2020 NASCAR Thread

Agreed, but it's been 16 years and counting since the last Cup race. The last Truck race there was 2013. Hillenburg defaulted on the loan shortly afterwards and some group bought the place at auction for $3 million. There have been promises of races or racing series since, but it's mostly been talk without any cash backing it up.

The governor has "pledged" as much as $8 million from the state, but that's obviously contingent on somebody actively upgrading the facility to current standards. Just repairing the track surface might be cost prohibitive. I can't imagine Sandhills summers have been very kind to the place.

If NASCAR gave The Rock two good weather dates in advance AND fronted the TV money to help cover the cost of upgrading, maybe a white knight might ride in. For cripes sakes, they're willing to spend piles of money on downsizing California Speedway to a goofy (and Mickey Mouse) half-mile.

Although I will say there was nothing like watching the green flag and thinking, "Hey, just 492 laps to go!" (There's a reason it was nicknamed the 24 Hours of Rockingham.)

 

It will need work, sir. But it's nowhere near as far gone as North Wilkesboro. IMO, the only hope that had went when Junior Johnson died.

I don't think Rockingham is as far gone as some might think. They still hold races. The stands are fine. Mow the grassy areas and the RVs and vehicles will be fine.

But please ... no more 500-mile races at the former North Carolina Motor Speedway. The cars are so much more dependable. Hurts the quality of the race. Leave the 600 in Charlotte - at least the lights help with an event that drags on that long - but, IMO, shortening some of these races will improve the quality of the product.

 

I don't know how often anyone else goes through there, but the infrastructure through there is greatly improved. The work the state has done on 74 is awesome. That takes care of one problem of holding a race at Rockingham: you actually can get there.

 

Update:


Proposed 2021 Cup schedule features road racing, new venues

Proposed 2021 Cup Series schedule
Feb. 14 | Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway

Feb. 21 | Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway

Feb. 28 | Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway

March 7 | Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway

March 14 | Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway

March 21 | Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway

March 28 | Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (dirt)

April 4 | Easter

April 10 | Martinsville (Va.) Speedway

April 18 | Richmond (Va.) Raceway

April 25 | Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway

May 2 | Kansas Speedway

May 9 | Darlington (S.C.) Raceway

May 16 | Dover (Del.) International Speedway

May 23 | Circuit of the Americas (COTA)

May 30 | Charlotte Motor Speedway

June 6 | Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway

June 13 | All-Star Race (Texas Motor Speedway)

June 20 | Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway

June 26-27 | Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (doubleheader)

July 4 | Road America

July 11 | Atlanta Motor Speedway

July 18 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway

July 25 | Off Weekend (Olympics)

August 1 | Off Weekend (Olympics)

August 8 | Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International

August 15 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course

August 22 | Michigan International Speedway

August 28 | Daytona International Speedway

Sept. 5 | Darlington Raceway

Sept. 11 | Richmond Raceway

Sept. 18 | Bristol Motor Speedway

Sept. 26 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Oct. 3 | Talladega Superspeedway

Oct. 10 | Charlotte Roval

Oct. 17 | Texas Motor Speedway

Oct. 24 | Kansas Speedway

Oct. 31 | Martinsville Speedway

Nov. 7 | Phoenix Raceway

 

Goodbye, boring Brickyard 400!

 

I went to the first. Feeling my age this morning.

 

As did I. The idea sounded awesome, but the interest wore off quickly when it became apparent Cup cars could not pass each other. Plus, there's a certain excitement level of seeing cars slicing and dicing at 225 rather than a 180 mph parade. Plus, the tire fiasco basically doomed the whole thing.

 

The Bodines knew how to pass there.

 

So let's go to Road America on July 4 instead of where we should be going (Daytona).

Also interesting that there are two bye weeks for the Olympics.

NBC to NASCAR: "You are not scheduling any races during the Olympics."
NASCAR: "Why not?"
NBC/Comcast: "The races will be airing on the local public access channel."

 

I realize that the drivers are better at this than they used to be, but seeing a bunch of guys drive straight into the gravel trap at Watkins Glen is not my idea of interesting.