The second edition of NASCAR at Bristol Dirt showed its colors. This can work. When the race is under green flag conditions, it does work.
If you’ve listened to our podcast, you know I love Bristol Dirt. I want to be open with that. I’m not trying to argue weather or not I want it to succeed – because y’all already know that I do.
I love it for the spectacle – a dirt race on one of NASCAR’s coolest stages, racing for the month including a Winter Classic-esque event for the World of Outlaws and even an invitational that just gives whomever a chance at a maybe once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Did everything I love about the concept show itself on Sunday? Not quite, but my choices and decision making are going to be different than others.’
Kyle Busch took the win in the race after Chase Briscoe’s dive bomb caused himself and race leader at the time Tyler Reddick to spin. The ending was everything that a fan could ask for for the one-off event during the year.
It completely made up for the amount of cautions we saw during the race. It was see-sawish. Some races do that. I would throw 24 cars out there for a 150-lap race, but the logistical issues of that are more complex than that opinion gives them.
Sunday night showed that NASCAR doesn’t need to do that. The track held its course. With 250 laps of green-flag racing, it never rubbered down across the entire surface, like it did in 2021.
Briscoe only had the chance to set up that pass because of the conditions of the race track. And I thought that was a big deal in the scheme of the spectacle.
It seemed like drivers had fun, too.
“I’ve had a lot of fun,” Ryan Blaney said on the FOX broadcast during a rain delay. “We had to come from pretty far back there, honestly. We got to the top 10 and the bottom was finally starting to come in. We were going to stay out there either way. (We wanted) the track position.”
Kyle Larson echoed Blaney’s comments:
Kyle Larson: “It was fun. It felt like a dirt race.” pic.twitter.com/w1KKjxkcXf
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 18, 2022
Most of the drivers that were on the television broadcast speaking about the race seemed to be having a good time.
In fact, the only drivers who spoke negatively of the race or concept of Bristol Dirt were those of whom have had less experience on the dirt track racing surface and are also above the age of 35.
Talk about geezers. (I’m joking).
I understand that they have a reason to do this. If it wasn’t for luck, Busch wouldn’t have won the race. He really wouldn’t have even been in contention if he hadn’t stayed out during the stage two break.
Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick lasted as long in the race as a high schooler the first time they– probably a good place to stop that analogy Connor.
Those guys throw one race away on the schedule every year, because it’s a longshot for them to win it – something they aren’t used to.
If I was in the same spot with that skillset, I would try to get it canceled, too.
But the quote originated by Richard Petty saying NASCAR is taking a step backwards racing on dirt is dumb stupid.
The sport started there. Dirt racing has never been as strong as it is today and it’s continuing to grow. I hope that Bristol Dirt continues to grow, too.
I hope that the event becomes a blockbuster and people beg for a dirt race at a ‘real dirt track.’ (I’d put it at Knoxville one year and Eldora the next and throw Iowa Speedway and another track into the alternating cycles, but that’s my logistic-free wish).
The point being that dirt racing is fun. Let’s have fun and make it a spectacle in the best way possible.
Hopefully, it turns into two dirt races a year, but at the very least I’ll get to take in the Outlaws at the venue.
My overarching point held true with my expectations coming into the race.
Bristol Dirt is an extremely intriguing concept. This race filled my intrigue.
