Off-Topic Forum

Just my 2 cents. On any other race the yellow comes out almost immediatley and the field is frozen. It seemed like it took a long time before Bush passed Reddick. Since the white flag had already been thrown shouldn't the race have been over with Reddick winning?

Some accidents don't get yellows on the final lap....

The late yellow last week at Martinsville was ridiculous.....

Although the leader managed to maintain after the restart....

The most interesting part of the weekend was in the Truck race when the

two vehicles got stuck together nose to tail... :)

Dang that was a nice finish...

Briscoe's a bozo. If I was Riddick there I'dve been after that man in the pits.

I Hear ya, and at least he was man enough to take his helmet off first. 

I know I dont have popular opinion, But I likesd the idea of dirt for year or 2, But lets get back to what Bristol is all about, Leave the dirt for the fields you park in. Again IMO.

It looks like Bristol dirt is sticking around for a third year. 

I absolutely LOVED that race Sunday night. And apparently, so did most of the fans in the stands and those tuning in on TV. Over 4 million households tuned in to the race Sunday and FOX is already begging NASCAR to hold the dirt race on Easter Sunday night again in 2023. NASCAR has confirmed that the dirt race will happen again next season, but the date won't be known until they release the 2023 schedule in November. As for the actual race, I loved everything except the 2 red flag periods. The racing was fantastic and exciting. I couldn't really get anything done here once the race started. I didn't want to miss a single thing. Reddick, Briscoe and Bell were clearly the best cars all night. But Chase and Christopher both had issues and Busch was just waiting in the Top-5 all night. I picked Rowdy to win this race just because of how fast and consistant he was during practices and the heat race. He ONLY lost the lead after that last red flag because he slipped up in the wet conditions on the outside of the track a couple of times. It took him a long time to regain that line. As for cautions: they don't throw them just because someone spins out, even the leaders, unless it blocks the track. Reddick and Briscoe both spun off the track so they weren't in the way of oncoming traffic. I don't blame Briscoe for the move as he had nothing to lose since he has a win this season, but I hate that he kept Reddick from getting his first career Cup Series win. I was really hoping the final few laps would finish like they were running with Reddick winning, Briscoe in 2nd and Busch in 3rd. I just wanted to see another first-time winner this season. We actually did since it was Rowdy's first win of the season, but I wanted to see another driver get his first career win in the series. Tyler's win is coming though. He's raced very well all season and has just had a bit of bad luck when leading races. I love how this Gen7 car has equalized the teams. RCR is finally back to running with the likes of HMS, JGR, Penske and SHR. Petty/GMS, Trackhouse and 23XI have all been in the mix too and Corey LaJoie is getting some of the best finishes of his career. IMO, this has been the greatest start to a season since the Gen3 car debuted.

Oh, to add something off the NASCAR path (for now): North Wilkesboro Speedway in NC is going to have races again in August and October. There will be races on the current asphalt in August. Then the asphalt gets ripped away and back to the original dirt surface where racing will happen in October. After that, the track will be repaved and all of the buildings and stands will be renovated or replaced with new. This "paves" the way for a possible NASCAR return to the track in 2024. I'd love to see North Wilkesboro back on any NASCAR schedule. What do you guys think about NASCAR returning to North Wilkesboro?

Can't forget the '90s when almost every Bristol race had rain issues...

Back when the idea of building a roof over the complex was getting some traction....

I have a few unpopular opinions that differ from most NASCAR fans.

1) I don't think Daniel Hemric is this amazing talented driver. He lucked into the championship last year on multiple restarts. Plus Dale Jr called him out on his podcast last year saying he won't win again. Pretty damning considering Hemric was a JRM driver in 2020. 
 

2) I am not a fan of North Wilkesboro and Rockingham and I don't see either coming back to the Cup schedule.  Rockingham is an hour and fifteen minutes away from Darlington. North Wilkesboro is an hour and a half drive from Charlotte. In terms of tv and sponsors they are already in those areas. I always say if they wanted to go there they would have gone back. Look at Nashville Super Speedway. It was left to rot. Suddenly an interest in Nashville and then it's back. Same goes for Gateway. Nascar is looking for newer markets. I think we see Portland on the Cup schedule in the next year or two. 
 

I completely agree with Point #1. Hemric should have never made it to the Cup Series and getting dumped back down to NXS was inevitable. Hemric was just filling a Cup seat until Reddick was ready to move up. It's been common for the past many years to move a driver up too soon to give a better driver time to develop in the lower levels before swapping the drivers.

But I have to almost completely disagree with #2. NASCAR is now thinking about logistics more than ever before. Why do you think all the West Coast races (except Sonoma) are in consecutive weeks? It's way cheaper for not just the teams but NASCAR officials to just stay in the general area for a few weeks instead of flying and driving back and forth to the Charlotte area or Virginia. All the teams are now based in NC or VA after Furniture Row shut down. NASCAR is based in Charlotte, NC. Same reason they now clump the races in NC/VA close together and the Northeast races are clumped together now. It's also the same reason they did 2 races at Pocono in 2 days the past few years. NASCAR is trying to save money everywhere they can and that started before the pandemic. The TV contracts are already there and solid. With the momentum that NASCAR gained during the pandemic, way more sponsors are there now too. NASCAR IS trying to do some different things, but that is by finally listening to the fans. NASCAR fans have been begging for more road courses for over a decade and NASCAR is finally doing that on the top level. At the same time, the fans have been asking for less of the same "cookie-cutter" 1.5 mile tracks. NASCAR is doing that too, as well as the track owners. The remodel of Atlanta and Phoenix is proof of that, as well as adding dirt to Bristol. I WOULD like to see them run the Portland course, but the only way that happens is if they can do it the weekend before or after Sonoma. I do agree that Rockingham doesn't need to come back to the Cup schedule, but I did like seeing the Trucks race there a few years ago. But I also think North Wilkesboro needs to come back to the Cup schedule. It's close to "home" for all the teams and it was a good track for a long time. It has a lot of history in NASCAR and a lot of people want to see it return to the Cup schedule. Dale Jr. himself has said that it is an historic track and NASCAR should race there again. He's also the main force in getting it added to the iRacing platform. Personally, I can get to Martinsville faster, but I'd also go to North Wilkesboro for a Cup race! As for Gateway, the Truck series has been racing there for a few years and NXS has raced there now too. It's been successful and it's time to try the Cup Series there. I can't wait to see them race there. At the same time though, you have to consider this new car in the Cup Series and that opens up a lot of tracks now that weren't possible with the previous cars. Less weight and power (or speed) but greater grip means these new cars can race where you didn't think they could before now. Who would have EVER thought that the Cup Series would make a race track at the LA Coliseum and actually race there?!!! The future is almost limitless for NASCAR now, especially after they have seemed to solve the problem of cars bottoming out on a single flat tire.