"NASCAR losing it" - Fans concerned over rumors of Richmond race moving to a road course

NASCAR is seemingly heading towards Mexico for a Road course as hinted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a recent conversation. This potential addition suggests further expansion of circuits on the NASCAR schedule.

The former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr believes this will come at the cost of replacing existing short tracks in the Cup Series season schedule. He shared his disappointment in his Dale Jr Download podcast, emphasizing the loss of such traditional race tracks from the sport.

Dale Jr said:

"I guess when we lose something that's been a historical part of our sport for a really long time In terms of like a facility or racetrack, it's getting harder for me to be happy about that or be excited about that," (0:01)

Dale Jr characterized the race at Richmond earlier this season as a "tough" one, indicating the dullness and the quality of the race in general and sparking rumors of cutting it out from the schedule.

"When we had a really tough Race at Richmond a couple of weeks ago. I said, "Hey, man. We're gonna probably lose Richmond to a road course," and now the rumor is we're probably going to Mexico. It's frustrating for me because there's nothing wrong with Richmond You know and we're gonna leave Richmond to go Race in Mexico.," Dale Jr added. (0:14)

The potential change hinted at by the 49-year-old resonated with NASCAR fans who took to Twitter (now X) to share their feelings and offer suggestions regarding the same:

"Why are Nascar losing it, fans road Courses the Rock needs to come Back and why Nascar owns a road races series run a Cup class there," said a fan.

"I got yelled at for saying pretty much this exact thing last year. We don’t need more road courses or street courses," a fan said.

"We’ve already been down this path. Robbing from the sports history to search for new futures is frustrating," a fan expressed his concern.

Adding and removing race tracks in the season's schedule has created a buzz since the beginning of the 2024 season. The addition of the Chicago Street Race in 2023 turned out to be a big hit among motorsport fans globally and is returning this season to replace the 4-mile-long Road America.

While another fan tweeted, "to many road courses now two was good enough my opinion,"

Another fan added to this disappointment by stating:

"If they leave Richmond for another road/street course it will only drive fans away like myself,"

A NASCAR fan also shared a suggestion to Dale Jr's post on X:

"I think the best way to solve this is to look at all the tracks that have two races , you take away the one that has had the worst attendance or makes the least amount of money, then you have lots of tracks to choose from to fill out the schedule," said the fan.

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List of NASCAR Road courses in the 2024 season

NASCAR made a few changes in the 2024 Cup Series season, including the addition of a new street circuit and a change in playoff line-up.

The NASCAR Cup Series witnessed its first Road course event earlier this season at Circuit of the Americas from March 22-24. William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports earned his 12th career win at EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

Here is the list of remaining Road courses in the 2024 calendar year:

Sonoma Raceway (June 7-9)

Sonoma Raceway in California is gearing up for the Toyota Save Mart 350. The drivers will run for 110 laps in the 2.52-mile-long road course.

Chicago Street Race (July 6-7)

Chicago street race had its inaugural season in 2023 which turned out to be a success. NASCAR is set to return to the Grant Park 165 where drivers will run for 75 laps in the 2.2-mile-long circuit.

Atlanta Motor Speedway (September 6–8)

Quaker State 400 by Walmart will host the season's first playoff event in Georgia. NASCAR will return to this superspeedway where drivers will run for 260 laps on the 1.54-mile oval track.

Watkins Glen (September 13–15)

Go Bowling at the Glen will mark its debut in the playoffs. The historic New York track will host the second week of playoffs. NASCAR drivers will run for 90 laps on this 2.45-mile course.