The second-ever NASCAR race, held in the inaugural 1949 season, was on a 4.150-mile road course in Daytona Beach. Although the sport has mostly shown a strong affinity for ovals since then, road courses have continued to play a big role in bringing diversity and keeping fans engaged. But how much is too much? A recent discussion on X throws light on the prevailing sentiment.
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The Formula 1 Las Vegas street circuit opened in 2023 and quickly found chemistry with the open-wheel racing fandom. This led to a thread on X asking stock car racing fans if they’d like to see NASCAR use the track in the future. One user wrote, “Pls no, we have enough road courses on the schedule.” The 2025 Cup Series season is set to have five road course races.
Understandably, traditionalists don’t want to see the sport move away from oval racing any further. Another followed, “No. No more road racing.” One reason given for this dislike of road courses is that the heavy 3,000-lb cars aren’t suited for the track type and belong to the ovals. However, a counterargument can be made that the challenge precisely lies there.
Teams face quite a mind-bending task in preparing their cars to race on road or street courses. The demand that is on them is part of the game.
One fan who could understand this wrote, “I would like to see NASCAR race in more street courses but I don’t think Vegas is where it should be. They already have a permanent track there and I would like to see races elsewhere. Like Canada or maybe a cup race in Portland or Seattle.”
The Las Vegas street course is amazing
I know it’s almost impossible, but would you like to see NASCAR race here?pic.twitter.com/eqNfLMx0tE
— The Daily Downforce (@dailydownforce) November 27, 2024
The Chicago Street Course that debuted in 2023 has been a big hit with fans. It was introduced as a measure to attract the younger generation and it served its purpose.
It is only fair that NASCAR continues down this path to increase its popularity on a global scale. Regardless of what sensibility there might be from a business perspective, the purists are going to hold their opinions.
One such fan harshly said, “I don’t wanna see a Nascar cup car on anything but an Oval!!! Road Courses suck! Doesn’t matter what series drives on them, they always suck!!”
It cannot be denied that road and street courses present huge benefits to stock car racing and its future. It will be interesting to see how the promotion handles any backlash from this section of the fandom when the stake is driven deeper.
