Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick’s CARS Tour serves as a springboard for drivers aspiring to reach NASCAR, since NASCAR is renowned for its oval races. Although the series has now adopted various track configurations like road courses and street circuits into its schedule to increase spectator interest while attracting out-of-town drivers and capitalizing on fans of new drivers, CARS Tour has remained true to its foundations.
The grassroots racing series operates primarily as a short track oval series, featuring tracks less than a mile in length and focusing on oval tracks throughout the southeastern United States, such as North Wilkesboro, Florence and Southern National Motorsports Park.
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The series briefly experimented with a road course in 2019 during its first visit to Dominion Raceway in Thornburg, Virginia, a race won by Josh Berry. Since then, however, it has not returned to this format.
This could change. Recently, a fan tagged Dale Earnhardt Jr. on social media about the state of Virginia International Raceway and asked for his help in hosting a race on the road course, writing: “@DaleJr Cars Tour at VIR would feed families.”
Earnhardt Jr. responded positively, while emphasizing the challenges involved.“It would be great to find a way to fit even one road racing event into our schedule,” he wrote. “I learned through the Dodge deal that, up front, we would need different transmissions and oil pans. There are also a lot more team expenses to consider beyond that, but it’s not entirely improbable.”
As fans recognize how fervently Dale Jr. has championed oval racing in NASCAR and grassroots racing series like CARS Tour, fans have begun to comment: “No need to add a road course to the CARS tour. This is a late model series for short tracks.” Meanwhile, one supporter jokingly said: “Hey @DaleJr, blink twice if you’re being held against your will. We’ll send help.”
One surprised enthusiast remarked: “Dale wants a road course? The world is really upside down”, and a fourth sarcastically devoted against, “Manage its brakes, its shocks, its springs, its oil system, its coolers, its transmission, its clutch maybe. Stay in your lane.”
Earnhardt’s track record on road courses never matched his skills on ovals; Dale Jr. himself averaged 20.3 on road and street courses during his NASCAR career. And he previously said that while road racing represents a legitimate and valuable part of modern NASCAR, the sport’s roots lie in oval racing and he would prefer a maximum of two road races on the schedule.
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Even recently, after Charlotte ROVAL was removed from the playoffs and the sport switched to oval racing, Dale Jr. declared it. makes no difference for him personally, which made his support for a road event for his own CARS Tour race an unexpected development for everyone.
The position ‘The world is upside down’: NASCAR fans react to Dale Earnhardt Jr. considering possible CARS Tour road course event appeared first on The rush to sport.
