The Cup Series dirt racing at Bristol Motor Speedway has not gained enough fanfare as it would have expected.
The last Sunday’s Cup Series race marked the third consecutive season NASCAR raced on the makeshift dirt surface at Bristol. While it seemed like an innovative decision from NASCAR three years back, but not everyone is pleased with racing on dirt.
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Surprisingly, one such driver is Kyle Larson, who made a name for himself in dirt racing before his return to the Cup Series in 2021. In fact, he made it clear that he would prefer to race on the concrete surface at Bristol.
“I think we all really enjoy the concrete surface here at Bristol. I think the crowd’s typically bigger – it seems like at this point now for the concrete stuff. I don’t know. It’s up to the series and the promoters, but I would love to get back to running two races on the concrete here,” Larson said.
The 2021 champion then said that the Cup Series “don’t need to be racing on dirt”. He then suggested NASCAR to “cut the cord” on Bristol dirt racing and quoted Richard Petty by saying, “dirt takes our sport backward”.
Larson did not have a good race at Bristol as his car sustained a lot of damage after multiple contacts with Ryan Preece. The 2021 champion so far has had a good season with one win and 3 top-five finishes.