Do you want more or less cookie cutter tracks?

I remember the days where basically the bulk of the schedule was cookie cutter 1.5 tracks. I’m happy that NASCAR is branching out with new tracks and more road courses.

The problem with the short tracks and the road courses isn't dirty air. The problem is the new bigger breaks and all that downforce being generated on the bottom of the car. This has drastically reduced the breaking zone, and on those types of tracks the breaking zone is where the action happens. Nascar is to their credit working on reducing the downforce on the short track and road course packages to force the drivers to break earlier and create overtaking opportunities.

To be honest, I would not call Charlotte and Michigan cookie cutters because their designs were original back in the day but any other track copying those two would be a cookie cutter. I think the racing at short tracks and road courses will improve this year if the new package does what it intends to do and if Goodyear doesn’t drop the ball again.

I honestly miss the Charlotte 500 fall race

I don't like the term cookie cutter but I understand where it came from. Most 1.5 mile tracks are good or great. Thanks to schedule diversity, we are finally getting a good balance of tracks. Tracks considered in this category I want back are Chicagoland and Rockingham.

The NASCAR fanbase is one that has no idea what it really wants, and the schedule is a clear example of that.

Theiceberg:mentions Chicagoland speedway Me:dont cry dont cry 😢😢 Also Nascar also made a mistake getting rid of good 1.5 mile like Chicagoland that was getting good racing

I still like the direction the schedule is going in. I just hope they figure out how to improve the racing at short tracks and road courses. I'm not sure what they could do for road courses, but for short tracks maybe they could try out a package that uses smaller brakes.

They announced a new rule package for the short tracks, and I'm excited to see the results. Anything will beat what they had.

1.5s have their problems but I feel like people throw the term "cookie-cutter" around too loosely. Quite a few of the tracks called cookie cutters are unique in their own way, even if they produce similar racing. Should all the 3/8ths mile short tracks across america be called "cookie cutters" because they all tend to produce similar racing?

I hope that race tracks in particular short tracks stop getting close by real estate and Karen's because racing is amazing real estate and Karen's suck

The unfortunate thing about the 1 1/2 tracks is that they don’t really have different racing lines, leading to everyone having the same type of racing strategy.

Remember how 1.5 mile tracks used to suck?? Now they seem to be better due to the racing the Next-gen provides. But, we need More Short Tracks

If you played the NASCAR video games in the 2000s you’d know the cookie cutters actually raced different. But nice pork sausage.

I actually don’t hate the mile and a half tracks like a lot of people do. Atlanta was one of my favorites until the current configuration now I get it, it was time to repave it. I think homestead is a great track. I think Kansas is still underrated for how good the racing has been. And hopefully Chicagoland does come back

I really love the diversity of tracks on the schedule and I think it accurately reflects just how good of a driver you have to be to win in this series

Michigan was the first 2 mile in that style and Atlanta used to be unique before the 1996 reconfigured

One thing I'm kinda excited about is that the Truck series will be coming back to the Milwaukee Mile this summer. Could we get a 1 mile track in cup series

Homestead-Miami tend to be grouped with the cookie cutters because of it's length, but I noticed it's pretty much not mentioned. Maybe because of it's unique (non-D shaped) shape compared to other intermediates?

Nascar fans a few years ago " get rid of all cookie cutters" NASCAR: "alright" [gets rid of Kentucky ,Chicago, autoclub] Nascar fans: "noooooo Nascar sucks now"

So, did anyone think about how Johnson won so many championships? How many cookie cutter tracks were in the season when he won those championships? They were just named by our host. Consider that.

They have enough spare cookie cutters that they could rotate them. Send xfinity and trucks to a repaved track for a few years and then move cup there after it has aged. They can keep as many or as few as they want on the schedule but keep all of them in reserve. Yes costs would rise but hopefully so would cup ticket sales the years that each track has them.

With Kansas being my home track, I really enjoy it. I feel like the racing is normally pretty good

Honestly Speaking, NASCAR Fans and NASCAR in General really don't know what they want. I'm cool with 6 Road Courses, 9 Short Tracks, etc. Just not The Chicago Street Course

Shorter season. Every track only gets 1 race. Tracks can get a 2nd race if they change things up (Daytona or Charlotte road course/Bristol dirt). Easily can cut the schedule down to 30 races.

