After Kyle Larson romped in Sunday’s (May 11) AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, there was a rumble of dissatisfaction from fans. Larson’s margin of victory was 0.712 seconds, but only because a last-lap bobble cut his advantage in half.
After the disappointing (to non-Larson fans, anyway) finish, fans and media were quick to point out that the crowd in the stands was rather sparse, to put it mildly. Coupled with the finish, some wondered aloud if the track should keep two race dates.
The better question is probably whether it deserved two in the first place because the decision to add a second race was driven more by the addition of a casino on the NASCAR-owned property than the quality of the racing itself, which was akin to the typical 1.5-mile cookie-cutter track.
But then, along came the Next Gen car, which has made the racing on the intermediate tracks more interesting. Racing at these tracks is better, at least in the middle of the pack. Drivers can run other drivers down and sometimes pass them. The sentiment isn’t confined to Kansas; it’s been pretty well across the board, so it’s safe to say, as a broad statement, that the Next Gen car races on the intermediate tracks better than its predecessor.
That’s compounded by its performance on road courses and any track a mile or less in length, which has been less than great. Less than good, really. That, combined with the improvements that have been made on the larger tracks, makes those races look better in comparison.
To be fair, Sunday’s race wasn’t terrible. Yes, Larson stunk up the show, but there was some very good racing behind him for much of the day. Drivers were able to race four and five wide at times, and a driver with a fast car could move through the field and gain a lot of positions. There was risk and reward.
It was a pretty good race with a disappointing finish. Fans are willing to overlook a mediocre race with a thrilling finish, but less so the other way around.
If the finish is what matters, the Next Gen has had less of an impact on Kansas. In seven races, four have seen finishes closer than one second, but only one under 0.327 seconds, which is still a few car lengths.
Of course, that one was the closest finish in NASCAR history. It was a blast to watch and led to some lively and insightful debates.
It wouldn’t have happened without an overtime restart.
That’s the common denominator in the closest finishes at Kansas, in both the Next Gen and its predecessor. In the last six Gen 6 races at the track, three of the four finishes decided by a third of a second or less were decided in a two-lap drag race. In both finishes decided by that same margin or less in the Next Gen, the final green flag run was also just two laps.
So, is it better racing in the first three-quarters of a race that fans are enjoying, or is it late crashes and overtime finishes?
And if it’s the latter, is NASCAR sacrificing too much in the form of the short tracks that built the sport to have some pretty good racing at the intermediates even if it still disappoints fans if there isn’t a two-lap sprint at the end?
Better intermediate racing was something people asked for so long that it seems crazy to abandon it now.
The other question, which is a different thing altogether, is whether tracks with sparse crowds in attendance should lose a date in an effort to bring people in somewhere else, or if decent racing for the television audience is more important despite the questionable optics of empty seats.
Is the answer to take a race from Kansas but try another intermediate, perhaps the dormant Chicagoland Speedway? A lot of fans would ask for Rockingham Speedway first, but it’s the type of track that would only highlight the Next Gen’s shortcomings.
All of the questions lead to one answer: the Next Gen traded one problem for another. The problem wasn’t, and isn’t, the tracks themselves. They’re fairly constant—not entirely so because surfaces do change as they age, but a flat half mile with one racecar is still a flat half-mile with another one.
NASCAR Xfinity Series cars, which have put on some really good races at the milers and short tracks, still fight the issues that previous Cup cars had on the intermediates. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series trucks were never meant for the bigger tracks as the series was initially created as a short-track series with a race here and there at a larger Cup track.
If the answer is the cars—and across all national series it is—the solution is much, much harder to pinpoint.
The opportunity to turn a Next Gen into a “run what you brung” for the All-Star race didn’t appeal to owners because of the expense, all for an exhibition that pays for the car you brought if you win. However, part of that’s on NASCAR, too, because that idea should have been followed with, “if it works, we’ll go that direction for points races on tracks under a mile next year,” or at least, “if someone hits on something, we’ll look at making it the rule going forward.” It could have allowed the Cup Series to use the same chassis and body panels but with completely different configurations for different tracks.
It could also be something as simple as adding horsepower at tracks less than 1.3 miles.
The reality is that NASCAR has been looking for a solution to the same problem for decades. There probably are solutions out there, but they won’t come from dropping a race from Kansas and adding it to Rockingham. Moving one to Chicagoland or Kentucky Speedway might put more butts in seats, but that doesn’t solve any real issues either.
The days of one racecar for all tracks are gone, and it’s not the tracks’ fault.
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.