus is on breaking new ground in the form of the Chicago Street Circuit. Also, a primary focus of the sport is to revamp former NASCAR tracks and bring them back to the calendar.
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The biggest examples of these are the Milwaukee Mile and the North Wilkesboro Speedway. All three of these tracks are included on the 2023 NASCAR Cup calendar, so it will be interesting to see how these races play out. Another question to ask is, if NASCAR is serious about expanding, and if Phakisa was under consideration, would it bear F1? After all, the likes of Lewis Hamilton have been lobbying for Formula 1 to visit Kyalami.