Last weekend, the NASCAR Truck and Xfinity drivers were at the Rockingham Speedway. This was the first time the race track had been on the calendar since the early 2000s. However, the Cup Series drivers were noticeably absent as they got a rare weekend off. With the race track returning to the calendar, it does set a bit of a precedent.

After all, Rockingham is not the first track to make its comeback to the calendar. Before it was North Wilkesboro Speedway and Bowman Gray Stadium, so it could be the third historic track that finds its place back in the premier series. With a jam-packed 25,000 crowd in the grandstands and with over a million views of the Xfinity Series race, it has to be said – the return to Rock was indeed a huge success.

“I did the booth right, but I didn’t really get to get my fix at Rockingham, and who knows what the plan is for this moving forward. It’s the first time you’re here to sold out. I was like, man, I got to go.” Even Carson Hocevar couldn’t turn down the opportunity to be a part of the festivities. With this huge success, one question lingered on everyone’s tongue – Will Rockingham get a nod from the Cup Series? While the optimist like Kenny Wallace and Kasey Kahne have endorsed their support to this idea, not everyone is sold on it.

Doug Rice from the PRN Network shared his two cents on the ongoing conversation around Rockingham’s Cup revival. “I don’t think there’s any need right now for everybody to say, Oh, they gotta get the Cup race. This was really good, let this work and let this become their place in the NASCAR schedule.” His co-host, Alexi Erickson, shared a similar sentiment.

“I agree 1000%. There’s a bunch of factors to that. Number 1, it worked out well, falling on the weekend that it fell on. For the teams that didn’t get the off weekends, because they were racing Truck, ARCA, Xfinity, they could drive pretty much. They slept in their beds, those kinds of things. So it was nice to have them close by on the ‘Cup off weekend’. Also, the Cup cars are not going to race like that. Obviously, you never know until you get the cars on the racetrack, but I do not think the current state of the Cup car is going to put on the same type of show we saw from the Xfinity cars.”

Well, the Next Gen car has its issues. Apart from intermediate tracks like Kansas, Homestead, Las Vegas, and New Hampshire, the on-track racing is just not as exciting as it used to be. NASCAR had to bring in the option tire at the Phoenix spring race, yet the gains were minimal. Let’s not even talk about the state of short-track racing, and if Cup were to race at the Rock, they would bring the short-track package. We’ve seen races on Martinsville and Bristol being reduced down to track position or execution races. And Rice and Erickson feel something similar could happen at Rockingham.

But again, this was just an assumption, given the bad rep Next Gen car has garnered over the years. Not everyone was against the idea of a Cup race returning to Rockingham, drivers. After all, points paying race isn’t the only option for the premier series to consider for it’s return to historic race track.

Kasey Kahne endorses a return of Cup racing at the Rock

Kahne ran his first NASCAR race after his abrupt retirement from racing back in 2018. Having already won a Truck Series race at the Rockingham Speedway, he had a time of his life piloting the #33 RCR car around the 0.94-mile oval. “I think a Cup race could probably be really good here. It could make a great race. It’s been cool to go back to some of the venues that may not be as big places but the history, I think, of NASCAR and great racing is at some of those tracks, Rockingham being one of those as well.” He said after the race.

Now, it is important to understand the dynamics here. Darlington Raceway, an iconic track, is just 1 hour’s drive away from the Rockingham Speedway. As things stand, NASCAR would like to retain both the dates, as it is one of the tracks where racing has been good, even with the Next Gen car. Not to forget, there is a mix of special events like the international race in Mexico and the Chicago Street race. Either of these events will have to take a fall to be able to accommodate Rockingham’s return.

But, as things stand. NASCAR is eyeing ambitious moves, a race in Brazil and Canada is rumored to be their next move, and this in turn could see Rockingham reduced to Xfinity and Trucks. It’s worth noting that both Bowman Gray and North Wilkesboro are special events, and no points are awarded to the drivers. So, if the Rock gets special treatment, the two short tracks will feel obliged to be blessed with a points-paying race. So, for the time being, they should stick with the feeder series, and when the time is right, they can arrange a historic return of the Cup Series at the track in North Carolina.