Is there a track where NASCAR Nextel Cup should run a race where they are not at now?

[Mark in Oshawa]

I have to say, this a question that is asked on other forums, and I was curious to see what NASCAR fans would say. First off, NASCAR races damn near everywhere in the US, and they have a full sched. To put in another date would likely mean some other circuit may lose its second date. There has to be a track there RIGHT NOW, so Staten Island and Seattle or any proposed track does not count.

I will put it in here right now, Nashville is the one place they should be at. Bigger city, a historical place where NASCAR ran in the past, and a good track. That and part of me would want to see The Cup cars run in Montreal, but Busch is there, and I would dearly love some Canadian zillionaire put the money up for a proper oval.

Nashville though is the most perplexing choice.....a lot of good NASCAR Cup drivers loved the place and came from Nashville.

[BenRoethig]

Montreal, Gateway, Nashville, Milwaukee Mile Kentucky, Iowa speedway if they ever get enough grandstands, Portland, and Road America. Mexico City would be nice if it was actually possible to make that city safe for a couple days.

[Speedworx]

Rockingham UK
Eurospeedway

Expensive I know, but there are many fans over here.

[harvick#1]

there are so many tracks Nascar needs to go to.

Laguna Seca, Road America, Rockingham N.C, Spa (that would just be cool), Nazareth, Pikes Peak only to name a few

[SmokeFan20]

Here's a little chart a made up to show the area's that NASCAR is in.
[img=http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/7341/usaracechart9ja.th.png] (http://img77.imageshack.us/my.php?image=usaracechart9ja.png)

As you can see. There is huge area in the Northwest & Northern Central Plains that isn't really in a NASCAR market.
Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota & Minnesota are all located a ways from a NASCAR Cup track.
Use the Portland & Iowa tracks and build a track in the middle of nowhere (aka Montana or Wyoming) and the deficit in Cup races in the Northwestern area is cut in half.
Alaska & Hawaii also have a deficit, but lets be realistic.
NASCAR would have to fight the environmentalists & the locals tooth and nail to get a track put in these states.
Not to mention an Alaskan race would pretty much consist of either racing on a road course in the rain or NASCAR sanctioning the Iditarod and having drivers enter the race as mushers.

[tassiedevilAB]

Thunderdome in Melbourne Australia, like they did in the mid 80's, that would be good & then the aussies can see our boy whip there arse in front of a very vocal home crowd! ........cool man!

Hi mark i have posted a link of Ambrose's determination to get to Nascar!
on the thread that you resoponed to. you know the one i mean mate ! .......it is good because it is him telling his story !

cheers mate!

[Mark in Oshawa]

Well, the idea of racing in Alaska and Hawaii I don't think will happen.

Heck, the west had a great venue in Pike's Peak, and it never got any real respect. The track got bought up by ISC and then mothballed. Go figure, but if I lived in Denver, I would be pissed!!!

[Robert Ryan]

Thunderdome in Melbourne Australia, like they did in the mid 80's, that would be good & then the aussies can see our boy whip there arse in front of a very vocal home crowd! ........cool man!
More chance of UFO's landing on the Opera House. A current NASCAR racecar may fall into the holes opening in the track.

[tstran17_88]

This will sound bizarre, but there has been tavern talk in the Milwaukee area that Nascar is thinking of a revolving Nextel Cup race date which would include the Mile.

My personal guess is that if it’s a consideration, it would revolve with Kentucky and St. Louis or Iowa considering the Seattle track isn’t close to being done and Staten Island has been killed off by the voters of NYC.

But there is no way that the Mile is even worthy of a cup date right now. No garages, entry to pit road is terrible for stock cars (experience talking here) and of course more grandstands, which would be secondary at this point.

The Mile had the chance years ago for a cup date when it would have been easier, but our governor denied Carl Haas the permits to improve the track.

P.S. This ain't the NFL...they aren't leaving North America just yet for a regular season race.

[Hoss Ghoul]

I'll post realistic options and then a few hopefull one's:

Rockingham, NC: Ready to go, a few million in upgrades and some changes in population demographics could make this happen in the future, still, 15% chance of ever happening.

Laguna Seca: World class facility, pits and garages would be lacking for a full on Cup onslaught, but what's there is very nice. Issues with SCRAMP, facilities, traffic/locals, and nearby Sears Point make this unlikely....5% chance of happening...but a track that will not go away(minus a big quake, lol).

