1, Fixing dirt tracks that aren’t broken?
Smoky Mountain Speedway is coming off a 2022 season that saw it host its richest race in track history before a capacity crowd. Georgetown Speedway in Delaware proved extremely racy just last weekend for a season-ending race program that I saw firsthand, enjoying an absolutely jaw-dropping sensation of speed.
Yet despite that, both of these successful ovals are done for next year, being reconfigured by their owners into shorter layouts for 2023; Georgetown is rumored to be undergoing a change from its current half-mile into a 0.4-mile oval similar to Bridgeport Speedway, while Smoky Mountain is being shaved down from a 0.4 to a 0.375-mile oval.
Just confirmed! Smoky Mountain Speedway will be converted from a 4/10-mile to a 3/8-mile track for the 2023 season.
📸: @smokymtnspeed’s Facebook https://t.co/9Al0fIidEz pic.twitter.com/hf20HaIlTA
— Jack Cofer (@JackCofer94) November 2, 2022
It’s not that there is no rationale for these decisions. Shorter racetracks put less strain on equipment and also reduce the importance of having a massive engine under the hood, which can in the right circumstances mean better racing for fans while putting less demand on race teams. And in Georgetown’s case, emulating Bridgeport means emulating one of the most competitive racetracks on the East Coast.
But on the other hand, neither Smoky Mountain nor Georgetown appeared to be hurting for car count or fans in 2022. And losing two unique ovals that weren’t broken as racetracks to mimic other ovals already out there is disappointing for a sport in dirt racing that’s in part built on its unique venues.
Besides, Georgetown has plenty of other facility upgrades that need to happen. The racing surface was the one thing there in good shape.
2. Pivotal season end for XR Super Series
NASCAR is done and Formula 1 is academic, but the dirt racing season marches on, with the points crown for the inaugural XR Super Series campaign still up for grabs between Chris Madden and this weekend’s World Finals late model winner, Jonathan Davenport.
The bigger story, though, is the XR series having major competition for its two remaining events in 2022; this weekend’s program at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is going off the same weekend as the Flo Racing Night in America tour is putting on a $53,000-to-win feature at Senoia Raceway in Georgia, a track within much easier driving distance for the majority of the…
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