NASCAR has a habit of of saturating the marking with one idea. The trend now seems to have shifted away from Super Speedways like Auto Club, Pocono, Michigan, and Indianapolis (super speedway is defined by a track 2 miles or more) to high banked intermediates like Atlanta and short tracks. How do you fix over saturation , add in new fans, sponsors, without losing current fans? Chop 2-3 races off the schedule. Add in 2 or 3 international races at legit tracks. But go to places like Rockingham UK (a European oval), Brazil (big stock car scene, and Australia (Home of the worlds most popular V8 race cars). This will engage new fans, trim the excess fat off the schedule that fans don’t like, increase attendance at some tracks, and bring in big time sponsors that have a global reach. If Supercars can travel internationally, NASCAR has no excuses. Also, bring back Rockingham US.

I like the variety of tracks, the road courses, I think it's working. They should go back to the real Brickyard, and shove Road America back in somehow.

With NASCAR unveiling the package change for short tracks and road courses today, we will see how does the gen 7 car runs at these types of tracks as soon as 1st Phoenix race.

There is an old saying that if you try to please everyone you end up pleasing no one. NASCAR should just focus on creating a diverse schedule that has 1.5 mile, 2 mile, Superspeedway, shorttracks and road courses on them. Once they nail the right racing package for all these types of tracks people won't complain as much but you can't make everyone happy.

Old Atlanta, Chicagoland, and Auto Club. The best racing big tracks we had.

I feel like Auto Club shouldn’t be classified in with the 1.5 tracks, because not only is it a 2 miler, its sister track is Michigan, both built by Penske.

I want Chicagoland back

I think to fix the schedule is 1 race at each track and have variety go to some new tracks like airport races, street races if Chicago works out, or new venues like lugna seca, north east, and Midwest, and west coast short tracks like the bullring at Vegas or bowman gray. 3 dirt races Eldora,Knoxville, and the dirt track at texas 3 road courses roval,Waktins glen, Sonoma 3 super speedway races. Daytona,dega,alanta Than the rest between short tracks and speedways This is all my opinion

I actually love the cookies cutter tracks, I thought they were the identity of Nascar racing. I think Nascar should have an even assortment of tracks on the schedule.

The new short track/road course package wasn’t used at The Clash.

Charlotte isn't a "cookie cutter" track. Neither is Atlanta. They both opened in 1960. Tracks like Kansas, Kentucky, Vegas, Texas etc. were all built in the late 90s-early 2000s and were quickly given top tier races on the schedule. That's why they are called the cookie cutter tracks. Charlotte and Atlanta, while both are 1.5 mile tracks, don't fall into that category because they were on the schedule decades before the other tracks were built.

I use to be a big fan of Kansas mainly because it's the closet track but when they moved the spring race from a night race to Sunday afternoon I stopped going, I liked to drive down Friday, catch the truck race, tailgate Saturday, free parking, bring in your own 'beverages', hell I seen pizza boxes in the stands, then drive home Sunday and they screwed it up when everyone loved that night race right when they changed it.

There is no possible way that Michigan loses a date with Ford and Chevy in the backyard.

Of all those early 2000s cookie-cutter tracks, the one NASCAR might want to hold onto the most especially now is Chicagoland, because the Chicago street race might now have it's future in doubt as I just saw a report that Chicago will be getting a new mayor, and administration changes are always a threat to street courses

They all were cookie cutters because they were all built to the same specs. Chicagoland and Kansas were 1.5 mile versions of California and Michigan. Charlotte, Atlanta, and Texas were all essentially the same and Vegas was an in between. Now Kansas has been given progressive banking, Atlanta was given more banking to make it a mini superspeedway, and Texas was just ruined. So what were all very similar tracks are all slightly different.

Thank you iceberg for responding to my comment from the autoclub video and making a video out of it.

I still say one race date per series per track/layout (e.g., 600 on the oval, fall race on the Roval)- and that includes cookie cutters.

Charlotte and Michigan are not "cookie cutters" they are the originals. Michigan first nascar race 1969. Charlotte first race was 1960. the cookie cutters are the ones built in the 1990s+ modeled off of charlotte or michigan. Had the garbage cookie cutters not been built then Michigan wouldn't have suffered what it suffered. nor would charlotte or Atlanta. and Atlanta should have been kept with its pre 1997 design. Nascar instead of building all the cookie cutters in the late 90s onward should have looked to places that already existed. Winchester, IRP, Milwaukee Mile, etc.

