Race winner Kyle Busch still not convinced that 3,500-pound Cup cars are a good fit for dirt.
Believe in divine intervention if you want. But one thing’s for certain, not even divine intervention could save NASCAR’s dirt race at Bristol.
Aside from a fun last lap, it was often a tough watch. And, ask Kyle Busch, and he’ll tell you it was a tough drive, too.
Busch, winner of Sunday night’s rain-delayed the NASCAR Cup Series dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway, said early on during race weekend that NASCAR should “cut the cord” when it comes the annual dirt race. “Dirt takes our sport backwards.”
Busch stole the win when Chase Briscoe made contact with race leader Tyler Reddick on the 250th and final lap. Both Brisco and Reddick went off the racing line, as Busch came from third place on the final turn to earn his 60th career Cup win in a rather ugly mudder of a race.
A CRAZY FINISH ON THE BRISTOL DIRT!
KYLE BUSCH WINS! pic.twitter.com/yAMFlrW3fE— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 18, 2022
Even after the victory celebration, Busch refused to jump over to the other side and sing the praises of the lone dirt race on the Cup schedule.
“A lot of, lot of, lot of different variables here for this answer,” Busch said when asked if his win in a race that featured a rather thrilling finish changed his opinion on NASCAR Cup cars racing on dirt. “But the biggest one is they did a better job with the track this year for sure. God helped us out a lot tonight with watering it periodically, so that was really good. We didn’t even have to rely on the water truck driver.
Kyle Busch won on dirt at Bristol on Sunday night. His 60 Cup wins are good for ninth all-time in the NASCAR Cup Series.
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“But the biggest thing that hinders me from enjoying this is just the application. We’re trying to do something that isn’t applicable, in my opinion. I mean, the first 10 laps of the race, everybody is shooting mud off, we’re covering everybody’s grilles. Our windshields are covered with the dirt going off the windshield, stuff like that.”
NASCAR Cup cars are married to clean windshields and clean grilles.
“Those guys talk about the windshields and stuff like that,” Busch said. “If we get rid of the windshields, we could have tear-offs and stuff. That’s fine, but the cars are 3,500 pounds. You saw what it’s like on the last corner, the last lap, to drive around here every single lap. You are on edge, on your toes, just trying not to crash every single lap.
“When you’re in a dirt car—I’ve now run micros, dirt late models, a few different types of vehicles on dirt—when there’s grip, it’s grip and rip. You are driving the heck out of that thing. Makes you breathe hard. This thing here, you’re just not breathing because you’re so tensed up of not crashing. It’s just the application.
“If it’s a good show, it’s a good show. I think Bristol is fine with or without. I’ve won on them all so I think I have the best say.”
While intermittent rains on Sunday helped make the track a bit more conducive to good racing at times, the rains also led to two rain delays as teams scrambled to clean the mud out of the grilles and clean the windshields of the Next Gen cars.
NASCAR is requiring each car to pit for grille and windshield cleaning.
No positions will be gained or lost on pit road. pic.twitter.com/fp6uebOYqR— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 17, 2022
The race lasted about four hours, rain delays included.
“I feel like our races are always long enough already,” Busch said. “We did have a couple rain delays where we honestly actually watered the track. That’s what you would get if you did it properly. You would get watering the racetrack delays to keep the track right. (But) that’s just breaking up the action.
“I don’t know that the fans necessarily enjoyed those breaks in the action. Our races are always typically, go, go, go, go through the end. You go to all these dirt shows, the biggest dirt races in the country are 50 laps. There’s one in the world 100, but all the rest are 50 laps, and there’s a reason for that.”
Busch added that it wasn’t all doom and gloom out there.
“There were some bright spots, for sure, to the night, to this race,” he said. “I don’t know if the good outweighed the bad. I don’t know.”
Keyword: Not Even Divine Intervention on Easter Could Save NASCAR's Dirt Issues at Bristol