Over the last few years, the decision-makers in NASCAR have been on a mission to revolutionize and revitalize the sport when it comes to schedules. From experiments with a lot of road courses to putting dirt on a short track, no stone has been left unturned in the pursuit of an attractive square schedule.
However, this time, the pursuit might be going a bit too far.
This is because of the recent report that suggests NASCAR dropping fan-favorite Road Course in favor of a street course in Chicago next year that many fans have expressed strong opinions about (negatively).
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.@NASCAR is getting closer to announcing a new street race in Chicago that would start next year, per sources.
🔲 Not yet clear who would lose a race, but NASCAR appears open to dropping a road course and Road America doesn’t have a deal yet for 2023.
🔗:https://t.co/3EWWqMLXwO pic.twitter.com/dV4LH0dCfN
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) June 17, 2022
As you can expect, the fans were not very pleased with this report with many of them suggesting the alternative tracks to take away instead of the reported one, while some simply called it a decision that won’t deliver the results that are expected.
Of every road course to drop @roadamerica is the last possible answer 🫡🫡🫡 https://t.co/1lRgmSqVzx
— Brandon Brown (@brandonbrown_68) June 17, 2022
No Road America or Chicagoland? Massive L by NASCAR if this happens
— NRE Productions (@NRE_Productions) June 17, 2022
BRUH NO DROP TEXAS
— DennyDeliversYT (@DennyDelivers) June 17, 2022
Do not drop Road America whatever you do NASCAR. Drop a track that has two races. Atlanta, Richmond, and Darlington do not need a second date.
— Jake Baskinger (@jake_spmt) June 17, 2022
Do not drop Road America whatever you do NASCAR. Drop a track that has two races. Atlanta, Richmond, and Darlington do not need a second date.
— Jake Baskinger (@jake_spmt) June 17, 2022
NOT ROAD AMERICA PLZ TAKE SONOMA
— SJ (@SteelCurtainx22) June 17, 2022
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NASCAR has reached a saturation point for road courses according to Steve Phelps
In a recent interview, NASCAR President Steve Phelps addressed the question of what the schedule will look like in the coming season. Especially when there are talks of all sorts of racetracks, street courses, more road courses, short tracks, and ovals being included and excluded.
While Phelps didn’t give a concrete idea of what the situation will really look like, he did give a hint of how the calendar will look in the future, having mentioned the “difficult” nature of finding one type of racetrack.
“I think we’re getting to a point where we may have some saturation on the road course side of things. We’ll continue to listen to the fans and see what the fans are interested in seeing,” he said.
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“They told us they wanted more road courses and short tracks, the short track thing has been difficult.”
Also Read: NASCAR Spotter Freddie Kraft Reflects on Harsh Penalty for Defending Champion Kyle Larson