I can fix most of what's wrong with NASCAR with one simple rule change. Get rid of the automatic yellows at the end of each stage.

How are you going to throw shade at Michigan as a "cookie cutter" when it's been on the schedule since 1969? >_>

While I began to tire of the cookie cutters, the reasoning for focusing on that style of track in the day was sound. Pass in the grass, one hot night, the finales at Atlanta. People were eating that up. The chance to have those highlights so much in the season with more and more people wanting to come to the track all made sense. But by the time Nascar had peaked in popularity, running those tracks had become a sanded down science. Just gut feeling tells me that their presence at key points in the schedule helped Jimmie become the record tieing champion that he did. With Texas, Atlanta, Kansas and especially Charlotte right down the stretch it's no wonder he had that extra level of success. And that too really dampened the feeling of competition around these tracks.

Giving the cars some actual HP would solve a lot of problems

I'm okay with the schedule, especially with more short tracks. I think work in the road courses and short tracks is much needed. Smaller brakes and maybe narrower tires or a different rubber compound. The cars drive better at these tracks now and the racing suffers for it. You can't out break anyone into the corner because everyone has such grip and breaking power they can drive it in just as deep and make it stick. Passing in tight corners (short tracks and road courses alike) require out breaking your opponent into the corner and it just isn't possible with the grip level and breaks performing so well. I'm excited they are making changes but as Dale Jr. Said, it will be better but simply not enough. Too small of a swing at it. I imagine next year will be another small swing as well and that continue until they dial it in. Just don't touch the intermediate package now. For those tracks, the current car and package is top notch.

All in all, I want the oval Brickyard back in the schedule! For all sorts of different reasons I have never been able to watch any race on it live, all have been on the road course! The Indy 500 was broadcasted in my country when we had one or two seasons of the IndyRacing League to be broadcasted - 2004 and 2005, when Dan Wheldon won, I forgot who won in 2004 - but was too late in the night and I was an 11 year old middle schooler then. (Yeah, I am from Eastern Europe, thus lots of these races are late in the night for me.) No wonder I'm longing for both the original Brickyard for NASCAR and if possible the Indy 500 one day too. In fact I fell in love with NASCAR because of my love for IndyCar, believe or not, and had to wait until 2016 (!) for it to be broadcasted in my country. No wonder why I have never seen the old stock cars a lot of people love.

Great video. I had basically these same thoughts as last season played out. I also agree that NASCAR and the fans are on different pages right now. with that said, this season has a chance to be an absolute banger. the 1.5 milers should present good racing again, and with the newly announced short track and road course package, with the downforce reduction, it theoretically should lead to looser cars, and a better ability to pass, as it should limit the dirty air issues when they get up behind someone. Here's to hoping!

Beef up the HP at short tracks and road courses. That'll fix the aero issues

I like the current mix much better but have always thought tracks should get only 1 race per year (except Daytona and Talladega). Something I'd love to see, yes this will sound crazy, is a 5+ mile rally type course. Really take the sport back to its roots!

The thing about the cookie cutter tracks is that they all have at least one major thing that makes it unique. They didn’t all used to be like that but the ones we have left are all different whether it’s the shape, the banking, the surface, etc.

Variety in a schedule is always good, they'll eventually get these cars racing better at the short tracks and road courses. Bulldoze Texas Motor Speedway and salt the earth where it once stood.

i mean i get it but thats like saying that football is boring cuz they always play on the same field

Kentucky, Chicagoland, and auto club finally started putting on great races right before they got dumped

With cookie cutters, hello fresh as a sponsor, and the code ICEBERG65, I wonder why there's not even one food-related pun in this video...

I know I'm probably in the minority, but I absolute love the "cookie cutter" tracks. Maybe it's just that I'm a 90s kid, but in my mind, a proper NASCAR schedule has two or three superspeedway tracks, two or three half miles, and the rest is the ovals in between. I personally have never liked NASCAR road courses, as NASCAR to me is oval racing, and is unique in that. For road course racing we have WEC, IMSA, F1, IndyCar to a large extent, WTCC, and a whole bunch of other smaller series too. For oval racing, you have NASCAR and nothing else. And I know that oval racing doesn't attract everybody, but that's okay. I'd rather see NASCAR do it well, then take half of their attention and try and run into markets that have less eyes already.

