CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600, the annual crown-jewel Charlotte race on the Cup Series schedule, isn’t going anywhere. As Speedway Motorsports president and CEO Marcus Smith put it, “Moving the Coke 600 would be like taking the Masters out of Augusta.”
“You just don’t do it,” said Smith, whose father Bruton Smith brought the race to the Charlotte area in 1960. “It is a special event. It’s a historic event.”
But NASCAR’s schedule in the last two years has undergone radical changes. What was once sacrosanct no longer necessarily is in the name of innovation. Bristol Motor Speedway was covered in dirt for points races for the second straight year. The Clash exhibition race — held every year in its history at Daytona International Speedway until this season — was moved to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where a purpose-built half-mile oval was constructed atop the football field. The All-Star Race, which was regularly hosted at Charlotte before 2020, ran for the second consecutive year at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend and was met with criticism by fans and pundits.
