NASCAR expert spares no mercy for the ‘pathetic’ Bristol race
NASCAR expert Jeff Gluck has slammed the lackluster competition at Bristol Motor Speedway, calling it a "pathetic" show of short track racing. He criticized the Next Gen cars' minimal tire falloff for alienating longtime fans of the sport.
The Food City 500 laid bare the glaring issue of tire wear that's plaguing the Next Gen era. Last year's spring race at the concrete track saw massive tire falloff, leading to 54 lead changes, while Sunday's event saw only one.
Lower tire degradation meant that drivers registered similar lap times, which made passing difficult at the high-banked track. Consequently, Kyle Larson led 411 of 500 laps to pull off a dominant 31st Cup Series victory.
During a podcast episode of The Teardown, NASCAR reporter Jeff Gluck shared his verdict on the racing product.
"To me this was pathetic. We've talked about Next Gen cars and how it's runined short track racing in NASCAR. You looked at the stands today and you're like,'Man I hope it's not going to be a good race because a lot of people are going to miss it.' Can you get any blame for not showing up after what happened today? That was terrible," he said.
Kyle Larson similarly dominated his last outing at the track, the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol in September 2024. He led a race high of 462 laps out of 500 to grab the checkered flag. Even so, the race saw eight lead changes while the same tire compound from the spring race was used.
NASCAR expert doubts short track racing will improve with Next Gen cars
Ever since NASCAR's shift to the Next Gen cars in 2022, the racing output in short tracks has suffered. Unlike intermediate and superspeedway tracks, where the car has shown promise, short tracks like Martinsville and Bristol have seen a decline in competition, owing to reduced tire wear and increased aero sensitivity.
Consequently, even front-runners have faced difficulties in passing lapped cars. Reflecting upon the same, NASCAR reporter Jeff Gluck said, (via The teardown podcast)
"The whole conversation changed from what can we do on the car, what can we do aero wise, how can we make this short track car, this sports car designed as a stock car, how can we make it to race better on short tracks right? The answer is apparently you can't....We're now several years into this car, there's absolutely no hope on the horizon that short track racing is going to get any better."
Modifications aimed at developing short-track-specific packages have failed to yield sizable improvements. The onus then rests with Goodyear to bring rubber that allows for better falloff. While NASCAR has acknowledged the issue, the sporting body has remained cautious over implementing changes due to cost concerns and potential impact on the sport's dynamics.