I really enjoy weeks like this. I enjoy the action we get on the short tracks like Martinsville and Bristol. Part of that may be, because we don’t get it much anymore.
I wouldn’t want a steady diet of it. But I wouldn’t mind a couple more races like them during the course of a season.
Unfortunately, as the sport has grown, it has out-grown many of these places. But, before you start hollering about how NASCAR has turned its back on its traditional fans…dating back to the late-70s when I started working in this sport, I can think of only two short tracks that have lost Cup races: North Wilkesboro and Nashville…and Nashville’s had more to do with the poor shape the facility was in than anything else.
But, there are short tracks in operation on a weekly basis throughout the country, and, in most cases, these are the places that the current Cup drivers have learned to race. So, it’s on weeks like this that fans across the country get to see the best of the best race on a track they can better visualize than a superspeedway. And, it’s on weeks like this that the drivers love taking a trip back to their roots…and driving on the type of track they grew up on.
You can see it…and, at the track, feel it. There is very little nervousness or angst in the garage on race morning…it’s more eager anticipation. And, that makes these short track weekends so much fun.