Days After NASCAR Obliterates Dirt Racing From Its Schedule, Tony Stewart’s Driver Issues a Fervent Plea

Earlier this week, there was some bad news for the dirt racing fans. As it happens, the NASCAR Cup Series will no longer host the Bristol dirt race from 2024 onwards. Instead, the races will all be held on the concrete surface after three years of dirt racing.

There were a fair number of reasons behind the decision, with the most prominent one being fan reception. In its debut run, everyone was excited, but subpar racing meant that the novelty soon faded. In light of this, Tony Stewart-backed driver spoke about the loss of dirt racing.

The Tony Stewart-backed driver has not had a great Cup Series campaign

As he made an appearance at the Rubbin’ is Racing podcast, Chase Briscoe was asked a simple question by the show’s co-host, Spider. “We are a couple of days away from publishing the 2024 race schedule. If it was up to you, give me one change you’d make from 2023 to 2024,” he asked.

In reply, the SHR driver said, “Yeah, I would say, I for sure would want to go to Iowa Speedway. That’s my favorite race track that I’ve raced at in NASCAR. So I would love to go there, but then also, I would love to add a dirt race.”

The #14 driver continued, “I know they said they’re getting rid of the Bristol dirt race, but I would love to go to Eldora or something. Guess that’s two for you, but I think we have to have a dirt race and I would love to go to Iowa.”

So far in the 2023 NASCAR Cup season, Briscoe and his teammates have struggled. The Tony Stewart-owned team, Stewart-Haas Racing, has not been in good form. As a result, Kevin Harvick is the only SHR driver who made the Playoffs, and he was eliminated in the opening round. Now, Harvick, Briscoe, Aric Almirola, and Ryan Preece have to see out the rest of the 2023 season.

It may not be a Ford issue, because Team Penske was performing relatively alright, as was RFK Racing. As a matter of fact, Penske managed to get Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney into the Playoffs, though Logano has since been eliminated. Meanwhile, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing still have Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher in the running. So, Tony Stewart might just be aiming to aid the other Ford drivers in their title challenge.

READ MORE: Tony Stewart’s Wife’s Only Hope for Racing Glory Prepares to Battle It Out at the NHRA Midwest Nationals

Will NASCAR ever return to dirt racing?

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For the moment, it looks like running NASCAR cars on the dirt will not be happening for a long time. Bristol track president and general manager Jerry Caldwell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, “I think NASCAR has done a great job the past several years of trying new things. I think as a sport, we’ve really embraced that. People love our sport, they love tradition, but they also love trying some new things, and they love returning to some old ways, whether that’s North Wilkesboro, whether that’s dirt, maybe it’s the road course in Chicago, all those things are great things. You know, sometimes you do that for a little while, and then you change things up and go back to the way it was, and that’s what we’re doing here. So, thrilled to be able to do that.”

Now, until dirt racing returns in the future, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, and Christopher Bell will have the honor of being the only winners at Bristol Dirt. Logano was the first-ever winner, while Busch admittedly got lucky when the leaders spun each other out. Finally, Bell flexed his dirt racing prowess, honed from his Late Model exploits.

WATCH THIS STORY: NASCAR Veteran Reveals Ford’s “Dead Ringer” Status at Tony Stewart’s Expense.