Okay, you guys are kind of all over the place about a dirt race. I really liked the Bristol race this year and thought it was even better than last year. The first year was a disaster, but NASCAR and the teams learned a lot from it. There is NO WAY that 36+ cars can race at the LA Coliseum!!! It doesn't matter if it is asphalt or dirt. It is not big enough for that many cars and would just be a disaster. The lead cars would catch the tail end cars within a couple of laps and that would just be chaos. North Wilkesboro is entirely too small for it to be a dirt race either. I'm thrilled that N.W. is getting the ASR this year, but it's still a test. It's also not going to be a full field of cars. I REALLY want the CTS to go back to Eldora too, but I don't think that track would work for Cup cars. It's not long enough and doesn't have enough banking to handle Cup cars. The Cup cars need a longer track or high banking to race on dirt. Bristol is really the only track where that fits. Cup cars wouldn't have a chance at Eldora without massive changes to the cars (power reduction and very increased drag or downforce). They couldn't turn Martinsville into a dirt race, even though the track distance is about the same as Bristol. Everyone would wreck in the first turn because there is not enough banking,
As for Fontana, it's coming back in 2025, or maybe 2026, depending on how long it takes to convert the track to the new half-mile format. NASCAR wants to keep races in the southwest, but the 3 tracks were all too similar and therefore boring most of the time. That's the whole reason Phoenix flipped the track backwards and Fontana will now switch from 1.5-mile to 0.5-mile track. NASCAR needs more variety of tracks and that's what they have been transitioning to for a few years now. The pandemic screwed up some plans but they also used that time to convert tracks to what the fans want to see now. The pandemic alone is why there are now 6 road courses on the schedule instead of the usual two. I'm glad that they did that initially, even though some didn't turn out so well. COTA was horrible the first year due to weather and it wasn't so great this year due to late restarts. But the Daytona and Indy RC's were just terrible. NASCAR dumped that Daytona race and I hope they forever get rid of the Indy RC race too. Those are just horrible for Cup cars. Turn 1 of COTA isn't looking too good now either. I don't see how COTA or Indy RC can continue to be part of the schedule just based on the 1st turn. Cups cars are not meant to make that sharp of a turn from a high speed. The Roval is actually very exciting if you see it live. "Heartburn Turn" is almost as crazy as the first turns at Indy and COTA but there is a lot more room for drivers to make that turn and keep racing. Indy is way too sharp and COTA is a blind curve at the top of a hill. Neither of those work well for a very heavy car that needs room to turn. The Roval has plenty of vision line to see when you need to brake to make the 1st turn. I could see the Cup Series racing well at Montreal or Road America.
I certainly want the Indy Oval back instead of the RC. NASCAR had no reason to switch from the classic INDY track to the RC in the first place. I think the new car would make the Indy oval a much closer race again, but we can't find that out until at least 2024. I hope NASCAR dumps the INDY RC for the 2024 season. The only reason I think that NASCAR switched it was because Indy and Michigan were pretty much the same race. MIS doesn't have a road course suitable for Cup cars while Indy does. Still would rather see Indy Oval than Indy RC though.
I'd LOVE to see Rockingham (North Carolina Speedway) back on the Cup schedule, but that place needs a lot of work too. I was thrilled when CTS went there again several years ago. But the track is in such rough condition now that NASCAR decided not to come back after that race. Another issue there is that there are no accomodations anywhere near the track. North Wilkesboro has the same issue, but it's closer to major cities than Rockingham is.
As for Darlington, I'm kinda surprised that NASCAR put a 2nd date there back on the schedule. The "Southern 500" was a classic race, but a 2nd date wasn't really needed to be added back to the schedule. NASCAR is just making up things as they go. Most tracks do not need 2 races there per year. If I was going to name tracks that "deserve" 2 races each year, the list is simple. Daytona, Talladega, Bristol, Martinsville and Charlotte. That's the list! There are 10 of your 36 races. Add 6 road-course races and we're at 16 of the 36. I'd be okay with Dover, ATL or New Hampshire twice each too. Pocono was fun twice a year for a while but that became boring. NASCAR is trying to stretch out to cover the tracks they've dumped recently. Adding Nashville and WWTR is helpful but they still need to do more to keep fans interested. I'm curious how the Chicago street course will work out for NASCAR. People that live in Chicago are already not happy about it for various reasons (mostly traffic issues and local parks being closed during that time). I'll just stop right there for tonight.
NO PWE's EVER!!! PLZ PM me 1st before sending any offer. ONLY selling cards as of March 2024. No trades or purchases right now.
_______________________________________________________________________
Largest total PC card collections by Team, then Athlete (as of 3/22/24):
STL Cardinals (MLB) - 8810; Carolina Panthers - 2888; GB Packers - 1790+ cards
Mark Martin (NASCAR) - 2038 cards; Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR) - 1875 cards; Jeff Gordon (NASCAR) - 1594; Ricky Rudd (NASCAR) - 839; Ozzie Smith (MLB) - 707
