Nothing can possibly be more fun or exciting than watching NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers beating and banging on each other. Especially when they run a dirt track.
Now picture this. A full field of Cup drivers, plus one, racing on a dirt track similar to Eldora. For points.
While viewing the Prelude to the Dream that Cup driver Tony Stewart holds at his racetrack, Eldora Speedway, in Ohio, I had a thought. How fun would it be if NASCAR added a dirt track race to the schedule? I mean, just chew on that thought for a moment. They already run on all sorts of tracks. Short tracks, super speedways, intermediate, and even two road courses have been worked into the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule.
I know a lot of people seem to think that it would be highly difficult for NASCAR to run a Cup race with those cars on a dirt track. There’s too many cars or there are drivers out there not experienced enough to run on such a track. Excuses, excuses! Think about this for a moment, NASCAR Cup teams have brought in what they call “road course specialists” to run the courses. Why not do something like that for a dirt track?
Most of the drivers out there are versatile and experienced enough that they could easily run a dirt track race and not run the risk of wrecking on lap one. Many of the Cup drivers have come from dirt track roots and would probably enjoy seeing something like this on the schedule.
But how can it be done? Well, let me tell you…
My first thought is to allow an extra car to qualify for the race. 44 cars would even out the field and allow NASCAR to run two main events with the same amount of cars.
Secondly, how would qualifying work? Well that’s simple, I personally say do the qualifying like they do the Duels at the beginning of the season. Only break up the field into four heat races, eleven cars in each race. Ten or fifteen lap races wouldn’t do, so I would say, depending on track size, the races should be anywhere from 25 to 30 laps.
The first two heat races would qualify for the first main event. The second two heat races would qualify for the second main event. This would put 22 cars into each of the two main events. The two main events should be around 60 to 80 laps each.
When the two main events are finished, just to add in some extra fun, the top 20 cars from each race should run a 25 lap shoot out.
You may be saying at this point that it seems like a lot of racing for one day and well that is probably true. I say put the four qualifying heat races on a Friday, the day before the Cup race. It would be just like any other Cup weekend with qualifying held the day before. Then of course, the main races should always be held at night with the A Main, B Main, and the 25 lap Shoot out being run on a Saturday night.
Crazy?? Quite possibly. But I think the majority of you would love to see NASCAR return to its roots by running some good old fashioned dirt track races.
