NASCAR Update: Why Denny Hamlin Is Happy About Going Back to Concrete in Bristol

When NASCAR announced last year that the Bristol spring race would be on concrete and not on dirt in 2024, many were split about what to make of the Bristol dirt experiment now that it had come to an end, at least for the time being. Some were left wondering if the dirt race on the iconic racetrack should’ve retained its place on the calendar, while some were glad to see concrete return to Bristol. As for Denny Hamlin, one of the top drivers and names in the sport, he falls in the latter category.

Ahead of this Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hamlin was asked whether he was thrilled about Bristol returning to concrete in the spring, to which he said, “I am. I am happy about it for sure.”

“You can argue about fan turnout and whatnot over time and that’s why they changed it but as far as the actual on-track racing, it’s hard to beat, Bristol concrete,” Denny Hamlin further elaborated.

It’s worth mentioning that after Bristol Motor Speedway gave its trackside walls a familiar new look, Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed his thoughts about what he felt lies in the future for the racetrack. Reacting to a video posted by BMS, Earnhardt wrote, “Man, we are just another step closer to getting asphalt back. You don’t know it Bristol, but you are headed in that direction.”

“It’s predestined to return!”

What did Kyle Larson feel about NASCAR racing on dirt in Bristol?

Among the many names from NASCAR who weren’t a fan of dirt in Bristol, Kyle Larson was one. And Larson is somebody who is more than well-versed in what works and what doesn’t in dirt races.

Last year, he confessed that to him, NASCAR putting on dirt in Bristol wasn’t really dirt racing. “Listen, I race a lot of dirt stuff and that is a lot of fun,” he said as per Associated Press in 2023.

“The Bristol dirt stuff, that’s not really dirt racing, or at least what I’m used to.”

So heading into the Bristol spring race, which has a March 17th booking on the calendar, it’ll be interesting to see how, after three years of that race being run on dirt, does on concrete. Surely, there’ll be many who’d be thinking that the dirt race could’ve worked with more patience and more tweaks.

But for now, NASCAR is set to return to Bristol in all its familiar concrete glory.