NASCAR driver Kyle Busch is done with NASCAR races on dirt as the series rolls to the Bristol Dirt Track
This weekend, NASCAR is back on the dirt. The famed half-mile of Bristol Motor Speedway has been transformed back to a dirt track and is set to host the NASCAR Cup Series and Truck Series.
It marks the first dirt race with the NASCAR Next Gen car. However, despite a new car, the dirt racing limitations remain.
NASCAR drivers have embraced dirt racing in recent years. However, that doesn’t mean that those same drivers are in favor of seeing the NASCAR Cup Series, a predominantly pavement series on dirt tracks.
Earlier this week, Kyle Larson was vocal against the way the Bristol Dirt race is executed. He knocked the use of windshields as most dirt cars in the country lack windshields. With windshields, the track can’t be tacky as it would cover the windshield and block their view.
Kyle Larson knocks the NASCAR Dirt race at Bristol due to windshields
The car itself is just one of many limitations NASCAR currently has when running on dirt. Scheduling, track contracts and safety also put limitations on where NASCAR can race.
Kyle Busch is over it…
Kyle Busch
“I know a little bit more about the dirt landscape than I did a year ago. But, otherwise, the same,” Kyle Busch stated earlier this week.
“Cut the cord,” Busch stated of the Cup cars on dirt.
He added, “As Richard Petty said, ‘Dirt takes our sport backwards.’ “
Busch concluded, “It’s a mess. Our cars, tracks, it’s not indicative of putting on a good dirt show. I’ve seen good dirt shows.”
What did Richard Petty say?
In 2020, Richard Petty famously knocked NASCAR’s idea to race on dirt. Those comments went viral.
“There’s some politics involved and I don’t want to annihilate NASCAR on this,” Petty told Autoweek in 2020,
“I guess I’m looking at it from an old-time deal because we spent years and years and years trying to become a professional sport.”
“Years and years to get away from that stigma. But dirt-track racing is not professional, so we’re going backward. It would be like taking a professional football team and going back to play at a high school field.”
Full Comments: Richard Petty says dirt track racing ‘isn’t professional’ as NASCAR returns to dirt
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Kyle Busch | Bristol Motor Speedway | NASCAR
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