7:13 DW predicting the future

It's not because the track is a mile and a half, it's because there's not much imagination put into the layout to at least try and make it unique or differentiate it from others. Because when everyone's Charlotte, no one will be.

This video is lowkey tragic to watch

Nascar needs more asymmetrical tracks like Pocono and Darlington.

Yes we need more short tracks and I wish we could get Iowa onto the Cup schedule.

Darrell Waltrip was 100% spot on. NASCAR has done itself in.

I know they had other reasons for dropping North Wilkesboro besides crashes, but honestly it seemed like it produced less cautions than Martinsville or Bristol (I believe NW had the only caution free short track race in the 90s?). They really can't use the crash argument these days, they tear up more at the plate tracks than they do at any of the short tracks. Great video as always!

the 2020's is going to bring in a short track renaissance, just you wait.

“One day we’ll wake up and they won’t be there.” Damn Darrell, those words have never rang clearer than before. I think back all the time to the days where NASCAR was a mainstream sport, and everyone loved it, not just our small little nucleus of people. Even the core audience of the South has left NASCAR behind. Our friends may very well truly be gone.

There’s more crashes and torn up cars at Daytona and Talladega than short tracks now. There’s still time for some of these short tracks to be updated or fixed in order to host a cup race and give the fans what they want.

As a non-American who only knows Jeff Gordon and the Cars movie in relation to Nascar, I really enjoyed this educational video, props to you man

F1 fans: "All the tracks are the same tilkedromes..." Nascar: "FIRST TIME?!" Welp.

I remember in the early 2000’s it was said that you couldn’t get a seat at Bristol.

You can have all of the cookies, but if it all taste the same, why bother eatin em all?

When I was a lot younger, I was into NASCAR. I remember being a toddler and always talking about the races, my favorite drivers, etc. But something I remember a lot, was how much more I loved attending those short tracks. I went to one of the Daytona races, it must’ve been a feeder series race because I didn’t recognize as many names, and the crowd wasn’t to large. It was exciting to go watch a race for the first time, but it felt mostly normal, nothing over the top. But a few years later, we moved up north, and I was able to attend the Richmond and Martinsville races, which were so much more memorable for me. I loved watching the cars bump at Martinsville, it was exciting for young me. But, after that, NASCAR slowly became boring, and not as exciting. I watched fewer and fewer races, until I stopped watching Motorsport all together. It wasn’t till a few months ago when I relearned my love for Motorsport through Formula 1, but I still have trouble watching NASCAR 10+ years on. But, I know for a fact if NASCAR held more races at short tracks, I might just tune in some time.

Lack of Variety was truely the reason NASCAR died. 4 Cookie Cutters (Chicago, Las Vegas, Kentucky, Kansas) 3 Quads (Charlotte, Atlanta, and Texas) 3

7:15 - 7:30 D.W. saw it ALL COMING. I still watch Nascar I've been going to/watching races since the late 60's. NASCAR lost its way not taking care of its core audience and catering to an audience they hoped to attract. Folks that would listen on the radio, used their vacation time going to races, spent $$ on sponsors products, went to local tracks and just love racing. (Generalization) But few people that didn't "grow up" with grass roots racing will seldom become long term fans. The early 2000's proves that. Now the long term fans have been alienated and the lookey-lous are long gone and moved on. Just an ole race fans opinion.

NASCAR should go back to Milwaukee

That's crazy to see how the mentality has reversed completely since the 90's. Hard to believe they were even saying those things about short tracks back then. Great video.

Dumb is making it so every round of the schedule takes place on nearly identical speedways. Uninspired is asking for every speedway to be eliminated so we can end up in the same situation, just with short tracks. The thinking fan's strat is to ask for variety. John Andretti was spot on. If every track is a speedway, then the speedways will be seen as boring. As unpopular as it might be to say, if every track was either like Bristol or like Martinsville, it'd be just as boring. What NASCAR needs is an even spread - a mix of short tracks, speedways, steep banking, low banking, road courses, and weird freak circuits that don't fit into any one category neatly (ahem....DARLINGTON). The Eldora Truck Series races really opened my eyes to how much fun dirt racing is, and while I'm still a little iffy on its introduction to the Cup Series, it'd be a brilliant way to mix things up in a perfect world. Variety is the spice of life. Anything less than a motley crew of extremely different racing circuits, both in shape and feel, will be a detriment to NASCAR.

