1. How many road courses should there be on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule?
Christopher Hansen: Four is the maximum number of road courses for the Cup Series schedule moving forward. It’s no secret that road course racing has struggled with NASCAR’s seventh generation car, with a fair share of lackluster races over the years. While there’s been some improvement since 2022, it hasn’t been enough to make road course racing enjoyable to watch like it used to be. While I applaud NASCAR for going to new venues like Circuit of the Americas and the Chicago street course, six road course races on the schedule seems overwhelming at this point in time. Four road courses spaced out over the season is the ideal solution moving forward.
Aaron Bearden: The current amount is fine. I know there’s a lot of road course fatigue — and as a traditionalist generally, I get it. But these road course races allow NASCAR to mix up the schedule and potentially enter new markets internationally and domestically with street circuits. I think the issue is how close together they are. The Cup Series should never run road courses back-to-back. They got to work on that spacing.
Mark Kristl: Six. We have six drafting-style racetracks, so an equal amount of road courses is fair. Go to the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, Sonoma Raceway, and Watkins Glen International. Rotate Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the Mexico City road course, the Montreal road course, and Road America for two other ones. Lastly, a street course is fine so long as that city is rotated every two to three years.
Mike Neff: Stock cars should race on oval tracks. The road course change is a fun diversion, but they should not be a significant part of the schedule. Two or a maximum of three is all that should be on the schedule. If teams want to road race, sign up for IMSA. Also, stock cars are not enjoyable on street courses. Stock cars are not precise, and the tight confines of a street course end up causing drivers to be eliminated for minor missteps.
2. Which Hendrick Motorsports driver’s slump is more concerning: William Byron or Kyle Larson?
Kevin Nix: William Byron. Kyle Larson has been a boom-or-bust driver throughout his career, so he could easily win on any given week. Larson could win this weekend and put his slump behind him. Byron, on the other hand, has not shown the same pace since his Daytona 500 win. He led only one lap in the 500 as well, so his points position could be a lot more precarious if he did not avoid the big wreck on the final lap. While he was strong in the 600, the overall lack of winning speed since then has been a concern. I have more confidence that Larson can recover than Byron, as Larson has a better track record of doing so.
Hansen: Larson has no question struggled the most over this recent stretch of races, whereas teammate Byron has shown more speed when the teams unload for race weekend over the last several races. Since winning at Kansas Motor Speedway in May, Larson’s best finish was fifth at Michigan International Speedway in early June. While his second attempt at the Memorial Day Double produced lackluster results, the No. 5 team has looked a step slow in recent weeks, not running up front leading laps and contending for wins as we’ve become all too familiar with since Larson joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2021. If there’s one driver that can bounce back, it’s Larson, who’s sure to recapture the early season speed he had a couple of months ago. I expect Larson to start the turnaround this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway, where he finished runner-up to Denny Hamlin in 2024.
Neff: Byron has had a bit of bad luck lately, but he has still shown speed in his cars. For whatever reason, Larson has simply lost speed over the last couple of months. The No. 5 team needs to regroup and get back to the front of the pack before the playoffs.
Kristl: Byron, because of the playoff point implications. Byron currently leads the regular season points, but his lead has dwindled down to 13 over Chase Elliott and 19 over Larson. If Byron doesn’t win the regular season crown, he loses out on 15 playoff points. His only playoff points right now are the five he earned from winning the Daytona 500. We’ve seen how valuable every point is in the playoffs. If Byron misses those 15 points, that could be the dealbreaker for him to miss advancing in the playoffs.
3. For William Sawalich, does last weekend’s third-place finish at Sonoma mark a turning point?
Bearden: That’s up to him. Look – William Sawalich needed last week in a bad way. The first step to turning around an awful year is finding a way to stop the bleeding. But three of his top 10s have come on road courses. We need to see some pace on an oval before assuming Saturday’s run will lead to anything more.
Nix: Not after one race, but it was encouraging to see. Sawalich has had a year from hell thus far, but it’s situations like this that need to make everyone more patient with prospects. A prospect is not a bust after half a bad season. Some drivers take longer to develop than others, and that is not a bad thing. Sawalich is still just 18 years old. A race like Sonoma could do wonders for a young driver’s confidence. While he would need to show more consistent improvement for his Sonoma run to be a turning point, it is easily the best run he has had thus far.
Kristl: No. Sawalich’s last three top 10s were at road courses, and the first of those three came at Circuit of the Americas on March 1. Five of the remaining seven races in the regular season are on ovals. Sawalich must make massive improvements on ovals to really turn his season around. His last top 15 on an oval? On Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
4. The Truck Series has not raced in nearly a month. What’s the biggest change you would make to the current Truck schedule?
Neff: While racing more often would be great, that would require NASCAR to start paying better purses for the series. That said, the biggest change needs to be getting the series back to the short tracks where it started. They should not run on tracks bigger than 1.3 miles. Halfway breaks, non-competitive pit stops, races that highlight driver ability are what made the series. The worst thing that ever happened was Dennis Huth running the Trucks at Daytona.
Hansen: While the NASCAR schedule is a long one beginning in February and ending in November (or October for this year’s Craftsman Truck Series season), I think the series would benefit from having more standalone races included in future iterations of the schedule. For instance, bringing back tracks that previously hosted the Truck Series, including the Milwaukee Mile and Memphis International Raceway for the series to race at every other week would help bridge the gap between the current month-long break between races for the Truck Series.
Bearden: Pacing has been an issue with the Truck Series schedule for years. I’d love to see smaller, two-week breaks for the series. Oh — and maybe a few more short tracks.
Nix: Not having a month-long break. The Truckers raced for five straight weeks earlier this season and now have almost that long off. It’s hard for drivers and teams to get into a rhythm with the schedule being that inconsistent. There has to be a few dates that could be moved around without the race becoming a standalone. Breaks of two weeks could work, but the series becomes an afterthought without being on the track. That needs to be fixed.
Aaron Bearden is a Frontstretch alumnus who’s come back home as the site’s Short Track Editor. When he isn’t working with our grassroots writers, he can be found talking about racing on his Morning Warmup newsletter, pestering his wife/dog or convincing himself the Indiana Pacers can win an NBA title.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Kevin Nix has been with Frontstretch since February 2023. Hailing from Gilbert, Arizona, his dream is to be in the NASCAR media sphere full-time. He is a video assistant, working on the back end to streamline video and audio quality of all at-track interviews. Nix also writes about news every Monday for the site.
Nix graduated with a Master's Degree in Sports Journalism from ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix, Arizona. He also has bachelor's degrees in Communications and Political Science. In his downtime, he likes to read, play video games and take walks in the Arizona weather - when it's not too hot.