The Bristol Motor Speedway once again had the running of the dirt race on Easter Sunday and much like years past fans could not decide what to unanimously make of it. Some loved it while others wanted to bring back the concrete race in the spring. With an inconclusive future I think the question may not be dirt vs. concrete in the long term but rather whether this race will be run at all in the future. So, will Bristol's spring race survive?
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34 comments
Do you think Bristol will keep its spring race in both the short and long term?
It won’t surprise me either way. I’m glad we try the dirt even though I was against it completely. It was the best dirt race I’ve ever seen. I was glad they were able to fan out. However, I agree Nashville fairgrounds or North Wilkesboro to replace it or even Rockingham.
I highly doubt it
Should have gone long ago. Routinely fighting crummy weather. What should be going in this one race for every track that’s NOT a playoff race.
i would think it will keep two dates but nothing would suprise me with nascar these days
I think long term if it’s gonna continue to be a dirt race I would say give it to a purpose built dirt track like Eldora or Knoxville. Knoxville learned from the first year to the second year of the trucks and then it got ripped off the schedule for the Milwaukee Mile that personally I can not stand. Wisconsin already has Road America for a xfinity race and probably should have a cup race. Give Iowa some love we have Iowa Speedway and Knoxville Raceway.
I’m not against dirt racing but they need to do it at an actual dirt track. Hopefully, the Spring race at Bristol gets replaced by one of the five Formula 1 tracks in the Nashville area.
@MLGProSwag69 go watch the replay late in the race. Giant potholes in the groove in 1 and 2. Dirt track that’s prob not happening. Why can’t we have two normal Bristol races like normal?? (Asking in general)
@J Jonathan Davenport praised those holes forming for improving the racing, same thing on Door Bumper Clear yesterday as eventually the areas right around them were some of the last moist areas on the surface so there was a ton of time available if you knew how to run them. As for two Bristol dates, the reason it’s not coming back is look up pics of the 2019 and 2020 races, it’s almost impossible to tell the difference attendance wise between a race fans were encouraged to attend and a race fans were not allowed to attend
NASCAR: has three short tracks in the same geographical area
Also NASCAR: schedules all three back-to-back-to-back, so they cannibalize each other. In crappy spring weather, too.
Ya that’s kinda what fans don’t consider when it comes to the grandstands and don’t even get me started on the price of tickets
Richmond should have kept its first weekend of May date they had since the reconfiguration.
Yeah the scheduling is terrible for the Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia area. All the dates are in the spring and fall and only Charlotte and technically now North Wilkesboro is in the summer, and North Wilkesboro doesn’t even really count because it’s so expensive and so hard to get tickets for.
Xavier, I looked into tickets, just because how empty the stands were. I thought SMI must be offering some cheap tickets to get people in right? Nope $60 for the cheapest ticket package. Imagine your working class family spending $240 in tickets alone. Not including food, parking, and expenses to get to the race!
I get the west coast swing but you are 100% right on this comment
I think what really hurt the spring race was 1- adding the progressive banking to where the cars could only gain speed on the very top groove, making the bottom groove useless, that eliminated the excitement of the bump and run and 2- the fact they always raced at a time of year where it seem to constantly get rained out. I remember from like ‘12-‘15 the spring race, encountered some sort of weather Delay and fans probably figured why drive 2-3+ hours just for it to get rained out? Another thing that I hear a lot of fans talk about is the fact that they miss old school Bristol where it was a one groove track and the inside groove was the fastest way around and it encouraged drivers to do the bump and run, now that they have the bottom and the top lane all they do is constantly past somebody then get past, past them again, then get past off the corner and it gets kind of annoying to watch. Honestly, if they just go back to a one grooved track and drivers go back to the bump and run and they move it to a date that tends to have less rain the spring race would probably do just fine.
I agree that we’ll loose the spring date eventually for a North Wilkesboro or Nashville fairgrounds… but I’d also like to factor to mention that I just don’t see two concrete dates so close together when we have seen this before with Dover & Pocono. Bristol needs to keep the Night Race going as it’s the Crown Jewel and that the Night Race is going to draw more crowds because it’s the night race at Bristol. I’m open to going to other races or events if I can get the value of my money with something I can’t get elsewhere. I went to Martinsville last year for the first time and I enjoyed it (going back again). I want to go to a North Wilkesboro and even to a Daytona. I think it’s just about how prestige the event is.
It’s not the end of the world if we loose a race, it just makes the schedule balance out better to make the best ever-evolving experience possible. I love this sport and just want to see it not stay stagnant like how it did in the late-2000s to 2010s.
While this is just my assumption I think the removal of the spring Bristol race altogether would be much more controversial than one of them being on dirt. And while it’s true many don’t like it, a lot seem to enjoy it as the stands for every edition have been more full than the last few on concrete.
The actual truth is that no track in todays day and age needs two dates.
I think a couple should have two but most tracks shouldn’t. Daytona, talladega, Darlington, martinsville, and Bristol should all have two IMO. Add north wilkesboro and Nashville fairgrounds to take away Texas and pocono. Take away the 2nd date of several intermediates and replace them with tracks like Iowa or mid Ohio or eldora or Knoxville.
My favorite part of your videos is guessing the year of the flashback races and the Bristol race with Biffle leading has to be 2010 and the one after that was 2014? Either way I love the splashes of nostalgia lol
Easiest fix is lower the ticket prices. Instead of charging $150 for a decent ticket, how about $25-$50 a seat. Give that a shot and see how full the stands are.
They didn’t do themselves any favors by racing on a Sunday night. People who might of attended have to take into consideration work and school the next day.
I feel like NASCAR should still have a dirt race on schedule, but not at Bristol, and instead on an actual dirt track.
There’s not going to be another cup series race on dirt if not Bristol
I don’t mind just one Bristol, as long as we don’t lose the only dirt track in the Sprint Cup. Personally, I want as much track variety as I can get. I don’t want a bunch of the same stuff and then a couple of specialist tracks for ringers. I want every track to feel like it tests not just a different setup, but different driving styles.
If Bristol goes to a singular race then it needs to be the July 4th weekend, call it a crown jewel race and it will sell like crazy.
I love dirt racing. I just don’t know if a full field of 40 cup cars really works on a dirt track. Maybe have a B-feature and A-feature race, like we’ve always done at dirt tracks.
I really hate that the Bristol Spring race has lost so much prestige! Used to be one of my favorite races and I even really enjoy the Dirt. But, man those grandstands really kill the mood!
Loved Bristol dirt since they transitioned to night race cause it lets the moisture in the track actually stay there and the banking seemed to let the cars cars slide more like a late model. That said for this to thrive, move it to a different date cause you have Easter so most of you viewers are gonna be watching at home rather than being at the track and weather even pre dirt was not good (though last year DW talking about the vortex effects of Bristol was kinda interesting).
Also after this week’s race can you do a video on the new short track package, yea Phoenix didn’t work but I think bristol and Richmond were way better with it
Bristol’s spring date used to be in mid-March. One year when my brother and I went, it snowed on the day before for what’s now the Xfinity series and the day after it was a significant snow storm.
I think one of the best things about NASCAR right now is the variety on the schedule. I’d like to see the tracks that get two dates rotate around from year to year. And, I’d really like to see them plan more on the weekends to get more asses into seats. I know that the politics that goes on between NASCAR, the track owners, the team owners, and the networks complicate it, but I think they can get create some scarcity by maybe giving tracks like Bristol with a less-than-stellar second date an off year or two to build up the event.
I think having a race on Easter night is awesome!!! I think they should stick to that (just keep it a night race). Far as bristol goes I agree they will eventually have the night race in the fall and that will be it.