With the weekend at the Atlanta Motor Speedway officially underway, another controversy has struck the NASCAR community. If last weekend’s delays in clarifying the race winner at the Daytona 500 hadn’t riled up fans enough, the decision to abandon practice at all superspeedway races other than the Great American Race has led to great criticism from fans and drivers alike.

But if NASCAR can include a ten-minute practice for each series owing to the speedway’s double pit-lane speeds, why not extend the practice to an hour? After all, rookies like Hailie Deegan who are eager to gain precious drafting experience run a great risk of wrecking out without practice, to no fault of their own. With that said, a fiery debate sparked on X by insiders grew even larger when the Xfinity Series debutant’s fiance stepped up to portray the plight of a rookie.

Should NASCAR have included a practice session at Atlanta Motor Speedway?

Reflecting on the recent turn of events and how NASCAR’s decision to prevent unnecessary wrecks and damages by dissolving practice could end up backfiring, veteran insider Brett Griffin shared, “Imagine being a rookie in trucks Xfinity or Cup going to Atlanta for the first time. NO PRACTICE. What are we doing? No, I’m not letting it go.”  

Apart from Hailie Deegan, for Josh Berry, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar debuting full-time in the Cup Series, the lack of a practice session could also prove disastrous. Speaking of which, even Deegan’s fiance and fellow racer, Chase Cabre, agreed with Griffin as he replied back, “So gnarly. Imagine firing off into turn 1 in qualifying, holding it wide open at 170 mph and going “damn I hope this sticks” After all, Hailie Deegan’s weekend at Daytona was nothing short of disastrous.

Even after the race, the Xfinity Series debutant felt she just couldn’t wrap her finger around drafting and where she should be on the track, showcasing how important practice could be for a track like Atlanta Motor Speedway. For Deegan, a starting position of 19th may prove insufficient to stick at the front of the pack. But perhaps that story would have been far more different if there had been a practice session at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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The lack of practice not only makes the speedway more daunting for the rookies, who will have to quickly understand their game plans, but it has also left the community fairly disappointed.

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The NASCAR community lashes out at the officials for abandoning practice in Atlanta

With NASCAR’s decision to abandon practice at the Atlanta Motor Speedway taking insiders by storm, fans were also not ones to shy away from sharing their fears. Soon enough, a fiery debate transpired. Whilst some were favouring NASCAR’s decision to help the teams save cost by reducing practice, a majority spoke out against the lack of track time.

A fan kicked things off by giving the officials a piece of their mind, “It’s ridiculous that @nascar continues to disregard the opinions of the owners and drivers. Drivers want practice. Let them practice. Every major sport and racing series has practice. We’re talking about practice.” Others were also in agreement with Brett Griffin;“I agree with you Brett, no practice, complete bulls**t🤬”

Speaking of the teams saving money, fans pointed out how the lack of practice inevitably ramped up the chances of wrecks in the race, defeating its purpose completely. A user sarcastically stated, “But all the teams saved .03% of the weekly budget!”

It seems like NASCAR’s decision had united the community, albeit against the decision itself. Fans continued to support Griffin’s thoughts; “I don’t always agree with you but you are SPOT ON with this take. Idk what NASCAR is thinking and I don’t see it changing anytime soon, unfortunately,” a comment read.

While veterans like Kyle Busch who are also partaking in the Truck Series race at Atlanta would do just fine without practice, what about the rookies? This fan ended things with a reasonable solution, “I can see the Cup guys with no practice but let Xfinity and Trucks have practice. Even if it’s 30 minutes before qualifying.”

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With the pressure on NASCAR from the community on the rise with only one race of the 2024 season dusted, do you think the sport can quickly realign itself with its core audience?