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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

NASCAR has finally released its 2024 schedule. And looking at the dominance of ovals over the road courses on it, public opinions might vary. Some would argue, ovals are harder to drive on solely because of the control of brake and accelerator that the drivers need to possess in order to refrain from overdriving the corners. While others would say road courses are more challenging as they almost require ambidexterity around the turns. Whatever the case might be, many were not too happy about the closing race of the round of 12 last week.

Don’t get it wrong. The track wasn’t something to blame. It is just the nature of today’s stock car racing that curbed the most basic nuance of the game. On that note, things escalated by leaps and bounds when veteran journalist Jeff Gluck put up a controversial poll on platform X.

Despite being unhappy about the ROVAL race, Bubba Wallace insider acquitted the track of public attacks

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With the usher of the Gen-7 cars, every car is more or less similar in terms of components. Hence, clearing an opponent full and square just with speed is seldom a viable option. There is indeed a reason why the teams spend countless hours behind the garage conjuring strategies to win these important Cup Series races. However, that’s not all.

Another factor that decides the outcome of any race is the type of course that these cars run on. If it’s an oval, a driver can still swerve to the bottom groove and clear their opponents taking risks to run three-wide or more, but when it’s a road course, it becomes impossible due to the narrowness of the circuit. Therefore, it is also the nature of today’s racing that stands in the path of the road courses being a solid display of NASCAR fury.

After AJ Allmendinger became the first non-playoff driver to win a Cup Series race this season on Sunday, analysts and critics sat down with their notepads debating if the race lived up to the normal standards of NASCAR at all. And that happened largely when The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck held the poll regarding the same. While 60% agreed it was a good race, 40% disagreed. Interestingly, the DBC crew found themselves supporting the minority.

Freddie Kraft said, “If it was up to me I would have rather had that race on the oval yesterday.” TJ Majors concurred. According to him, the next-generation cars are too easy to drive on the road courses, especially at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Reflecting on the wreck fest that the road courses once used to be, Majors exclaimed, “When you used to go to these road courses there was always multiple, like tons. Now they just don’t get in trouble much. The cars are just stuck, and I know they slide, they miss chicane now and then but nothing like what we’ve seen in the past.”

The DBC crew had invited Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports to the latest episode of their podcast. The renowned journalist listened to the crew’s opinion and eventually sided with them, along with the fans on Twitter.

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Jeff Gluck tweeted, “Was the ROVAL a good race?” The result of the poll was what it was. But few of the motorsport enthusiasts on Twitter hated the fact that the majority liked the race. And they did not hold back from expressing their disgust.

Someone said, “60% positive. Seriously?

The stage cautions are the worst

top car punishing and race wrecking

just terrible”

Another fan wrote, “The roval has run its course. By no means was this a bad race, but there was barely any action up front, and there wasn’t a lot of passing.”

While others seemed unhappy about the road race, a Hendrick Motorsports fan exclaimed, “Ok with AJ winning but the product was awful. Pitting pre stage ending means no points but a chance to be there next stage. Can’t work your way up. Larson got to what 10th? Bring back the oval. Take stage cautions away”

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A dejected enthusiast typed, “Hardly any passing, at least not on tv. While road course racing is this bad, they should switch back to the oval. Once they fix road courses, bring back the Roval. I like the Roval, but not right now. A year in advance, we already know next year’s Roval wont be great.”

While another commented, “Kind of a mixed bag for me. I’d say that it was a good race, but at the same time, I think the Roval has run its course.”

Bob Pockrass felt that if it was not for the elimination factor, the race would have been perhaps one of the most uninteresting races of the season. He admitted, “It was an intriguing race and because of the elimination factor. If you didn’t have the elimination factor, I don’t know how good a race it was.”

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What are your thoughts on yesterday’s race? Do you too feel like the Charlotte ROVAL has run its course? We would love to hear what you think!

Read More: NASCAR Community in Shock as Racing Fanatic Exposes Cup Series’ Disappointing Milestone