I honestly don’t thing the car is an issue. NASCAR knows short tracks better than anyone and the early changes this year will make a big difference. Other changes will be made and the racing will be as good as ever. NASCAR fans are just impatient and overreact to every little thing, which is ironic for a sport where patience is so important.

I love 1.5 mile track at LVMS for a better great track looks to rebuild at Las Vegas.

What Nascar should consider is mixing in the cars from yesterday like Gen3, Gen6, Gen5, and excreta. By not sticking to one gen of car could shake up somethings. They could do a mix gen race where drivers draw the body style of the car they will race from a mixed bag.

Well, after watching this video, I do agree about bringing Chicagoland back because I think it should have been brought back this year instead of the Chicago Street Course being added to the schedule. Also, when it comes to Iowa Speedway, I still wish that it had been given a shot at hosting a Cup race, but I wonder if that's what The Iceberg meant about Iowa. All-in-all, in the end, that's all I've got to say, so goodbye!

The problem was never too many cookie cutter tracks itself, the problem was lackluster results from their packages at those tracks taking up a big chunk of the schedule.

They're just reconfiguring/replacing the wrong tracks. Atlanta had all these amazing races and stories connected to it, fell victim to their fake pack racing that nobody asked for. A repave would've sufficed. Auto Club is wider than Michigan, so idk why they're making the bigger track smaller besides "booming real estate market". Meanwhile, they know everyone hates Texas (NASCAR has gotta be able to convince SMI to make it a short track, right? ). Absolutely nobody likes street courses in other racing series' and it's going to market that doesn't like motorsports, yet it's replacing a very popular road course in a motorsport friendly market. It's their typical "1 step forward, 2 or more steps back"

I think these types of tracks are very important to have on the schedule, Las Vegas being one of my favorites, but I am also glad we have track diversity. I do think they should add back a second Homestead instead of two Phoenix races, but I understand why its that way. Outside 1 1/2 miles I think they should add back the Daytona RC in place of the Indy RC.

Even if it’s just a test, please for the love of all things good, BRING THE NEXT GEN TO CHICAGOLAND

Who asked for the Indy road course? Seriously, who wanted that? Would love to see the new cars back on the oval.

>complaining about cookie-cutter tracks >getting sad over the loss of OG Fontana/Chicagoland choose one

They need as equal a distribution of track configurations as possible, then the series truly becomes a competition for all-out driving talent. It would also allow the series to draw the widest possible fanbase, which in turn helps the commercial side for everyone involved.

That's why I like Darlington and Indy to ovals that don't want to be like anyone else.

Auto club going to a short track is a shame. We need more tracks like it and Michigan. They create good racing, especially with this package (I also say this as an IndyCar fan who wants to see them go back to both tracks)

I think that the diversity of tracks is good, the issue is how well (or in this case poorly) the car performs at the short tracks and road courses.

I’m okay with the “ cookie cutter tracks “ we don’t have to go to every track every year.

Here's an amazing idea: let's identify a track that drivers and fans have come to love recently and just completely gut it. Like Auto Club! Yes! Oh and a track everyone hates like Texas? Don't touch it, leave it in the playoffs. Great idea!! - NASCAR, probably

There should be exactly half on the list as cookie cutters. Vegas and AutoClub have the most diversity in lane strategy out of the cookie's, but racing should be both driver skill and strategy with diversity in each event. Repetition leads to predictability for teams and a less interesting watch. Stages don't help if they're cleaning the tire wear off the track between stages, too. I think they should only clean debris and not the tire ware as heavily between stages. The dirt races are a cool twist.

Short track racing was the best racing!! I wish NASCAR would keep all the old race tracks active and expand the season!! My favorite road course was always Watkins glen! They need to bring back all the 90s race tracks in NASCAR

the only and i mean the only 1.5-mile track i want them to add back is Chicagoland as i don't see the street course lasting past this year

I think NASCAR should look into possibly adding a few Canadian dates to the calendar and drop a few more 1.5 mile D-shaped tracks.

Ovals should never completely go away as they are an important part of NASCAR history and culture, but there should be way more road courses than there are now. In F1 every track is different and it's important for drivers to know the track and test it out. That type of preparation is meaningless in NASCAR if every track is an oval. There is one thing though that i really like about the ovals--the bank. I love it when the NASCAR stock cars are "riding the wall " almost at a 45 degree angle.

