Interesting comments on NASCAR dirt racing

[arob]

Kyle Larson Once Again Doesn’t Sugarcoat What He Thinks About Cup Series Racing on Dirt at Bristol or Anywhere Else (msn.com)

[24nomo]

I agree with him on that.  This dirt racing stuff with the cup, xfinity or trucks is a gimmick.  It worked a few times, time to move on.   They are already burning out on road races.   

[RodneyRodriguez]

I agree, let the dirt pros race dirt and these people can do what they do. SInce the modern era 1972 the Grand National cars haven't raced on dirt. There are plenty of great dirt series let them have at it. 

If you want dirt live racing on FOX and NBC that is up those series to make that happen not NASCAR. 

[arob]

As a dirt racing fan it was interesting at first but does seem to be a gimmick now. The racing this year actually good with lots of three and four wide going on. Much ,much better racing than the L.A. Coliseum which I saw as awful. 

 

[rebelracewriter]

4 hours ago, RodneyRodriguez said:

I agree, let the dirt pros race dirt and these people can do what they do. SInce the modern era 1972 the Grand National cars haven't raced on dirt. There are plenty of great dirt series let them have at it. 

If you want dirt live racing on FOX and NBC that is up those series to make that happen not NASCAR. 

 

Compared to other dirt races they had a good one this time....Plenty of side by side and passing....Except for the frame ruts and consequent ditch, track prep was on point.....But even Super Dirt Week will have the track start to break up with pot holes.

ARCA still races dirt JS.....As for NBC or FOX covering other dirt, negative ghost rider....Unless you give up more money for over-priced streaming services, MAVTV and on occasion CBSSN are the only options for dirt.

Is it a gimmick----most definitely....Just like about everything else NA$CAR does anymore....Stupid chase format/playoffs, glorified water bottle cautions called stages, stadium racing, reintroducing North Wilksboro as the All-Star Race, cashless pay at tracks, etc......

I'll give semi-props for busting cheaters, though they still should do a TOTAL DQ, not just points/fines.....Parts of which they turn around and rescind anyway. #hollowpenalty

[ron.brown11]

I love racing at Bristol, just not on dirt. I watched maybe 25 minutes of the race, but only during commercial breaks on the program that I was watching. It breaks my heart to see a great track like that, turned into a temp facility. If NASCAR wants to run dirt, go to a good dirt track. I think you will see the same thing when the go to Chicago this summer. All the talking heads will scream what a great success it was, and Daytona will probably ram a few more of them down our throats, before they quietly fade away. I expect the same outcome for the Clash race in LA.

If you want to watch A LOT of dirt racing, from all over the US, get FloRacing!! As anybody can tell that reads this forum, I'm not a huge dirt fan anymore. But I do still watch some of their races. As I grew up in Ohio, and I've been to Eldora (the very first World 100) & Florence, KY (dirt late model hall of fame) numerous times. Also a couple of times in Lawrenceburg, IN. So I usually watch some of the races from there. There is a ton of coverage from Tulsa, except for the Sat main for Chili Bowl. I bet that might change now that Lucas Oil has pulled out. I am not a paid spokesperson for FloRacing, but they are also a TX company, based here in Austin. They only do annual subscriptions, but I think it's well worth it. My renewal in Jan was $149. for the year. This coming Sat there are races from 10 different dirt tracks, and in some areas the racing season hasn't even started yet. If it's variety that you want, you can also watch asphalt, drag racing, snowmobile, and racing from Australia. Because I love asphalt racing, Flo has been a God send. Two years ago, I had NBC/SN and it was decent. Then they shut down their sports net. At the time, FloRacing showed mostly dirt circle track racing, and drag racing. If you don't want to hear anything positive about NASCAR, don't read the next sentence. When NBC/SN bailed, NASCAR helped Flo get the equipment and broadcast teams together, to show a good amount of asphalt stuff.

This year they are showing even more races, from new tracks as well. When Dale Jr, Jeff Burton, Justin Marks & Kevin Harvick bought out the Cars Tour, now all of their races will be on Flo. As an old modified owner/driver, I still love the mods. All of the Whelen Modified Tour races are on Flo, and they expanded the number of races this season because of the live coverage. Stafford Speedway, I think has the best weekly racing in the US, if you like mods. They run a very tight ship for a Friday night of races. I don't think I've ever seen a SK Mod or an SK Lite mod feature that didn't start at least 28 cars. Their shows are normally over in 3.5-4.0 hours, and that's with usually 4 (sometimes 5) classes running. Before they closed down Thunderhill, I lived 8 miles from the track. If I drove to the track, only went into the grandstands, and had a burger & a soda, I spent more for that then for an entire month of Flo. Yes, I know that nothing compares to the sounds/smells of being at the track, and I miss both. But since I can't go, Flo sure is a really good value. Also, if you can't watch the races live, no problem. You can watch the entire program at anytime day or night. I went back a couple of weeks ago, to re-watch a Whelen Mod race from New Smyrna back in Feb. Just for giggles, I scrolled back through Flo's schedule from last year, just to see if I could look that far back. No problem. Oh yeah, if you're into this, they also showed the Dakar Rally. 

[rebelracewriter]

45 minutes ago, ron.brown11 said:

If you want to watch A LOT of dirt racing, from all over the US, get FloRacing!!

