Running 2023 Motorsports thread

Is there a dirt track anywhere so steeply banked?

Eldora? Lebanon Valley?

 

I don’t think so. This year they put a lot of dirt down at the bottom of the concrete to flatten it out — so much that the iRacing folks had to rescan the track for their Bristol dirt configuration.

 

The whole dirt Bristol thing has always felt pretty preposterously fake to me.

If NASCAR insists on it, maybe Richmond instead.

Or, even better, run a Cup-series ultra-light late model sportsman weekend at Eldora. Same teams. Same drivers, but in their once-a-year super lightweight late model dirt racer.

I think the drivers especially would dig it.

 

Does ARCA still run DuQoin and Springfield? Those would’ve been the most obvious spots to try it if they weren’t going to turn it into a gimmick like they did with Bristol.

 

I don't care what they do to Bristol; I don't think you'll ever see it full again (unless they demolish stands).
I think the sport itself is that much in decay. It's not one track or another.

 

It's worth considering new tracks and new events - if only because right now NASCAR is selling a 75-year-old product to a rapidly diminishing legacy audience.

 

You wanna save Richmond? Turn it back into a half-mile track.

Here’s Chase Briscoe’s take on this year at Bristol (from this article):

“I thought tonight was a great night for NASCAR and a great night for dirt racing. I felt like that was finally the first time we’ve had as close as it’s going to get to what dirt racing is in sprint cars or late models and how you drive them. I just thought, from my vantage point, a great race. I thought that’s why you saw the dirt guys shine tonight because it was finally a real dirt track-style race.
“I thought the track prep guys did a phenomenal job. At the beginning of the day, before we even started the race and they had the trucks out there hot lapping, I thought there was no way the top would ever come in, and it definitely came in. I had a blast from my side.”​

This race was fun, and drivers were able to race all over the track. The people who didn’t like it are predisposed to dislike anything NASCAR ever does and won’t give them a chance in the first place.

 

I don't disagree with you or Chase Briscoe.

But the truth is NASCAR has been losing audience for a while. In the stands* and on TV.

I don't know how I'd fix it.

Trouble is, neither does NASCAR.

https://www.sportscasting.com/nascar-broadcaster-sounds-alarm-bells-decline-2023-television-ratings/



*I think they stopped releasing actual attendance figures a while ago, so it's hard to say for sure.

 

F1 on the other hand . . .upupup.

F1 revenue boosted to $2.5 billion in 2022 amid record fan attendance

How much of that can we attribute to Netflix?

 

Damn near all of it.

 

I haven’t seen a lot of the old Richmond. The main race I remember was the winter race in 1986. The track was so dirty that it might as well have been a dirt race. Earnhardt was up on the car door wiping off the window — while he was driving the car. I’m 2MCM, Driftwood and aumann have seen the clip 100 times.

 

How does Jim France see the shit show that’s race control every week and not make sure heads roll?