A Sign of a Good Thing

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will Return to the Legendary "Rock" in the fall - Credit to SPEEDTV.com

Over the past few decades the NASCAR world has seen its fair share of good racing facilities close down due to lack of funding and lack of interest. Many of these tracks, such as Nazareth and North Wilkesboro, were unique and offered great racing. Memphis, Mansfield and Lucas Oil Raceway, three other tracks that have closed within the last couple of years, have seen some incredible old-style short track racing since they started hosting races. Lately, the news has not been that great and the continual track closing has been something that NASCAR fans are getting used to. In the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series, almost all of their stand-alone tracks (tracks that are not run on the Sprint Cup schedule) have been taken off their schedules. The only stand-alone tracks that remain are the two road course races in the Nationwide Series of Montreal and Road America (even though Montreal is in serious question), and Iowa Speedway. This year, we have already learned that both Lucas Oil Raceway and Nashville Super Speedway are no longer on the schedule.

With the two lower series slowly losing their identities and basically running all the races that the Cup Series runs, I have had trouble trying to see a bright light in all of this mess. With many good short tracks losing all of their funding, it’s difficult to imagine NASCAR’s two lower series coming out of this clean. A month ago I was sure that any news relating to the addition or removal of tracks from the schedule would be bad news. This weekend, however, my mindset changed slightly. It was announced that the legendary “Rock” would be back on the Truck Schedule.

Rockingham Speedway, simply known as “The Rock”, has been very close to many fans’ hearts, most of which were broken when it was taken off the schedule after 2004.  In 2007, after an auction was held, Andy Hillenburg (former driver and car owner) bought the speedway for $4.4 million. Since then, he’s been working endlessly to try and get this track back on the NASCAR schedule. In 2008, the ARCA racing series raced there, which marked the first race under new ownership. Up until this season, ARCA has raced at this track every year.

About a month ago it was announced that the speedway was undergoing some renovations, mainly the installation of safer barriers, in preparation for potentially being placed on the NASCAR schedule. Officially this past week, Hillenburg’s dream that he shared with many fans around the nation came true. The Rock is back on the schedule.

There are a couple other positive things that are slowly taking shape. Rick Crawford stated a couple months ago that he is interested in having his track, Mobile International Speedway, make an appearance on the Camping World Truck Series circuit. Although this may not happen in 2012, it is excellent that something like this is even in the works. Another positive story is that Gateway has a new owner and is opening once again, starting with the NHRA next year.

Although there are a few positive things coming out of the NASCAR track closing mess, the problems are far from over. Recently, I was notified that Darlington is no longer on the truck schedule. Although it is a track that is on the Sprint Cup Schedule, Darlington is a timeless, unique track that should be run at least once, maybe even twice, in every series. With tracks like Lucas Oil and Nashville leaving large holes in each schedule, and possibly with one of the best races of the year in Montreal being in serious question, the problems are far from over. There is a lot of healing that is still left to be done and the re-opening of The Rock is only the beginning of that process. I have hope for the future, but things need to keep happening in order to continue to improve the situation of these circuits.

Another One Bites the Dust

Start of the 2010 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250-credits to Speedtv.com

Yesterday, I saw an all-too familiar site on Jayski.com. It looks like yet another track is being shut out of NASCAR’s top-3 divisions. Gateway International Speedway, the 1.25 mile, is the latest victim of these harsh times. The owner of this venue, Dover Motorsports Inc., recently closed the doors on another one of its tracks (Memphis Motorsports Park) and now is stuck looking for a buyer. Along with these two currently defunct tracks, DMI is left with Nashville Superspeedway and the historic Dover International Speedway. With only its flagship track and its concrete speedway in Nashville, which track will be the next to go?

Over the last twenty years, NASCAR’s top series have waved good-bye to various  tracks. These include legendary circuits such as Riverside International Raceway, North Carolina Motor Speedway (Rockingham), North Wilkesboro Motor Speedway, Nazareth Speedway, Hickory Motor Speedway, Mansfield Motor Speedway, and the Milwaukee Mile. Every single one of these venues held great racing and it is truly sad to no longer see these venues on any circuit. There is one thing that stands out with this list: none but the road course of Riverside is longer than 1.25 miles (Gateway).

The 1988 Budweiser 400 at Riverside

When the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway opened in 1996, owner Bruton Smith (CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc.) wanted this track to make an appearance in the 1997 season for all three series. In order to do so, he and New Hampshire Motor Speedway owner Bob Bahre, bought out North Wilkesboro and closed its spring date to make way for the new “cookie-cutter” track, while Bahre’s track took a second date in the fall, which completely wrote off North Wilkesboro. Over the next decade, NASCAR saw an increase in more intermediate tracks, such as Homestead Miami Speedway (first NASCAR race in 1995 with the Busch Series), Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, and Kansas Speedway. Other similar tracks have made appearances in the Nationwide Series. When these tracks are added to the schedule, others have to be taken away, such as North Wilkesboro and Rockingham Speedway (which was closed for Texas’ second date in 2005).

The point that I am trying to get across is that, although many new tracks have state-of-the art venues and are located in places where more people can attend, they lack the kind of racing a good half-mile or even mile-oval produces. Yes, most of these tracks have far exceeded other tracks in excitement, such as the Auto Club Speedway or Pocono, but NASCAR shouldn’t yield more than one quarter of their races in the Sprint Cup to these types of tracks. The Camping World Truck Series was practically built on short track racing, such as 1-70 and Evergreen. Heck, the last race at Mansfield Motorsports Park produced one of the best finishes I have ever seen when Donnie Lia bounced off David Starr and somehow made it three-wide on this short half-mile track to take the victory.

When news hits that another one of these tracks is laid to rest for the time being, I can’t help but feel a bit of frustration. Now, as a mere fan of the series, I have to accept the fact that when a track does not have the funding and support to keep going, very little can be done. It’s an unfortunate occurrence that is becoming all too familiar. After saying adios to both Memphis and Milwaukee last year, I had hoped that it would be the end of it for now. On the bright side, the Nationwide series now returns to the historic Road America and the trucks have a date with the lady in black (Darlington). My only hope is that another track deserving of a date will replace Gateway in the 2011 season.

As the chase rolls around, there are constant talks and murmurs about what may happen next year with the schedule. I’ve read many times in various places that Brian France (CEO of NASCAR) says that the new schedule will be sure to make an impact. Other murmurs have included either Las Vegas or Kansas or both having a second date, while tracks such as Atlanta Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway may have to give up one of their two dates. This all-too familiar scenario is something that all racing fans should be used to and be prepared for in the future. With Gateway being the latest track to leave, we can only relish the memories it leaves us, including the record-breaking four green-white-checkered finishes in the 2004 (then Craftsman) Truck Series race and the final Nationwide race a couple weeks ago, which had its infamous finish between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski. Although I only got to see a handful of its races, I bid a fond farewell to the little track from Missouri.