NASCAR has left the entire community polarized after revealing its latest decision revolving around the half-mile racetrack in Bristol. While some feel like it’s a step in the right direction, others feel like it would take away the roots of crude racing at Bristol Motor Speedway. With Dale Earnhardt Jr. making his comeback to the Xfinity Series playoff race at Bristol, the fans are indeed doubly excited about the ultimate Cup race of the round of 16. But what is this decision that has given rise to such a debate?
Bristol Motor Speedway has been the arena of dirt racing since 2021, when, for the first time in 70 years, NASCAR decided to transform it into a dirt track. With that, the high-speed stock car action unleashed its fury on the raw, muddy tracks. Why, one might ask? Imagine a 200-mph race and then a burnout on a dirt track. Still not sure why?
Joey Logano expressed his indifference to NASCAR’s decision
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The number 22 Ford Mustang icon had won the inaugural dirt race at Bristol back in 2021, holding off Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Denny Hamlin in an overtime restart. Coming to concrete, Joey Logano won the IRWIN Tools Night Sprint car race back in 2015, leading a total of 176 laps of the 500-lap-long race at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is quite understandable why the Team Penske speedster does not care.
Logano admitted that he never had a strong opinion either way. He said, “I enjoy the dirt, I really enjoy the concrete. I think this is the best track we go to when it comes to just racing and the fan experience because it is not a bad seat in the house and the race is good either way. So, it (Bristol) doesn’t need dirt to be a good race. I support it either way.”
However, racing normal stock cars on dirt tracks has some drawbacks. Dirt flies and blocks the vision of the drivers; debris might even get inside the car and cause trouble from the inside. Logano explained, “Listen, we’re not racing dirt cars. We have asphalt cars on dirt and that’s why we had issues, whether it’s mud on the windshield or the duct work and overheating.”
Logano explained, “Listen, we’re not racing dirt cars. We have asphalt cars on dirt and that’s why we had issues, whether it’s mud on the windshield or the duct work and overheating.”
“A lot of issues couldn’t be fixed and I’m sure they can be but I could imagine the project, that’s a huge deal,” he added.
Watch this story: Joey Logano Suggests Joe Gibbs Wouldn’t Have Fired Him if He Had “Enough God-Given Talent”
The 33-year-old driver might not be in favor of either concrete or dirt racing in Bristol, but fans have a lot to say about dirt racing not coming back to Bristol in 2024.
NASCAR leaves fans divided and opinionated on its latest Bristol agenda
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With its recent decision, NASCAR announced that both the Xfinity Series race and the Cup Series race this weekend would be on concrete Bristol tracks. While drivers like Brad Keselowski had no problems with two back-to-back races at Bristol, a group of fans were disappointed that Bristol would not see dirt action again. Another group of enthusiasts seemed to have been desiring this for a long time and expressed their happiness on platform X.
Official: Both NASCAR weekends at Bristol in 2024 will be on the concrete. No dirt race at Bristol. Two concrete race weekends. Dates still TBA. @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/zNGhRUp14R
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 15, 2023
Someone from ‘team-dirt’ said, “Huge mistake. The dirt race was the best product we’ve gotten on a short track this year.”
While another cried, “Both?😭🤦♂️🙄”
Another fan tried pitching in a deal, “How bout a compromise, 2 asphalt 1 dirt”
Whereas ‘team anti-dirt exclaimed, “Good. Go to an actual dirt track please”
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Someone wrote, “I thought they would wait and see how the racing is this weekend before making the decision. Curious to see if they work a dirt race into the schedule”.
Read more: “All We Had” – Despite RFK Struggles at Kansas, Brad Keselowski Brings Home Valuable Cheddar
Meanwhile, another added, “After 3 years of NASCAR, it’s drivers and media heaping praises on dirt at bristol, now all those folks can take a breath and speak truths about just how awful an idea dirt at bristol was. next take the ax to the charlotte roval.”
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What are your opinions on this? Are you team dirt or team anti-dirt? Let us know in the comments below!