KANSAS CITY, Kan. — There was a 10-alarm fire in NASCAR world following the conclusion of last Saturday’s (Sept. 21) night race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The tire wear that the NASCAR Cup Series teams saw at Bristol in March was completely absent last week despite heavy anticipation, and there was a raging blaze on social media among drivers, fans and media members alike after one of the most prestigious races of the year turned into an absolute dud.
The race scored just a 27.2% in Jeff Gluck’s “Good Race Poll,” a shockingly low number considering that every Bristol race had scored at least 60% in the past, and 2021, the final race with the Gen 6 car, scored over 95%.
Perhaps it was the sky-high expectations that were placed on Bristol after an incredible race in March that led to such a fierce backlash. Maybe it was Martin Truex Jr. running top five all night, only to drop to 24th with a speeding penalty and stay there the rest of the night, unable to make a pass. Maybe it was the fact that race winner Kyle Larson led 462 of the 500 laps and won by more than seven seconds. Maybe it was that the building frustration with the Next Gen’s inability to race on short tracks had finally reached a breaking point and boiled over within the fanbase.
Whatever the reason was — and it’s probably some combination of all the above — the discourse surrounding short track racing has reached a crisis point.
On Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin was of the opinion that the short track disappointments are a car problem that NASCAR is trying to fix with tires, as that’s the most economical fix available. The Teardown with Gluck and Jordan Bianchi went even further, wondering how long short track racing can survive in its current state until fans reach indifference and malaise with tracks that had formerly been the series’ bread and butter.
Even NASCAR itself admitted that Saturday’s show fell well short of expectations.
One driver who immediately took to social media to say the opposite? The man who dominated it.
Of course, Larson had the greatest night of everyone present in Thunder Valley, but he also went on the DJD Reloaded podcast during the week to explain why he decided to hit send.
“I think just a culmination of everything,” Larson said. “Fans, NASCAR.”
He mostly stressed frustration at conversation surrounding tire wear, as March was the exception and not the rule.
“Nobody…
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