That DW quote aged like fine wine.

Both style of tracks have their positives. Would I love to see more short tracks? Absolutely, who wouldn’t? In that same vain NASCAR needs to do something to fix intermediate track racing. In the early 2000’s gen 4 era the intermediate tracks put on some of the most interesting racing with some of the closest finishes. NASCAR needs to lose this mentality that low horsepower and high downforce is what makes good racing

The announcement of Auto Club begin reconfigured into a 1/2mi short track is basically a declaration that the move towards bigger Intermidate ones was a mistake.

Honestly, I’ve always wanted more road courses on the schedule. It’s been cool to see a couple new ones come into play during the craziness of this year

I use to hate short tracks because my favorite driver Bill Elliott struggle on short tracks. Now I want more short tracks.

Who’s here after California got changed into a short track?

I think that while short tracks will become more popular I think that the focus and expansion will change towards road courses instead as they can usually fit more people and have more flexible attendance and seating options. Take for example tracks such as Lime Rock Park which actually has no seating and fans are encouraged to sit wherever they like and move around as they please, I think this will be very popular with fans who want to see races in many ways as they can. In addition to this road, courses encourage passing and close racing with a low downforce high horsepower package which emphasizes both acceleration and reliance on mechanical grip allowing for many overtake opportunities. As you can currently see at Watkins Glen drivers are now willing to try passing anywhere on the track due to the layout and characteristics of the car. With the advent of the sequential DSG that will be put into the new car and road racing style wheels, you can tell NASCAR is going to try and make road racing a new focus and make road racing as exciting as possible.

NASCAR's been trying to commit suicide for longer than I thought. They had a sport groing in popularity and decided the best thing to do was change everything about it in order to make it palatable for non-fans. Then the only thing that kept the sport on it's upward trend was Dale Earnhardt driving however he wanted and Jeff Gordon winning like crazy.

And here we are now this year! I’m dying for more road courses and short tracks!😍🏁 The more of those, the less intermediates, the less 2 race dates a year, the better!

Man I miss the 90s early 2000s nascar... It had a magical feel back then. Sadly those days are long gone, but at least we have the memories. I will never forget going to my first Nascar race at Bristol back in 1998, had a great time and will never forget that sweet smell of the leaded racing fuel they used back then. Not the ethanol based garbage they run now.

How about only going to each track once a season UNLESS that track has a second configuration? This would mean if Daytona and Talladega want to keep their second dates, they'd have to use the road courses. And why doesn't the Cup series go to Sebring or Lime Rock or Road America? The biggest series should be on the best and most historic tracks. And yeah, more short tracks.

I like Rockingham Track. I want for his returning. The 1 and 1/2 cookie tracks are booring.

World Wide Technology Raceway, Iowa Speedway, Lucas Oil Raceway, Rockingham, Milwaukee Mile, etc

I wouldn't mind seeing another road course thrown in as well. But more shorts tracks are needed.

It's still sad to hear how north wilkesboro and rockingham were screwed like that. :(

Someone needs to build a new track that’s exactly like the old Nazareth Speedway. One of the best action tracks ever

funny coming back to this now. In the 2.5 years since this video was released: - Atlanta is now a superspeedway - Texas lost its second points race and lost the All-Star Race to North Wilkesboro - California is getting converted to a half-mile short track - Chicagoland and Kentucky are no longer in the sport

I know it will never be back. But growing up one of my favorite tracks to watch was always Rockingham.

All I want is NASCAR's on the Nürburgring ok

Bowman Gray Stadium for me was one of the best short tracks NASCAR use to go to and would love to see a race there again

Wait a minute short tracks destroy cars. Have they seen talladega, Charlotte and Daytona. They have accidents called the big ones 😆...what a bs argument.

Andretti's quote hit it on the head.

I want to see North Wilksboro back. I hope JR does something that isn't just for a video game. Even if it's ARCA or an All star race.

Another great video Brock. I consider myself a racing historian during the 1990s to present and learn some new things watching this video. Again, great video.

Nascar should start reconfiguring some of the cookie cutters into short tracks. While some could stay places that need to be repaved soon like Chicagoland and Kentucky could both be converted into 0.8-0.9mi d shaped short track.

