NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick, like so many others in racing, is a fan of the creativity and risks the sport has been taking recently with its schedule, adding new tracks and changing a lineup that drivers previously called “stale.”
But, as he explained, he’s hoping for more.
In addition to including more road courses in the Cup Series schedule — including Circuit of The Americas, where the sport races this weekend for the second consecutive season — NASCAR mixed it up last year by debuting a dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway, which returns this season with the Food City Dirt Race on April 17. Another creative example this season was The Clash at the Coliseum, with the annual preseason exhibition race on a purpose-built short track inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for what turned out to be a massive success.
So what more could NASCAR do? The Hendrick Motorsports owner hopes the sport adds a street-course race.
Both the IndyCar Series and Formula 1 feature multiple street circuits on their respective schedules — including F1’s new Miami Grand Prix this season with a 19-turn temporary street course around Hard Rock Stadium — but not NASCAR. For now, anyway.
When asked Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway about NASCAR’s revamped schedule, Hendrick called the changes and updates “exciting” and explained:
“I think it’s great for NASCAR. The stadium brought a lot of new fans in. The dirt track — I’ve got people coming out of the woodwork wanting to go to Bristol now for that race, and I think it’s exciting for the fans and the drivers are adapting well.
“This car, we basically run the same car everywhere, and so I think it’s great for the sport, and I would like to see a street race. Hopefully we’ll just continue to work outside the box, and I think that’s growing a lot of new fans for us.”
Continuing to emphasize the importance of NASCAR drawing in new fans, Hendrick — who was speaking at a winning press conference after William Byron took the Atlanta checkered flag — was asked to elaborate. About the possibility of a street race, he said:
“I just think it’s exciting. I think it’s different. I think it would be, why the Coliseum race? I mean, if there’s a right street circuit that we could race on, I just think something different brings in a new level of fans. And it’s exciting. It’s something different to talk about.
“I think keep changing it up, and it just seems to bring in a lot of new people that we haven’t seen. The age group at the Coliseum were people — I think they said, like, 60 percent had never been to a NASCAR race. I think just doing something different than you’ve done for years and years is good for the sport.”
NASCAR has not yet released its 2023 schedule, so perhaps Hendrick’s wish will come true in the future.
