NASCAR’s return to dirt was 50 years in the making, and Bristol Motor Speedway staff went to great lengths to ensure that it actually went well. Unfortunately, all of that preparation on the track side was not reflected by the series itself, and it did not go entirely well.
The problems started in practice on Friday, when shocking levels of tire wear forced the series to re-adjust the race format on the fly by dividing the event into five smaller, 50-lap segments rather than the scheduled three segments. On Saturday, early rains led to a wet track and four hours of track preparation proved to be too little when disastrous conditions led to mud coating windscreens to the point of blinding drivers after just one lap. Planned qualifying heats were canceled entirely for both the Cup Series and the Truck Series, and races were delayed to Sunday. To preserve the track for the Cup Series race, the Truck Series event was scheduled after it.
Then, on Sunday, further rains pushed both races to Monday. A new condensed timeline forced the series to place the Truck race before the Cup race, allowing the lower-division category to test the track before the big show at the cost of increased track wear.
That race was a catastrophe. For the full story, check out this article from Road & Track.
