It’s just insane to see how racing at Bristol Motor Speedway could change in a matter of months. In March, after returning to its revered concrete surface, the track produced some of the best, if not the best, short-oval racing in the Next Gen era. And for once, Goodyear’s tire experiment looked to have worked wonders.

Excess tire wear forced the field to change its tactics and led to a thrilling event. However, the script was completely changed when the Cup Series returned for the playoff race last Sunday. While Goodyear rolled out the same compound from the spring race, the racing was stale, to say the least. Track position became the king again, and there were hardly any passing opportunities.

Even Denny Hamlin couldn’t work his magic on the world’s fastest half-mile this time around. What could he have done differently to change the outcome of the race? And will Bristol be any good the next time? This is what his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, had to say after the #11 team’s P4 results.

There was practically no tire fall-off for the playoff race in Bristol

Denny Hamlin was the one who perfectly nailed the craft of conserving his tires in March to snag his first win of 2024. But, fast forward to September, and the tires had practically no say in the outcome of the race. Kyle Larson, after grabbing the lead in the first stage, went on to lead more than 400 laps and eventually win the race.

Taking nothing away from Larson’s win, the race was uneventful, going back to the trend of executing and not making racing-winning moves. Drivers were able to pull off 100-lap runs without having to pit, and it was hard to single out yellow flag runs. So, what becomes of NASCAR’s under-fire short-track package after the Bristol race, and what can we expect going forward? Going by Chris Gabehart’s words, it feels like another venue has fallen prey to the Next Gen era’s new style of racing.

“It’s too easy to drive; they are too close, and you’re not going to ask for better racing. I’m sorry you’re not.” Gabehart sarcastically said after the race. “They are all separated by point 0, nothing in physics is a buffer, and these are the world’s best stock car teams and drivers. If you don’t give them enough ways to separate themselves, that’s what you’re going to see. Maybe I’d go back and watch it and get a different take. The days of the old Bristol are over; it’s just the truth.”

Not only that, Denny Hamlin could’ve had a shot to win the race if not for the setup the team made on the #11 Toyota Camry. “We made a few setup decisions coming into the weekend that we wouldn’t have made. We were at a little bit of a car deficit set up wise, I think. There was a time there where I thought we had a shot to win, certainly a second-place car, but Denny managed to get day the way he needed to and ended up forth.”

They were thrown another curve ball in NASCAR’s decision to switch from the resin to the PJ1 sprayed on the track ahead of the race. However, Gabehart feels that was probably the one good call NASCAR made for the race.

PJ1 or Resin wouldn’t have made any difference

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One of the big differentiators for last Sunday’s race was the spraying of PJ1 on the inside lane of the track instead of the resin, which was used in the last race. Resin usually makes the track rubber in faster, leading to tire wear and forcing the teams to make a strategy call. However, NASCAR took notice of the drastic changes in the way the racing surface reacted to the same tires during the practice runs. And therefore opted to spray the PJ1, which allowed for multiple groves on the track.

Given how tires had little to no say in how the race shaped up, Gabehart feels that spraying PJ1 was indeed the right call. “I actually thought they made the right move because once it was clear that the top was going to come in and tires weren’t gonna wear, I don’t think resin wasn’t going to give bottom enough grip to be competitive, and then it would’ve been train around the top so I thought PJ1 was the exact right move once we saw what kind of race we’re gonna have.”

It was indeed a shock to see the massive shift in the style of racing at the same facility with the same setups. Fortunately, Denny Hamlin and his team kept their noses clean, stuck to their job, and executed like they were expected to. With the Martinsville race lined up late in the playoffs, it will be interesting to see the changes NASCAR comes up with. So far, they have fired blanks in trying to solve the short-track package.