‘They’re not dirt cars.’ NASCAR drivers wish they could race on Bristol’s pavement
.JPG "Driver Joey Logano (22) leads driver Tyler Reddick (8) during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, April 17, 2022, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)")
A few hours before any vehicles hit the Bristol Motor Speedway half-mile oval, Chris Buescher seemed to be taking a thoughtful stroll on the wet dirt — taking in the quiet before Sunday’s spectacle arrived.
In reality, he was doing something else.
“I guess I just wanted to make my shoes heavier,” Buescher said with a laugh, his self-effacing Texas charm shining through. “I don’t know what I thought I’d get out of it just walking around.”
His most enlightened thought while walking around?
“Yeah,” he told himself. “It’s dirt.”
This story might not hold much consequence on its own. But Buescher’s lukewarm reaction to seeing his favorite racetrack being covered in dirt seems to mirror the enthusiasm that his fellow drivers have as they head into Sunday night’s Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
That is to say: There doesn’t seem to be much enthusiasm at all.
“I enjoyed doing a handful of dirt races along the way,” Buescher told reporters at the Bristol Motor Speedway media center on Saturday. “I love doing dirt races in dirt cars. It’s a lot of fun. What I haven’t particularly enjoyed is covering my favorite racetrack in dirt and losing a concrete race.
“I love this racetrack. I love short-track racing in general. And I hate that we’ve lost one in order to do this. With that said, if we can get our second Bristol date back and take this pretty literally anywhere else on dirt, I would be a fan of that.”
Kyle Larson, one of the best dirt racers in the country, also agrees that Bristol doesn’t need to put dirt on its track again.
The 2021 race at the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track was the first time the NASCAR Cup Series had competed on dirt in more than 50 years. Two races with fun finishes have ensued — including a last-lap wreck that led to a Kyle Busch win in 2022.
But Larson doesn’t think there needs to be a Cup race on dirt. He supported his thesis, too.
“These cars are not dirt cars,” said Larson, who won last week’s race on Richmond’s short track. “They’re not built for it.”
He added: “I don’t know much about the mechanics of them. But you know, a Cup car is about 3,600 pounds, a sprint car is 1,400 pounds. The Cup cars have 670 horsepower, sprint cars and dirt late models have 950 horsepower. So just way crazier, just way tougher to drive. A lot more wheel spin. Just crazier. Things happen a lot faster.”
.JPG "NASCARBristolAutoRacing (11).JPG")
Larson’s teammate, Alex Bowman, agreed.
“They’re so slow on dirt tracks — almost painfully slow,” Bowman said. “I think our cars are pretty good at pavement racing, and maybe a place like this we’d put on a better show on the pavement.”
Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith told reporters earlier this week that a decision hasn’t yet been made on whether Bristol’s spring race next year will be on dirt.
Kevin Harvick said he was supportive of the event in 2021. He added, though, that “these types of events are great once.”
“The industry will just have to decide if they want to keep doing it, whether those cars need to be different for one race,” Harvick said. “It’s a lot different preparation than it is for others. They’ve done a good job with the event. There’s nothing wrong with the event. Something like this at the same spot isn’t as popular as it usually is the first time. But there’s a lot more to it than that. There are a lot of different factors aside from my opinion.”
Unlike Larson, some drivers think that a dirt track on the Cup Series is worth having. Among them is Joey Logano, who won Saturday’s Truck Series race.
But even those drivers contend that having it anywhere but Bristol is for the best.
“I do think having a dirt race is cool for our sport,” Logano said. “For us to be the most versatile racing series in the world is pretty cool, right? And dirt racing is one part of that. So as a driver, you have to be so versatile through every discipline. And I love that challenge. So I wouldn’t want to take a dirt race off the schedule.
“All I’m saying is Bristol is a great racetrack either way, and I could maybe say we can maybe fit in (dirt) somewhere else and eliminate a race that might not be as good.”
Chase Briscoe falls in the same camp as Logano.
“If we’re going to keep it at a NASCAR track, maybe a New Hampshire track might work,” said Briscoe, whose driving career got started on dirt tracks in his home state of Indiana. He added, “I feel like Eldora (Speedway) will be the perfect answer, but probably just doesn’t have the perfect infrastructure from a hotel standpoint and things like that for a Cup race.
“But at the same time, at all their other dirt events, it’s max capacity anyway. They make it work.”
On Sunday, track position will be key. Simply maintaining speed without spinning out will be difficult.
That normally excites drivers at different venues. Slipping and sliding, after all, allows drivers to show their stuff, to differentiate themselves from the field.
But that’s not necessarily the case at Bristol.
“I just feel like this is such an amazing racetrack, right?” Bowman said. “The concrete version of it is probably the coolest place we go. The atmosphere is unlike anywhere else — and we put dirt on it.
“And it was cool for a bit. And it still is kinda cool because it’s different. But regular Bristol is so much cooler.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2023 at 8:00 AM.