Those are my possible's that I'd like to see and are remotely possible....sorta.

Road America, Mid Ohio, and Road Atlanta would follow those...unfortunately these tracks have alot working against them. For one, they're in the middle of nowhere...NASCAR wants to be in big markets...They have races in Atlanta, Wisconsin(who cares), Mid Ohio(ehhhh....). Also, in terms of the racing, Road America would be a problem the way NASCAR officiates races, too fast, too narrow, too many cautions....I suspect similar problems at Road Atlanta. Laguna Seca has issues too, but has more pluses going to make up for it(i.e. Mexico race). Mid Ohio is a reasonable location, but there's no cache, so it would be at or near the bottom of the list of possible road races added, without considering ovals.

Other ovals....uhhhh, I guess Kentucky, booring, we have pleny of that. There's no tracks in the U.S. that NASCAR isn't racing at that are even remotely possible, so no sense considering the idea. It's Rockingham, Kentucky, and then what? Plenty of interesting tracks out there, for 36 cars...that aren't Cup. It's just to big nowadays.

[tstran17_88]

Wisconsin(who cares),Piss off! :p :

Yeah, who cares considering WI has one of the oldest active racing circuits in the world and probably just as many active short tracks as any other state in the country...who cares! :laugh:

Hell, Penske almost built his 2 mile D shaped oval in southern WI, but opted for Michigan instead. Had that happened, there wouldn't be a Chicagoland and the Mile would be out of business.



Road America would be a problem the way NASCAR officiates races, too fast, too narrow, too many cautions.That I agree with.

[muggle not]

I totally agree on Rockingham and Laguna Seca. Jeez, Laguna would be awesome.

I dis-agree on Road America though. I would love to see Nascar racing there. Yeah, there would be numerous wrecks, but wth.

[BenRoethig]

Laguna is a good track, but Infineon has the NorCal/ San Fran Bay area covered.

[Lee Roy]

Cleveland Airport track, where Champ Car runs right now. It makes a great track, and Cleveland is a cool town.

The Milwaukee Mile.

Rockingham NC?? Why, hardly anybody cared enough to go to races at that track before, why would they now?

[harvick#1]

I dis-agree on Road America though. I would love to see Nascar racing there. Yeah, there would be numerous wrecks, but wth.

Road America would be great, if there is a fuel milage race, and they run out, they are not finishing the race as they would fall back down the hill to the finish line :D

[call_me_andrew]

Where Nextel Cup should be: Montreal, Mexico City, Portland, and I'm interested in seeing how much of an audiance would show up at an exhibition race at Rockingham, UK or Brands Hatch.

How I would make those dates happen: Take a race from Loudon, take a race from Pheonix, take a race from Fontana, and I think I could squeeze in one of those races if I move a few dates around.

[ShiftingGears]

Where Nextel Cup should be: Montreal, Mexico City, Portland, and I'm interested in seeing how much of an audiance would show up at an exhibition race at Rockingham, UK or Brands Hatch.

How I would make those dates happen: Take a race from Loudon, take a race from Pheonix, take a race from Fontana, and I think I could squeeze in one of those races if I move a few dates around.

I especially like the idea of Mexico City as long as theres not that god-awful chicane right before the Peraltada.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Out of all the options you guys have mentioned, Cleveland might be interesting. The only issue is NASCAR likes having garages. That is why Busch is in Montreal, because it is one of the few venues they have garages (f1 uses them right on pit row) in Canada.

Cleveland wouldn't have garages, but they would have a honking big hangar nearby by would they not? I would love to see the boys rocking and rolling around that Airport layout, and the oval fans wouldn't have the problem of not seeing the cars all the way round; and the road course guys would get another Road course.

Kentucky would be another "cookie cutter" that would put my feet to sleep. No offense to anyone from Kentucky, but I would like less of those ovals. I keep waiting for someone to build another Richmond......or something like it. I guess Iowa might be close in that idea, it is .8 of a mile is it not?

Just need to find a rich dude up here to build us Canuckleheads a decent oval in Southern Ontario. Cayuga is 2/3 of a mile, but is lacking stands, garages and the infrastructure.....

