NASCAR has been bold with its decision-making involving the schedule in recent years after not doing much with it before the 2021 season. It is a major shift in the dynamic as NASCAR continues to become more appealing to different cities and countries.
The racing series started going to Los Angeles, CA for the Busch Light Clash in The Coliseum during the 2022 season and now has a historic race set for early July. The Chicago Street Course will represent the first street course event in NASCAR history.
This doesn’t even include Bristol Dirt which completed its third straight season of competition. However, the future of the dirt track has been up in the air and there is finally a sense of what is likely coming next for the venue.
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NASCAR not expected to return to Bristol Dirt with North Wilkesboro as a potential replacement
Bristol Dirt hosted the first dirt race in the NASCAR Cup Series since the 1971 season in its debut year but it was not a great show overall. The track was not prepared properly which caused single filed racing during the day and forced the sport to move away from double-filed restarts.
It improved in 2022 when NASCAR moved the race into night-time conditions. The racing was better than the 2021 season but still lacked a little bit. However, the third event at Bristol Dirt was a great showing.
The racing series had the track prepared to perfection and allowed the competitors to drive it like a true dirt track. There were several dirt racing drivers in the front and they praised the conditions. Still, the future of the race track is still uncertain.
Following the Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway, The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi released an episode from their podcast, The Teardown, that discussed several NASCAR topics, including the future of Bristol Dirt.
“Bristol Dirt is not happening. I’m pretty confident from the conversations I’ve had, Bristol Dirt is not happening next year. I would very shocked if it happens. If Bristol Dirt does happen, it will not happen on Easter Weekend next year.”
Jordan Bianchi on NASCAR’s future at Bristol Dirt
Bianchi seems convinced that Bristol Dirt is not happening next season so what could be the replacement? Would NASCAR simply go back to a second concrete date and scrap the dirt racing idea altogether?
In a separate piece by Bianchi and The Athletic, one possibility is that North Wilkesboro Speedway replaces Bristol Dirt on the calendar. It would mark the first points race for the Cup Series at North Wilkesboro since the 1996 season.
The venue returned for the NASCAR All-Star Race and while the racing was not great, it was still a fun atmosphere for everyone involved. North Wilkesboro held a points race for the NASCAR Truck Series so what would be bad about the Cup Series?
It would be another historic step for North Wilkesboro after being shut down. NASCAR has options on the table and we will likely know the official futures of these two venues as the release of the 2024 schedule gets closer.
In the meantime, whether you are watching it live or looking for how to watch NASCAR on TV or another streaming platform, Sportsnaut has you covered for the upcoming race weekend at Nashville Superspeedway!