For a long time, NASCAR has had a problem on its hands, and that is short tracks. Short tracks are normally around half a mile in length, or even less than that. On the current Cup Series calendar, there are a couple of short tracks, namely Bristol Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, LA Coliseum, Martinsville Speedway, and North Wilkesboro Speedway. However, the quality of racing on these tracks has often been left wanting, and there are other factors contributing to their downfall.

In a recent interview, Richard Petty touched upon a few of the miscellaneous issues that plague small local tracks. According to him, many local short tracks have had a hard time drawing in crowds. Petty highlighted that this was particularly evident on Saturdays, and there is not much for families to do. There are the fans who come in, but it is hard to pay the purses at these short tracks. Owing to all of this, the smaller tracks tend to close down.

What issues do NASCAR drivers face at short tracks?

On a larger scale, the big issue facing the cars has to be horsepower, or the lack of it. During the Gen 6 era, the cars had 750 horsepower, as opposed to 670 horsepower with the Gen 7. In the thick of the 2022 season, the first race weekend at Richmond turned into a tire strategy affair. It didn’t help matters that Martinsville, later that year, churned out a similar type of race. Another piece of evidence was the minimal number of cautions, few overtaking chances, and a number of green-flag pit stops. This is significant because those elements were not typically seen on half-mile tracks.

Following that year’s Martinsville race, Joey Logano, as per Motorsport.com, said, “This car, if you’re directly behind them it’s no secret this car is worse in dirty air. If you’re not directly behind them, you’re able to recover better but it seems like the way cars were into the corner and the way the track wasn’t taking rubber, it just made the bottom be the dominant lane. You couldn’t move up the race track or do anything to try to pass them. You really just got stuck.”

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Other issues that NASCAR needs to address

Some drivers believe that increasing the horsepower could be the trick to fixing the issues. However, the higher-ups have insisted that this is not an easy short-term fix. NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell declared that they have to consider aspects like the costs involved in increasing the horsepower.

It also doesn’t help that this season, at least 12 races will kick off on tracks that are a mile or less. This also includes the newcomer track, the Iowa Speedway. Even the All-Star Race at the North Wilkesboro Speedway falls under this category, so NASCAR needs to find a solution, and fast. Also, bear in mind that the Auto Club Speedway is being re-modeled from a 2-mile configuration to a short track.

All of this just adds to the woes that NASCAR is facing. One of them has to do with the charter system and ongoing negotiations with teams. The only positive is that the new broadcasting deal that will come into effect in 2025 could make things lucrative for the teams.

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