The NASCAR Cup Sequence‘ season-opening Conflict at Bowman Grey Stadium left race followers clamoring for extra.
Final weekend‘s NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Sequence doubleheader at Rockingham Speedway had the identical impact.
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The enthusiastic turnout engendered hopes that maybe the Cup Sequence would possibly sometime be part of its nationwide sequence brethren on the rejuvenated “Rock.”
After successful the Black’s Tire 200 Truck Sequence race on Friday, Tyler Ankrum acquired proper to the purpose.
“It‘s actually, actually cool,” Ankrum stated. “After we get to convey again these outdated tracks, it‘s actually cool. You may inform the followers are excited. Even on pit highway, the followers are going loopy on a regular basis, and so they‘re speaking so loudly you’ll be able to hear ‘em from pit highway.
“You type of get the sensation of what I think about as a child what Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon felt like. They‘re right here for us — they‘re not right here for the Cup guys. It‘s cool to see racing like this come again to North Carolina.
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“I used to be actually stunned at how huge the monitor had gotten, how a lot fall-off there was, particularly there on the finish of the race. … I hope Rockingham stays on the schedule for a very long time.”
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Kasey Kahne, the one driver within the Xfinity Sequence discipline who had raced at Rockingham earlier than the sequence left the monitor in 2004, made a return of his personal after an absence from NASCAR racing of almost eight years. Kahne thought the Cup Sequence could be a viable choice on the 0.94-mile speedway.
“I believe a Cup race might most likely be actually good right here,” stated Kahne, who additionally gained a Truck race on the monitor in 2012. “I used to get pleasure from watching it and being part of it the one yr I used to be.
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“It might make an incredible race.”
Kahne‘s level is difficult to argue in opposition to. The racing floor, which was repaved in late 2022, readily took rubber in each follow and the races themselves. The consequence was a viable second groove that lent itself to forcing racing.
“It‘s been cool to return to a few of the venues that is probably not as large locations however the historical past, I believe, of NASCAR and nice racing is at a few of these tracks, Rockingham being a kind of as nicely,” Kahne stated.
“I like the place a few of that stuff appears to be headed.”
NASCAR Xfinity Sequence racing at Rockingham.
Jesse Love, of Saturday‘s Xfinity Sequence race, nonetheless waged intense battles on the entrance of the sector in opposition to each Carson Kvapil and Ryan Sieg.
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Drivers discovered artistic traces across the monitor, working larger within the corners to achieve momentum and dropping all the way down to attempt to make passes on the within. It wasn‘t unusual to see rivals swap positions greater than as soon as throughout the identical lap with slide jobs and crossover strikes.
As Ankrum indicated, fan reception was distinctive. The grandstands had been packed, and likewise, the hospitality suites had been bought out. As each the Conflict at Bowman Grey and the transfer of the NASCAR All-Star Race to North Wilkesboro Speedway have confirmed, there’s an urge for food throughout the fan base for the standard venues which can be an integral a part of NASCAR’s previous.
Sure, bringing a Cup race to Rockingham would require enhancements to the monitor‘s infrastructure, however that was additionally the case at Bowman Grey and North Wilkesboro.
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Although not but three years outdated, the pavement at “The Rock” already is exhibiting some age, and the racing — already compelling — will solely enhance because the asphalt continues to degrade.
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There was no concern with entry to the speedway. It’s a straight shot up U.S. Freeway 1, with a number of entrances and ample parking. Even at anticipated peak occasions, the visitors flowed.
The underside line? There’s no motive a Cup race can‘t be a viable choice at Rockingham, however even when the schedule doesn’t enable such an choice within the rapid future, the Truck/Xfinity nationwide sequence doubleheader — with an ARCA Menards Sequence East race thrown in for good measure — is nicely well worth the value of admission.
That was actually the case throughout NASCAR‘s long-awaited return.