I'm already paying 250/month for regular tv and crappy internet.....And the other options suck worse in channel selection.....The joys of hill country living.

[MikePeters95]

I enjoyed the Bristol dirt race.  It looked like good racing, and lots of side by side and watching them run the top was awesome in a car that shouldn't be able to do that.

I do wish they'd bring Eldora back in the trucks, that was awesome.

Just a normal car guy that enjoys cars.

Then again I have pretty off the wall ideas like one race per track layout and running Cup at Milwaukee, Iowa, Pikes Peak, Memphis, Kentucky, and any other paved oval greater than .75 miles that holds over 30k people in the USA, as well as El Dorado Speedway south of the Border.

It's a TV product first, a spectator product second as a business model.  90% the folks I talk to thought it was awesome.

Edited April 11, 2023 by MikePeters95

[rails]

3 hours ago, rebelracewriter said:

I'm already paying 250/month for regular tv and crappy internet.....And the other options suck worse in channel selection.....The joys of hill country living.

I sure hear you on this deal. My cable bill at my lake house at Canyon lake is 190 a month. No internet. I have a guy coming out of San Antonio coming out this week to see if we can find a spot to mount a dish to a post and get a signal. Lot of trees around my house, we’ll see. 

[Josh42]

I think this is the last Bristol Dirt race. Every year they have made an annoucement about the next years ticket sells for the dirt race and this year nothing was mentioned for next year.  I think this race has run its course go back to the concrete. If they want to continue to run dirt go to a place like Eldora, Port Royal, Williams Grove, Knoxville but do it with actual dirt cars and make it the all star race.

[ron.brown11]

I hear you Rebelracewriter, it ain't cheap anymore. I'm blessed/cursed to have Optimum. I get the standard channels, and they throw in HBO. Plus I have 1 gig internet from them as well. That costs $193 per month for both. It's not cheap, but fairly inline with pretty much everyone else. The curse part is that when their services are working, it good. If something stops working, who knows when they might show up. I'd much rather have Spectrum, but for some reason that they can't explain, they aren't in our subdivision. Santa Rita Ranch isn't a small entity either. I have sat and talked with the man that single handedly built this place, and he assures me that there is no exclusivity contract with Optimum. So I pay less than $210 for cable, internet and Flo, not cheap but tolerable. Plus, the majority of their cables are fiber optic. That really helps when streaming races.

[HiTech]

22 hours ago, rails said:

I sure hear you on this deal. My cable bill at my lake house at Canyon lake is 190 a month. No internet. I have a guy coming out of San Antonio coming out this week to see if we can find a spot to mount a dish to a post and get a signal. Lot of trees around my house, we’ll see. 

well hope u dont get cloud cover and worst rain .. never will put dish on my home again  ..

[24nomo]

Hopefully soon Elon Musk will get us Starlink here in South Texas.  

[ron.brown11]

We can only hope..

 

[RodneyRodriguez]

Yeah this stuff has been ppv for sometime but I do think Cup races on "free tv" this season are like 12-14 of them. BUT to watch them free don't you still have to buy a converter? lol

It's the wave of the future did y'all see the new NFL/You Tube package, yikes. I will say that I do like the racing streamers simply because of the content you have at your finger tips. They all do do good work, it's hard work all reliant on an internet connection nothing sicker than not being able to get something on the air.  The new TV deal will be crazy but it is what is. I'd honestly like to see NASCAR just do their own deal that could take care of a lot of the too many commercials thing and be soley dedicated to the sport. Sprinke in some weekly racing too. 

[ron.brown11]

The CARS Tour is running at Hickory Speedway this Sat. Here's a little glimpse as to what name owners can do for a series. For the first time in the CARS Tour series history (just 8 years), they are having to run a last chance race. Since Jr, Justin Marks, Jeff Burton, & Kevin Harvick bought out the tour, they have added races, increased purses, and have all of the races being seen live online. That has lead to now having last chance races. This should give all asphalt racers hope. Racing needs leaders. For asphalt racers, that used to mean NASCAR, but they have failed to hold up their end of the bargain. So tracks & racers have faded away. Dirt has had strong direction from World of Outlaws, Lucas Oil and others, and they have flourished. They have strong fields & purses, and that has a trickle down effect. I'm very hopeful that the same will happen for the asphalt racers. Harvick has already been at this for a while now, as he's been involved behind the scenes in asphalt racing in CA.

With good asphalt tracks along the Gulf coast, there's a decent chance that some type of series could occur. You have New Smyrna, Five Flags, Mobile, and Houston. I'm sure there are a couple others, but that could be a good start. Add in a track or two from GA & SC and you could have one hell of a touring series. Since the CARS Tour is already having 16 races this season, I'm not sure that they could add 4 or more races to their schedule. But if there were enough interest from racers in this area, maybe they could start a sister series. And to spice it up, have crossover races between the two. Wouldn't that be something?? By having a series along the Gulf coast, it also wouldn't be as bad for the tow. Plus, if the 2 series could happen, it would allow drivers to get track time at different tracks. That's a good start to help aspiring drivers get their name out there. Look how that has helped Kaden Honeycutt's career so far. 

Of course, I can still hope for a new track in TX to be in the mix too..