Once they added second dates to cookie cutter tracks like Texas, Kansas and Las Vegas, that really flooded the schedule with cookie cutter tracks. I wish instead of getting rid of Chicagoland, Kentucky and Auto Club, just have one race at the other mile and a half tracks. Except for maybe Charlotte. I’d like for them to bring back the fall night race on the oval again. The roval was a good move at the time, but rather them race on an actual road course instead of a temporary one

I will say using the term "cookie cutter" for a sport where almost every track looks the same is comical 🤣

The problem at the short tracks and road courses was that they made the cars TOO good. The car didn't struggle, the passing did.

I want to see the Cup add Iowa Speedway to their schedule, and work on improving the Gen-6 Car's performance on Short Tracks, and Road Courses.

Think of it this way, had NASCAR just stayed mostly regional and not opened tracks at Texas, Southern California Las Vegas Chicago Kentucky and Kansas would the sport be more popular or would we still see an decrease in popularity? Hard to say but I would say that without those tracks the popularity at the time might not even been possible.

I would like Nascar to use the Roval layouts to all the cookie cutter tracks if they have 2 races. Stop turning Bristol as a dirt track, go to Eldora. The place was fucking packed every time the trucks went there. Maybe even have Eldora host the all-star race for next year and have North Wilkesboro as a points race. Lastly, instead of going to LA again for the Clash, either go to different stadiums each year or go international.

NASCAR doesn't have a track problem. NASCAR has a competition problem. I don't know whether the disparity is in the talent levels of the drivers, or whether it's with the cars, or both. In any case, aside from the restrictor-plate tracks, the races have a tendency to become processions. The last race at Fontana was a prime example.

The cookie cutter tracks aren't the only boring tracks I live a day's drive from New Hampshire I couldn't tell you how many times I've been there and I've never seen a really exciting race there and Pocono is not very exciting either New Hampshire I'd like to see them put a try oval in the back stretch because there's nothing behind the back stretch except parking making a mile and a quarter or a mile and a third something different Pocono I'd like to see them run the road course there just a thought

Less but still have 1.5 mile tracks, the problem last year we found out was they made the gen 7 car too stiff that a driver got hurt 🤕 during the season on a little minor wreak so much so I have not heard if he had to retire from racing or is still trying to come back to NASCAR.

Intermediates was never the issue. We all enjoyed them in the Gen 4 and Gen 5 days. And 2016 was the only season that was good in the Gen 6. I would be more than okay with adding cookie cutter tracks because Atlanta is god awful and so is Texas, so that's 3 dates that's wasted.

The length of the tracks may have been the same but the banking in the corners and straightaways were not. .... what has changed is viewership is way down.

I'd like to know what you personally think makes a good race from track to track. I mean a good race a Daytona or Talladega may not be a good race for Bristol (which I think is now a dirt track for the day race).

why did they make the Kansas spring race a Sunday day time race? It had some good races on Saturday night.

I have a few opinions. First, Michigan CANNOT come off the schedule now that Auto Club is gone. I would almost argue that there should be 2 races at Michigan. To me, they're entertaining. Second, if people truly want all these road courses, go watch Indy Car and F1. Thats basically all they race at. NASCAR has historically been these kinds of tracks, so if its not for you, go watch Indy Car or F1

i think the 1.5 mile speedways have great races with the next gen car, the coke 600 last year was a classic great race, and the kansas and vegas (especially the vegas playoff race) were great too. i think with this next gen car, a couple more 1.5 mile speedways would be good, maybe give a richmond date to chicagoland or kentucky or at the very least reconfigure texas to be a clone of charlotte or kansas, or build a 1.5 mile speedway where autoclub was.

Kansas is the closest track to me being 6 hours away and the next cup permanent circuit is Michigan which is 9 and a half hours away

If they want to bring back old short tracks, just give each track 1 date on the schedule. That way nascar can have 36 different races.

Michigan will NEVER be axed completely. That would REALLY piss off Chevrolet and Ford. NASCAR's 2 biggest sponsors. Cause Michigan is the home track for Chevrolet and Ford. The only compromise would be the Detroit Belle Isle street circuit. But the surface of those roads would destroy the shocks and suspension systems on these cars. IndyCar got to where those cars could barely handle it.

No matter what nascar does no one is happy

Did you see the stands for MIS last year? Definitely fuller than it’s been probably for the last 10 or 20 years.