Definitely need more and more short tracks. Beating and banging is why we loved the sport. Last nights all star race at Bristol was disappointing. The open was great, but the Hendrick, SHR, Penske, Gibbs friendly parade is getting old.

MORE short tracks!! I go to a local racetrack down in Connecticut, a .5 mile track. Small hometown track, action FAR superior to mainstream NASCAR. Sparks are flying, rubber is flying everywhere, and it's so exciting.

7:05 Darrell summed up present day NASCAR perfectly.

I think any unique track can be entertaining, and at any length. Phoenix, Darlington, and Pocono are some of my favorites, and for all of those, there’s truly nothing else like them Pon the schedule

This actually affects me to this day when I see the schedule and notice a “cookie cutter” track is coming up...I don’t want to watch it.

I’m just happy to see more wild and wacky road course roval concepts. Charlotte is a blast to drive on.

Growing up in Winston Salem in the 2000's I went to Bowman Gray every weekend but only ever knew NASCAR in the cookie cutter era. It was just a given to me and my school friends back then that NASCAR was alright, I loved watching Jeff Gordon, but it would never be half as exciting as Bowman Gray. These days I still go to Bowman Gray every year, can't tell you the last time I watched a NASCAR race.

NASCAR leadership: we can't have aggressive short track racing because the cars are too expensive The one hero in the boardroom: use cheaper cars NASCAR leadership: *boots them out the window of the out of touch sky scraper*

I saw "Countdown to Greed" at 12:35.

Great video! In reference to DW's comments about NASCAR needing to give back instead of take, take, take away from the fans, man, he sure nailed that on the head. NASCAR took away tracks like Rockingham, North Wilkesboro, ruined Bristol, took away a legitimate championship points format, did their best to take away Darlington's traditional race dates, and frankly, took away the legitimacy of the entire sport of stock car racing. I cashed out after Rusty Wallace retired at the end of 2004 and haven't returned as a full-time fan. This broke my heart because I really enjoy stock car racing, along with many other forms of racing. I gotta give credit to Tony Stewart and the crew with the SRX Series to draw me back in. I wasn't upset with stock car racing, I was upset with NASCAR as a sanctioning body. Ever since going to the SRX race at Slinger, WI last year, I've made it a point to support our local short tracks and drivers.

Very admiral work sir, you answered decade's worth of questions..... I respect and appreciate your work ethic.

Chiacgoland and Kentucky, deisgned to generate a wheelbarrow of cash to appeal to a new market and fans for nascar, however just 2 decades later they're gone from the schedule and likely never brokeven due to the high pricetag to build them.

2020: more short tracks. 2022 Chevy: More cookies, no shorties

I'm not the largest NASCAR fan, but i find your videos to be very thought out and informative and i do agree we need more short tracks. The only races that i do watch and actually enjoy tend to be on Bristol or New Hampshire, both my favorite tracks as a kid when i would go see a race here and there. keep up the great work with these videos.

Also, FANTASTIC video. I always wondered why this happened, and this clearly explained it. Well done!

No mile and a half track needs 2 races in a year and we need more short tracks and road courses

For the love of god please nascar we need more short track races

We need more short tracks, more horsepower, less downforce, more focus on mechanical grip, and narrower tires.

Ive just come across your channel and I'm about to binge on all of your videos.

I would say yes, the tracks being bland is a problem but only PART of the problem. The intermediate boom had the misfortune of happening at exactly the same time in the sport when crews and engineers all got really smart and all figured out aerodynamics more than ever before, and we ushered in the ugly CoT and then the Gen6 which has proven to be a "Cookie Cutter" car for the most part and is so over-engineered, and over-teched you've wound up with 40 car IROC races. The tracks aren't the problem, the cars are.

And now sponsors demanded a race in the Collliseum.

As someone who only got into nascar in the mid 2000s this video was very educational good job brother 👍

Very well done video. Learned a lot

Dang, so KZfaq got NASCAR’d small tracks getting screwed by the platform from corporate sponsors. Just like the small channels on KZfaq.

Damn the multiuse stadiums like RFK is a great comparison to cookie cutter stadiums.