[Alexamateo]

Road America would be great, if there is a fuel milage race, and they run out, they are not finishing the race as they would fall back down the hill to the finish line :D

Hey! They've been there before...... albeit in 1956 :D

http://www.racing-reference.info/race?id=1956-37&series=W

[Mark in Oshawa]

I just cant see NASCAR at Road America. Their antipathy for road courses is pretty much where it is at, and the only real choice they might take would be Montreal. That said, I doubt it. I think the airport option might be the only way you could add a road course to the sched. It would be an interesting change and satify the majority of NASCAR fans who like to see the whole track from their stands while adding a road course. Also, if the airport is downtown Cleveland...well you have a really neat atmosphere.

God, I cant believe Iam helping promote Cleveland, and with NASCAR yet. Peter Olivola might just drive up here and kick my @ss for that!!!!

[Hoss Ghoul]

Airport races look amateurish...regardless of the actual merit, they have the feel/look of a glorified AutoX. NASCAR will never run at a track like that.

[Hoss Ghoul]

Piss off! :p :

Yeah, who cares considering WI has one of the oldest active racing circuits in the world and probably just as many active short tracks as any other state in the country...who cares! :laugh:

Hell, Penske almost built his 2 mile D shaped oval in southern WI, but opted for Michigan instead. Had that happened, there wouldn't be a Chicagoland and the Mile would be out of business.


That I agree with.

Hey, no offense intended, I was speaking from NASCAR's perspective....besides, I love That 70's Show. :p :

[Mark in Oshawa]

Hoss, maybe you are right on airport circuits looking a little strange, and to some it may look amatuerish, but the fact remains with no walls to hit really, the crowd being able to see the whole venue, and flat out nature of the track, it might just be on hell of a show. NASCAR isn't about purist duels over 500 miles, it is about entertaining the fans. Even the most dull of series (the old Indy Lights) put on exciting events at Cleveland.

It is but a thought....but ya, I doubt highly NASCAR will go for it. One thing is for sure, they havne't followed my advice once and they are likely making money for it...

[pentti]

Any dirt track!

[Mark in Oshawa]

Ya.. the COT on a dirt track would rock, it does look sorta like a Dirt Modified!!!!

[BenRoethig]

You may get your wish. ARCA should transition to the COT sooner or later.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I am still always Amazed ARCA runs that one dirt track a year......

[BenRoethig]

Two actually.

[tstran17_88]

Hey, no offense intended, I was speaking from NASCAR's perspective....besides, I love That 70's Show. :p :

Yes, but that show is Canada's perspective on Wisconsin back in the 70's....not that we are that much different from Canada, but I always notice minor things wrong in the show. :laugh:

[Mark in Oshawa]

How is the 70's show Canadian ?

Oh my..how we get side tracked...

[xtlm]

Pheonix

[tstran17_88]

How is the 70's show Canadian ?

Oh my..how we get side tracked...I was told that some of the writers or producer/creators are Canucks from a friend in Nova Scotia...I really have no clue if that's correct or not, but there are a lot of references to Canada in the show.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I remember reading there was some Canadian's writing for the 70's show...I don't watch it, but knowing that a ton of Canadians are comedy writers in Hollywood, it doesn't surprise me.

Heck, watching Wayne's World everyone from Toronto knew the real places Myers was lampooning....and the Simpson's are always taking little Canadian references...

Anyhow, to the topic at hand, I suspect if 100000 people had hits on this thread, all begging for a track that doesn't have a race, like Kentucky, it still wont matter for much. NASCAR makes their decisions with the cards closely held to the vest...

[djarumdudley]

of all the tracks already mentioned Laguna Seca, Cleveland, and Iowa would be the best choices. There are already a multitude of speedways on the circuit, so a new road cours or short track would greatly increase the variety.

in a dream world Laguna could platoon with Sears Point on a yearly rotation. Cleveland could replace a data at Fontana. it's already in a high profile market and would provide a unique venue to the series. Iowa would be fantastic as the track appears really racy and the series would greatly benefit from more exciting short track racing. i'm sure if Nascar even entertained a thought of going to any of these venues, improvements and upgrades would be implemented immediately.

while we're still dreaming, if Nascar goes to Wisconsin(and as much as i'd like to see an event at Road America), let'em go to Slinger, now that would be a show!