Bristol dirt race on Easter night delivers despite challenges
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kevin Harvick wondered why he was racing on dirt and what NASCAR was doing Sunday night after his early exit at Bristol Motor Speedway.
By the time of the finish of the Food City Dirt Race — it took a few hours to get there because of two rain delays that interrupted the event — maybe fans who were wondering the same thing got their answer.
NASCAR did have its challenges, but it had a relatively good race and a great finish on its second attempt at having Cup cars race on the 0.533-mile concrete track covered in 2,300 truckloads of Tennessee red clay and dirt.
Reddick, Briscoe spin in final corner, Kyle Busch wins
The differences in this race compared to the inaugural one a year ago started with the start time — an evening race in hopes of having the track not be so dusty. To try to get a Sunday night audience, NASCAR and FOX decided to run it on Easter Sunday, a day typically considered a nonstarter as a race day on the NASCAR calendar.
The verdict is probably still out on whether NASCAR will try this again next year, but the product Sunday likely didn’t turn many away from at least one more attempt on the Bristol dirt.
"It was fun," said Kyle Larson, one of the most accomplished dirt and NASCAR racers of the past decade. "It felt like a dirt race. Obviously, I think there's some small tweaking that can be done to make it even better. It was overall a really good race.
"I think the rain kind of kept the top a little bit moist and a little faster than probably what could have made the racing better. ... I don’t know how it looked on TV, but it was a pretty fun time from my seat."
Kyle Larson on the Food City Dirt Race
Larson had been vocal about the need for NASCAR to remove the windshields, which would allow the track to be muddier, given that there would be no windshield to get covered. A screen would keep debris from the driver.
NASCAR tested without a windshield last week, but it wasn’t convinced from a safety standpoint and opted to keep them.
So what happened? The windshields got covered with mud early, and NASCAR had to throw a caution just 15 laps into the race so teams could clean the windshields and remove mud from the grille so cars wouldn’t overheat.
"We did a terrible job prepping the track and full of mud ... so we all look like a bunch of bozos coming in to pit because we don’t know how to prep the track," Harvick said.
Harvick added: "If I had my choice, we wouldn’t be doing this anyway. ... What’s the point, really?"
The point is that it takes NASCAR a little back to its roots and creates a different challenge, requiring different racing skills that should generate fan interest.
"I guess the TV ratings will tell that," Harvick said. "If the TV ratings are high, it’ll be great."
Kevin Harvick on the Food City Dirt Race
Notice that both Harvick and Larson mentioned television. When the ratings come out, NASCAR and the teams will be eager to see if racing on Easter, with little competition from other sports, increased viewership.
The decision to race on Easter initially didn’t sit well with many drivers. Track owner Marcus Smith said he thought starting at night and having an Easter celebration service at the track — televised and featuring several celebrities — was essential to racing on the holiday.
Joey Logano said having the Easter celebration on television and reaching fans with it helped him balance the idea of racing on a holiday.
"That is probably the difference-maker in my mind that makes it OK," Logano said. "If we didn’t do that, I’d be totally against it."
Joey Logano on racing on Easter Sunday at Bristol
Smith said ticket sales also were encouraging.
"Dirt has been voted on by the fans — and they told us by their ticket purchasing — that they want dirt back at Bristol," Smith said.
It was hard to compare ticket sales to past years because several spring races at Bristol have been impacted by rain, which often impacts future ticket sales. Putting dirt on Bristol makes it a unique event — and expensive to prepare and then clean — and puts a premium on the night race in the playoffs.
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But several drivers love racing their Cup cars on the Bristol concrete, and as Corey LaJoie put it, it feels like putting makeup on the prettiest girl at the dance.
Those who love dirt racing, though, seemed upbeat. Changing the banking from 19 degrees to progressive banking (16 degrees at the apron to 19 degrees in the upper lane) seemed to help.
"I had a blast," said Chase Briscoe, whose faulty last-lap slide job robbed Tyler Reddick of the win. "The track was way, way better. I don’t know how much the rain helped that, but the banking — everything — was awesome.
"I thought there at the end, you couldn’t put on a better race from a dirt-track standpoint in these cars, so hopefully that sold more tickets for next year and gives it an opportunity to come back because if we keep doing this at night, I think the opportunity to put on a good race is there."
Chase Briscoe on Tyler Reddick after Food City Dirt Race
The question is how good a race can be delivered with stock cars that are 3,500 pounds and not designed to slide like a dirt late model because of the different suspension pieces.
"The biggest thing that hinders me from enjoying this is just the application," race winner Kyle Busch said. "We're trying to do something that isn't applicable, in my opinion. The first 10 laps of the race, everybody is shooting mud off, we're covering everybody's grilles.
"Our windshields are covered with the dirt going off the windshield, stuff like that. ... If we get rid of the windshields, we could have tear-offs and stuff. That's fine, but the cars are 3,500 pounds. You saw what it's like on the last corner, the last lap, to drive around here every single lap. You are on edge, on your toes, just trying not to crash every single lap."
Kyle Busch on the Food City Dirt Race
Busch’s team gave its crew members the option to go home Saturday night after their heat races were completed in the early evening and fly back Sunday afternoon for the race. All but two of them did, thereby allowing most of the crew members to enjoy Easter.
That seemed to be drivers’ biggest concern about the holiday race. Harvick mentioned that he cut an annual Easter vacation short, and several drivers said that while they can have families at the track, they were worried about their crew members. If NASCAR is going to race on Easter, it at least needs to have the excitement and generate the eyeballs to make it worth it.
The common theme throughout the weekend was trying to find a way to take out the windshield and make sure the duct work can work in a way with screens that can keep out the mud.
"This track is fine if they want to come back and do it, but they just need to put a lot of attention and emphasis on the race car itself to make it a proper dirt race car," said Christopher Bell, whose roots are in dirt racing. "With the car that we bring here, we just put ourselves in such a tight box of track prep.
"You need water to eliminate dust, but you put too much water down [and] you have mud, and we can’t have mud either."
Christopher Bell on optimizing NASCAR vehicles to fit dirt tracks
Thinking out loud
Say what you want about NASCAR, but you can’t say it throws in the towel too early when trying to determine whether to continue races. Just look at what it did Sunday.
NASCAR had two times when it could have called the race official because of rain. Instead, NASCAR opted to let the rain move through — the radar showed it would relatively quickly — and got the full 250 laps completed.
Granted, NASCAR had incentive after the second stage, so the race didn’t end with a scoring controversy. Regardless, there were no guarantees that the rain wasn’t going to move out, and NASCAR could have easily said enough was enough, as the race went nearly four hours.
Social spotlight
Stat of the day
Kyle Busch tied a record set by Richard Petty with at least one victory in 18 consecutive years.
They said it
"I feel like Dale Earnhardt Sr. right now. This is awesome. I didn't do anything." — Kyle Busch after his Bristol win
Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
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