Well made video. Hopefully someday we'll get cup series to Iowa and even maybe back to Rockingham and North Wilkesboro

Even though it was because of the Pandemic, the races on Daytona's Road Course were great A Cup race at Iowa and either Road America or COTA

Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway (0.591 mi., 18 degrees of banking) would provide some great racing. Unfortunately from 2021 the Cup Series will hold a race at the 1.333 mi Nashville Superspeedway instead.

I want to see on NASCAR’s schedule is 2 more Road Courses( Daytona Road Courses and circuit of the americas), 1 dirt track (Eldora Speedway), 2 more Short track (World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway And Iowa Speedway)

This video is amazing! Great video

Coming back after F1's street circuit surge (Vietnam, Jeddah, Baku, Miami, Vegas, possibly Qatar) makes this hit different.

Cookie cutters suck, I wholeheartedly agree that we need more short track, and would it kill them to add a couple of more road courses? Bristol is my favorite track for NASCAR, and it's not even close, I look forward more to races there than Daytona or Indianapolis.

D.W. foreshadowing the future

Fantastic video that highlights the warnings against cookie cutter tracks were right there from the beginning and were ignored much to the detriment of the sport.

Thank you for a very informative and interesting video!

They need a right hand turn in an "oval"

We need a third superspeedway lol

We're still there: more short tracks and less 1.5 mile tracks. Shame to see Wilkesboro and Nazareth in that condition 😪

I would love to see the season equally split between short track, super speedway, road course, and mile and a half.

If only someone could eat those cookie-cutters up... I'll go now

NASCAR needs to drop Vegas all together... There's no excitement there, the races are boring, even the fans don't want to go to the desert (See first cup playoff race) and replace it with a short track (Myrtle Beach, Hickory, Winchester or even The Springfield Mile would work)

As usual, great video. I'd love to think that upcoming schedule changes will undo all of this, but I doubt it will. Even when drivers and fans speak up, NASCAR seems determined to do the opposite.

I started watching racing in the late 90s. This is the first I've heard of the fans saying they didn't like short track racing around 1990. Very interesting.

I been saying for a while NASCAR needs to get back to its roots. This corporate empire has lead the sport to its peak. Covid and now the political landscape in my opinion will cause CEO’s to do what CEO’s do when bankruptcy seems imminent. They will step down and the new owner will have 1 goal. To liquidate as much as possible. We can all see the push from this new normal that will not let up on NASCAR due to perception that the sport itself is as racist as the confederate flag. On this path they are going its only a matter of time. I say scale the whole thing back to its core market focusing on the short tracks of the southeast. Limited dates in different regions. Watkins Glen, Sonoma, maybe Chicago, Louden, Pocono... NASCAR is in a bubble and it’s about to pop

7:07 That is why I love DW. I hope he retired because he wanted too.....The more I think about it the more I worry they forced him to.

Damn this was well made. Loved it.

Every time I watch a NASCAR video and there's someone losing something the name Roger Penske is always involved. Almost like the dude was only looking out for himself.

So what if you get into lap traffic on lap one? Let’s see if you really are the best drivers in the world as you claim.

NASCAR needs to add at least one dirt track to their schedule to have even a prayer of recovery.

I love what they did with the 2021 schedule. I think being one of the only sports broadcast through covid brought back some fans and this is a step to taking advantage of that. I love the added road course races but I agree on adding short track races too. I would love to see Iowa and Nashville fairgrounds on the schedule in the coming years!

I feel in this generation we might see a shift towards not just Short Tracks, but to Road Courses as well. For gods sakes we're now going to the Daytona Road Course and the Xfinity Event at Indy was a banger. But I feel that is only giving the fear of taking another date from a track fans pine for. It is going to be an interesting few years to see what will come. I rather new courses at tracks we haven't seen yet.

More cookie cutters and corporate dictating!

NASCAR ruined everything; they even ruined truck racing this season... 🤷🏼‍♂️ Going back to drag racing where the fastest car with the best driver that day wins and nobody throws a caution cause their guy is a bit behind

The hatred towards 1.5 mile tracks is somewhat understandable, however with the racing in 2022 I can say I like having a fair mix of short tracks and 1.5 milers, they have a mix of fast technical circuits like Charlotte and Kansas, along with beating and banging at Martinsville and Bristol, but would love to see at least 8-9 tracks under a mile on the schedule, and much shorter track deals so the schedule can be changed when necessary

We need more variety for sure I love watching those guys racing on short tracks