Motorsport News

Drivers On Texas Reconfiguration: ‘Anything Would Be Better’

Drivers On Texas Reconfiguration: 'Anything Would Be Better'

FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas Motor Speedway was reconfigured before the start of the 2017 season, and the new layout has proved to be unpopular with fans and drivers. After having two Cup Series dates from 2005 to 2020, Texas lost its spring race to Circuit of the Americas for 2021. In compensation, the track was awarded the All-Star Race. But that deal was for just two seasons, and Texas will be down to one Cup weekend for the first time since 2004 next season.

With the track losing a weekend, there have been questions about the future of the speedway going forward. There have also been rumors that the track will be repaved or reconfigured in the near future, but nothing is concrete.

During Saturday morning’s (Sept. 24) press conferences in the Texas Motor Speedway media center, Frontstretch asked Kyle Larson what he would want a potential Texas repave to look like. Let’s just say that he didn’t sugarcoat his response.

Larson swept Texas in 2021 by winning the All-Star Race and the 500-mile race in the fall. It’s telling that he wants Texas to start over from square one.

That initial interview set the tone on Saturday afternoon, and drivers were asked what they would want out of a potential Texas reconfiguration. Driver responses varied, but just about everyone agreed that trying anything would be better than the current layout.

Alex Bowman had a press conference 15 minutes after Larson, and he was asked the same question after Larson’s blunt response moments earlier. He echoed the same sentiments, but also expressed concerns about the potential for Texas to become a clone of Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“If I think you leave it up to the drivers, you have what Kyle [Larson] said, you know, short track of some sort,” Bowman said. “If you leave it up to the fans, I’ve heard a lot of people want another Atlanta. I don’t really think any of the drivers want another Atlanta, but we’re not here for us, we’re here for the fans, right?

“It’ll be interesting to see if anything does happen. Obviously there’s a lot of rumors flying around. But the racetrack we have right now has not produced what we want, right? There’s lot of people working hard on it…

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