Daytona and now Austin: Why is road circuit racing on the rise in NASCAR …

Earlier this week, NASCAR introduced that the second spherical of the 2021 season of the Cup, Xfinity and Camping World pickup sequence won’t happen at the Fontana Oval, Calif., As initially deliberate however on the racetrack. Daytona Road. On the one hand, it is a query of limiting journey to a time of 12 months (February) when it is feared that restrictions associated to Covid-19 are nonetheless in drive in California. Thus, NASCAR will current its first three races of the season in Florida, the Daytona 500 and the road circuit occasion previous the race on the Homestead-Miami oval.

The different motive, much less publicized but additionally very actual, is the want of NASCAR to additional improve the worth of the Speed ​​Weeks at Daytona International Speedway by eliminating “time-outs”. Thus, the “Roar” (the 3 days of pre-season testing) of the IMSA will happen the week earlier than the 24 Hours and not at the starting of January, and the actions of NASCAR will start as of the weekend following the huge race of Endurance with the ARCA sequence race and 500 mile qualifying. Once the NASCAR races are over, the bike will take over the venue for a complete of almost 6-7 weeks of continuous occasions in Daytona. For the followers, it is distinctive and we will solely be blissful about it.

Holding a road race so early in the NASCAR sequence season is an amazing first, but it surely clearly demonstrates the American group’s want to diversify its provide: fewer occasions on ovals of 1.5 miles or extra, and extra road circuits. In 2021, a minimum of 7 of the 36 races of the NASCAR Cup sequence season will likely be contested on road circuits. A file.

In the previous, that is to say earlier than the arrival of drivers like Jeff Gordon in the Nineteen Nineties, NASCAR road races had been extraordinarily uncommon and the outposts had been usually monopolized by pilots specializing in such a route, engaged by some groups to switch their incumbent who solely raced on the oval. The mentality modified with the arrival of Gordon and a number of different younger wolves, who didn’t give their place to Watkins Glen, Sonoma or elsewhere… and it made excellent races!

The phenomenon rapidly grew, particularly with the Xfinity sequence. In this regard, keep in mind that at the time when the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit in Montreal introduced its annual occasion in this sequence (then referred to as Nationwide), scores on American tv had been near information. Same factor with the pickup truck check introduced for a number of years in Mosport, Ontario.

For NASCAR, if the TV networks are blissful, then that is clearly a good suggestion! Sportingly, we should additionally admit that seeing a race at Elkhart Lake is much more thrilling than a 4 or 5 hour spherical at Kentucky Speedway. Without eradicating the conventional oval races, which mustn’t ever disappear underneath penalty of seeing NASCAR lose its id, road circuit races present a really attention-grabbing addition to the season.

After the Daytona road circuit on February 21, the 2nd road circuit assembly of the three essential NASCAR sequence will happen from May 21 to 23 at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), in Austin. An incredible first… And a pleasant guess for NASCAR! Because we discovered the day earlier than yesterday that it is not on the small COTA monitor that the Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Alex Labbé or Raphaël Lessard will carry out in their respective sequence however on the lengthy circuit of 5.513 km. The similar as the one the place Formula 1 or MotoGP run.

In 2021, if the F1 United States Grand Prix and the MotoGP race happen, will probably be a primary in the historical past of motorsport that, in the similar 12 months, these three organizations (F1, Moto GP and NASCAR) evolve on a strictly equivalent monitor.

2020 has been a troublesome 12 months, but it surely has compelled NASCAR executives to innovate, to interrupt their habits in terms of selecting tracks and occasions. And it paid off! TV scores elevated on American tv and the championships had been hotly contested. We cannot look ahead to 2021 with, hopefully, spectators admitted with out too many restrictions to those road circuit races… and to all the others!

*** Do not miss our 2020 NASCAR sequence assessment in the newsstand version of Pole-Position journal. To learn the digital model, click here.