NASCAR insider: This was 'maybe the worst Bristol race I've ever watched'

Saturday night was far from the regular Bristol action that NASCAR fans have come to know and enjoy, and that’s a problem. The Bristol Night Race is a Crown Jewel, 500 grueling laps of short track action. It isn’t what fans experienced two days ago.

It was a race that was completely different from the spring and having a leader who dominated the race for 462 laps total led to a lot of disappointment from NASCAR fans. Leaders had to fight to get around cars multiple laps down.

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There were a few factors that led to a deflating feeling around this race as a whole. If Daniel Suárez and Ty Gibbs hadn’t been in a tight points battle most of the race, there would have been nothing to talk about.

Jeff Gluck of The Athletic put it simply on The Teardown podcast.

“It doesn’t sound like Martinsville or Phoenix… I hate to be, I hate to look too far ahead and be like, ‘Well these are not going to be good races.’ You just never know but it’s like, dang man,” said Gluck. “Again, I went into this race fully hyped and so maybe part of the disappointment is that my expectations were so high but this feels like maybe the worst Bristol race I’ve ever watched. Like it was such a disappointment, it was crushing.”

Following the spring race, the return to Bristol was a highly anticipated race. For one reason or another, the tires did not react the same. Whether that has to do with temperature, PJ1 vs. resin, having the support races from ARCA, Truck Series, and Xfinity Series – something different happened.

Tires went from lasting 40 laps in the spring to lasting 100+ laps the other night. If they are the same exact tire compound there is another variable or multiple variables that changed things dramatically. NASCAR has to learn from Bristol.

NASCAR lets fans down at Bristol

There are a ton of smart folks at Bristol, Goodyear, and NASCAR. I know there are. People with knowledge about racing and the science behind racing that I will never have. So, why is it such a big mystery as to why these tires react so differently?

In the day of little to no testing outside of a handful of tire tests a year, maybe there is something being overlooked. If the temperature or other factors can change a tire that much, then there should be knowledge about it.

Without adding horsepower to the car, something NASCAR is very against, tires have to be the next thing. The three things that matter most in racing, and the reason why it is a serious violation to mess with them, are engines (power), fuel, and tires. When it comes to performance, you get the biggest swings out of those variables.

So, we know NASCAR won’t add power. They do not know of a manufacturer who wants to build a V8 engine with 800+ HP solely for racing. It is a powertrain option that is going the way of the dinosaurs. But after the Bristol Night Race, it’s clear there is more work to be done on short tracks.