Although superspeedway races have always delivered the biggest thrills, Daytona 500 opening the season and Talladega drawing fans in droves, the Next Gen era has tilted the scales toward intermediates, where the cars perform best, leaving short tracks and superspeedways (at least in Stage 1) lagging behind. Even so, Chase Elliott recently urged new fans to make their first trip to a short track.
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For Elliott, Bristol Motor Speedway’s night race stands as one of the sport’s crown jewels. While the Gen 7 cars have dulled the action on such tracks by making passing nearly impossible under NASCAR’s parity-driven rules, Elliott insists the spectacle under the lights is still must-see.
On a recent episode of BobbyCast, Elliott explained, “It’s only a half mile, so it’s a pretty small place. But to me, it’s not so much about the track there as it is about the experience. I just think it is such a great place to go watch a race. Like anytime my friends ask me, where should we go or meet somebody for the first time, getting them into NASCAR and they want to come check it out, I always say the Bristol Night Race, truthfully.”
According to Elliott, the race gives people a true appreciation and understanding of what the NASCAR drivers do, and seeing it up close in a stadium-like environment. It’s just not prominent in NASCAR (the night races). That’s why the race is more special and faster. It’s tight-quarters racing.
The audience also needs to be very attentive. And that’s why Bristol night racing is something Elliott grew up appreciating, and he believes it does a great job of exemplifying that today.
This year, with one race at the track already done, where Larson dominated 411 laps of 500 to win, Elliott had finished P15, while the second race is scheduled for September 13.
Bristol marks the third race in the Round of 16 playoff slate, and Elliott boasts a strong record at the track, with an average finish of 11.3. Before then, he will set his sights on Darlington and Gateway, the first two stops of the opening round.
