BRISTOL — Multiple sources said over the weekend that Bristol Motor Speedway will once again be covered in dirt for its spring NASCAR races in 2023.
There was no official announcement from the speedway. NASCAR didn’t run any Cup Series races on dirt from 1970-2020. It changed with the announcement that a temporary dirt surface would be put over Bristol Motor Speedway for the 2021 Food City Dirt Race.
Joey Logano won the first race back on the clay surface, but there were problems with the race being run during the day. With the heavy stock cars and the sun drying the track out, dust was kicked up more than normal and visibility was terrible for the drivers.
A move to the nighttime for Sunday’s race proved to mitigate the dust. However, the race was red-flagged for rain after Stage 2.
Besides the NASCAR races, Bristol Motor Speedway recently played host to the popular Karl Kustoms Bristol Dirt Nationals, which featured four $50,000-to-win Super Late Model features. Chris Madden racked up with two feature wins and another $100,000 bonus for being the four-race miniseries champion. On a side note, Madden added another $21,000 to his big monthly total by winning the “Little Bill Corum Memorial Race” at Tazewell Speedway.
On April 30 and May 1, the World of Outlaws will come to BMS for the historic “Bristol Bash.” It will be the first time that the Super Late Models and Winged Sprint Cars will be featured on the same weekend.
The Super Late Models have proven to produce good racing around the fast high-banked, half-mile oval. Blazing speeds with an average around 140 mph are the major appeal of the nation’s most popular sprint car series.
One of the biggest factors in covering the track in clay is the desire of NASCAR and the FOX television to have a Cup Series race on dirt. While some fans have clamored for a move to a traditional dirt track, none of those have the seating capacity and other infrastructure like Bristol needed to host a Cup Series event.
FESTIVE ATMOSPHERE IS BACK
The Food City Fan Zone outside the track featured many activities like a Ferris Wheel, stunts by motorcycle, bicycle and pogo stick riders and an ax-throwing station. Many NASCAR personalities, celebrities from television shows and YouTube were on the Food City Fan Zone Stage.
Trackside Live, a popular pre-race show with the fans, returned to the Fan Zone, while others enjoyed shopping at the drivers’ souvenir trailers.
It was a welcome sight after a couple of challenging years for everyone.
The 2020 Food City 500 was one of the most entertaining races in the track’s history. However, fans weren’t able to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions. A few weeks later, BMS hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race for the first time, but the number of fans was limited, as it was later for the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race.
It was a little more back to normal in 2021 with big crowds in September for the Food City 300 Xfinity Series race and the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. The racing was spectacular, possibly the best weekend of racing ever witnessed at the speedway.
However, something was still missing.
Thankfully, the outside activities were added, making it much more than a race, but truly a great event.
Jeff Birchfield is a sports writer for the Johnson City Press with a lifelong passion for motorsports. The father of two attended ETSU and served in the Tennessee Army National Guard.
