Softer tires, cars with more difficult aero, and engines that have 750 hp. NASCAR thinks that these are the perfect ingredients to make short-track racing feel exciting again. They are actively trying to combat the lack of action and dependence on grid position for the short tracks, but for now, it is not going well in their favor.

After all, each race that NASCAR brings the short-track package to ends up being overhyped to the point that fans end up ignoring the slight changes that might’ve happened. So when a fan decided to approach this topic, considering the race at Bristol in mind, others couldn’t help but ask NASCAR to do more for the competition.

“Looking at Martinsville yesterday, and comparing that to what we saw at Phoenix and Darlington, it really seems like the secret recipe for this new package is actual tire load. Martinsville is so flat that less downforce probably lessened some of the tire wear, even though it did end up coming into play during an incredibly long run.

“Bristol is a literal bowl, and based on Ryan Preece’s comments from testing back over the winter about how much faster it is on fresh tires with the extra hp, the super soft compound that Goodyear has been trying to engineer to be weather-proof should do a pretty good job of just cratering lap times like we saw at Darlington and creating actual comers and goers.

“Martinsville still needs work, but I don’t think it is time to take that as a bad omen for the rest of the short tracks.”

The fans’ comments are more in line with Christopher Bell. Bell has been extremely pleased with the new short-track package, to say the least. He wants NASCAR to consider adding more power to the cars to make them more difficult to drive and, in turn, bring back real racing to the short tracks.

It seems like the NASCAR fandoms agree with this idea one way or another. Hence, they now want NASCAR to consider it seriously.

NASCAR fans stay skeptical about the short-track package

Despite all the hype around it, the short-track package does not really appeal to the fans. It is visible in their comments about the same. “From a fan’s perspective, the higher horsepower hasn’t done s***. It’s still impossible to pass.”

This sentiment is very common among the fans who think that NASCAR should also consider the other factors that simply rip away the minor changes that the short-track package brings to the race. 

“I think the hard truth is the short tracks take a HUGE HP jump to make a noticeable change in the product. Martinsville is exacerbated because they have enormous brakes, so the extra 2-3 mph on corner entry doesn’t dramatically change anything.”

They also want the sport to be realistic about the expectations they set, instead of aiming for unrealistic goals. “Let’s get to the end of stage 1 before we start hyping it up. Darlington took a hit because everyone expected the greatest Darlington race ever. It wasn’t a bad race, but it was way overhyped leading to the green flag.”

The other fans are also suggesting that NASCAR should probably listen to Christopher Bell and try adding more power to these cars to make it better. “I agree with what most people are saying here. The flat tracks need more than 750 hp and/or more torque with the wider tires to get the racing back to what it was with the COT and previous cars.”

At the end of the day, the fans just want better racing and want to enjoy going to short tracks again. “I hope so. The Bristol race 2 years ago was amazing. I’m hoping for more of that.” Considering the opinions of both fans and drivers, will NASCAR make these modifications, or will they ignore them for their own?