Rooted in their dirt track upbringing, drivers like Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Kyle Larson feel right at home when the dust starts to fly. For them, racing on dirt isn’t just muscle memory; it’s a return to their roots and nostalgia to the early fans who watched them carve out their careers one slide job at a time.
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Briscoe, who has been delivering good results in the No. 19 car since stepping into Martin Truex Jr.’s seat at Joe Gibbs Racing, acknowledged the thrill that concrete tracks offer with their raw speed, but remains adamant that a place for dirt still belongs on the Cup Series calendar, preferably at a traditional venue like Bristol or Eldora.
On a recent episode of Rubbin’ is Racing with Spider, Briscoe didn’t mince words, saying, “I definitely think we need a dirt track just because we run on every discipline. We have superspeedway, short track, intermediate, road course, and you know, growing up, you’re either a road course guy, a short track racer, or a dirt racer.”
Briscoe argued that a single dirt race would round out the sport’s diversity. He said, “So, there’s no reason to me why we don’t have at least one dirt race. I think it ties in the motorsports as a whole because a lot of us have dirt track background and just our fanbase, right?
“The people that are going to sprint car races are typically watching NASCAR on Sunday and now we have a lot of NASCAR guys going back and running sprint cars. So, I definitely would love to have a dirt race. I don’t think we need more than one, but I think one would be nice.”
Briscoe admitted Bristol dirt had its moments, barring its shaky debut, but added that a return to a purpose-built surface like Eldora would raise the bar. “Eldora certainly would put on a great race,” he said.
NASCAR has tested the waters at Eldora before. The Craftsman Truck Series tore through the track from 2013 to 2019 during the Eldora Dirt Derby. With the facility undergoing extensive upgrades in recent years, the Tony Stewart-owned oval checks all the boxes for a Cup Series venue. Still, the top division has shown little appetite to return to the clay anytime soon.
Bell, who shares Briscoe’s dirt-track DNA, has also championed Eldora as the prime contender for a comeback. In his view, NASCAR missed the boat by not embracing dirt racing with the same conviction it showed for road courses. Bell believes that if the sanctioning body ever decides to circle back, it should go all in, adding two or three dirt events to the schedule to give the format a fair shake.
While the debate continues, Eldora Speedway remains at the top of Bell’s wish list. For drivers who cut their teeth in the mud, the call for dirt isn’t nostalgia. It’s unfinished business.
