Everything is bigger in Texas, including the continued in-hospitality when it comes to the racing conditions at Texas Motor Speedway.
The intermediate length speedway in Fort Worth continues to be one of the most treacherous stops on the schedule in the aftermath of an ill-advised reconfiguration and a racing surface that remains deeply stained with a traction compound applied in the wrong spot.
Reconfigured in 2017, Texas Motor Speedway bit Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch in practice, two of the best to ever compete in the Cup Series. The biggest problem with the track is that the track is so deeply stained with the traction compound that it is described as ‘black ice,’ until enough heat is built into it to create stickiness.
Ryan Preece articulated what that was like on Saturday before qualifying.
“Last year they didn’t put resin down and the higher and higher you get, there’s still some of it left,” he said. “When you end up in a place where there’s not enough grip for the expectations you have, that’s when it becomes a problem.”
Busch said he built six numbers tight the previous run in practice, made a slight adjustment, and just went around. Johnson said Turns 1 and 2 is so narrow and the usable racing groove is so precise and he just didn’t hit it right.
And that’s by themselves so imagine how tricky it is in a group.
Texas Motor Speedway needed a repave before 2017 because it took days to dry the surface after any storm due to the weepers in the track. But Chase Elliott doesn’t understand why the banking in Turns 1 and 2 needed to be reduced and the lane narrowed.
“I thought we had a great track, honestly,” Elliott said. “It was phenomenal. One of my favorite places to come. Heck, you could run all over this place.
“It just blew me away when they did what they did. I was just shocked that they did that. It was disappointing compared to what we had. It came from rain delays and not being able to get the track dry, and I get that, but I’d rather have rain delays, and I don’t want to speak for the fans but I’m a fan, but I’d rather wait out a weeper than watch what we have now.”
It’s NASCAR’s most reviled track.
Kyle Larson, despite having no shortage of success there over the years including the pole for the race on Sunday, said last year that anything here would be better than the status quo.
Be careful what you wish for, as explained by Busch.
“If I were a betting man, I think they’ll make it another Atlanta,” he said.
In other words, re-configuring it into a drafting, pack racing track, in the spirit of the 2022 layout of Atlanta Motor Speedway — something that while begrudgingly unique is also something drivers are universally opposed to having another of.
Christopher Bell echoed those sentiments last fall too but caught himself.
“I’d be up for anything,” he said. “Certainly, if there’s a mile-and-a-half on the schedule that needs adjusting, it would be Texas. I think everybody would agree with that.”
And then the pause.
“Except Atlanta. One of those is enough.”
But Alex Bowman says a repave and reconfiguration again is probably necessary.
“There’s not really a configuration of race car that has seemed to work well there or anything you can spray on the racetrack,” Bowman said. “Some kind of reconfiguration is probably the best bet. Obviously, it’s a huge place for us, and we want it to race better than it does.”
Preece is ultimately indifferent to all this stuff as a racer.
“It’s the same for everybody,” he said. “I don’t know how long it will take for the bottom to wear out to where you can start moving.”
And count Bubba Wallace as the one guy that seems to enjoy racing there.
“I found that as soon as I started to enjoy it, the results started flowing,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to be on the list of favorites. I’m not saying that I am a favorite but I feel pretty good about it and we are putting a whole race together away from having a shot.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.