Texas Motor Speedway is known for failing to deliver a thrilling race show. There have always been concerns regarding the racing surface at the mile-and-a-half venue at Fort Worth. Lack of grip and even fewer opportunities to make the pass have been persisting issues at the venue, but surprisingly, Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race was a big improvement.

It’s not that all the issues regarding racing at Texas were resolved overnight. Thanks to supposedly the sketchy racing conditions, the event saw a total of 16 cautions and multiple wrecks that resulted in numerous DNFs. However, while the thrilling double-overtime finish win by Chase Elliott prompted many to call this race the savior for the racetrack, Brett Griffin was just not sold on the narrative. In fact, he labeled the race as “garbage” and even credited the drivers for making the race entertaining for the fans.

Brett Griffin shares his honest and unfiltered opinion after the Cup race in Texas

One of the key indicators for the success of a NASCAR Cup Series event is Jeff Gluck’s poll on X. After last weekend’s race, he once again asked the race fans to share their thoughts on the race, and 73 percent of them agreed it was a good race. However, Griffin had a rather contrasting take on the same, which he shared during the recent episode of the ‘Door Bumper Cleaner’ podcast.

Griffin said, “If I were a fan sitting in the stands having a cold beer, I would say that was an entertaining race, and I think again we thank the drivers for that.” Highlighting the major drawbacks and negatives, he added, “I think the tire was garbage, and I think the racing was garbage, the ability to pass was garbage, but thankfully the drivers stepped up and made it entertaining.”

In all fairness, it wasn’t the worst race of the season so far, especially if we compare this to Martinsville or the COTA race. Rather, it was a big improvement from last year’s fall race. Is the racing at Texas ever going to be a barn burner? Probably not, but going by last weekend’s show, it certainly seems to have the potential to be better in the future.

The biggest talking point after the race was Elliott’s win, and rightly so, considering how badly he wanted to be back to winning ways after a long winless streak of 42 races.

Is Chase Elliott back in contention for the title this season?

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The HMS driver was focused and dialed in for his first win in what seemed like an eternity. He wasn’t going to allow any of his rivals steal his golden opportunity to be back in the victory lane, which was quite evident from his aggression in battling Denny Hamlin for the lead. Clinching his 19th career Cup Series win, the driver has had his big breakthrough and perhaps opened the door for him to contest for the championship.

Consecutive top-five finishes and a win is a huge boost for Elliott and his team. As far as his chances of contesting for the title go, Hamlin believes the HMS driver can be a threat going forward. “I mean, they’ve slowly gotten better as the season’s gone on. Yeah, I mean, it seems like a couple of organizations dominating right now, and he’s part of one of them, and he’s been capable for a long time. So he’s certainly a threat because he’s done it before.”

Perhaps Elliott’s win might have been a deciding factor in making the NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas a success. To an extent, it does prove Griffin’s point, but we’ll leave it up to you. Let us know if you agree with Brett Griffin’s opinion!