RICHMOND, Va. — A frequent debate within NASCAR over the past few years is whether Richmond Raceway is a track worthy of hosting two Cup Series dates. Virginia short track has struggled in terms of attendance and its races too often lack competitiveness due to strategy and track position being the main factor in results.
This was again the case on Sunday evening. Outside of the first 30 laps, when wet track conditions forced the teams to start the race on treaded tires and produced compelling action, and an overtime finish that saw Denny Hamlin beat Martin Truex Jr. For the win, everything else was typical of Richmond racing: little edge-of-your-seat drama, with two drivers (Truex and Kyle Larson) combining to lead 372 of a possible 407 laps.
That’s not enough, and that’s why NASCAR shouldn’t continue to make two stops at Richmond every year. Whenever the 2025 Cup Series schedule is revealed, anything beyond a single visit and NASCAR would be a disservice to itself, its television partner, the drivers, teams and fans .
“I don’t know what else you do,” said Hamlin, a native of nearby Chesterfield, Virginia. “It’s definitely not fair because I’m biased and I grew up loving this racetrack, so I’m still going to vote for it to have two races, that’s for sure.
“I thought today no one really went too far. I think we saw some races at Richmond where some guys got away with it sometimes when they were successful. We were all in trouble for about 150 laps, a few car lengths here and there.
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In recent years, NASCAR has done a good job of remaking a monotonous schedule that didn’t present the sport in the best possible light. Among the changes was the removal of second dates in Dover, Fontana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pocono and Texas, all tracks that featured lackluster action. In almost all cases, the decision was justifiable and widely welcomed.
The time has come for Richmond to join this list.
It wasn’t always like this. Both Richmond races were once billed as “not to be missed.” The three-quarter-mile oval was considered one of the best tracks in NASCAR, where the racing was sensational and the grandstands were packed. Richmond had 25 consecutive races with six or more cautions (including 14 in double figures) from 1998 to 2010. But after Sunday, there have been six or more cautions just once in the last 11 races.
Now the norm is like Sunday night’s race, with cars lined up single file, with drivers struggling to overtake. The difference was which crew chief had the best command of pit strategy and which drivers and pit crews made the fewest mistakes on pit road and with their track position. Fortunately, a caution two laps from the end provided a needed jolt and at least a decent finish.
Still, it certainly doesn’t live up to its nickname, “Action Track.”
Not that any of this is a surprise. NASCAR’s short track package remains a work in progress, and these races have become the antithesis of what they’re supposed to be – full-contact, close-quarters affairs that harken back to NASCAR’s tough roots, where things like Aerodynamics and track position were largely unimportant. In Richmond, quality racing has become a rarity, not the norm.
“From where I was, it was really hard to pass,” Chase Elliott said. “But it still does, and it seems like it gets harder and harder as time goes on. I mean, (Chris Buescher), (Brad Keselowski), myself (Noah Gragson), (Josh Berry), we were all pretty much at the same pace. It’s like if anyone beats someone off pit road, it’s going to be really difficult to pass that person. But the good guys seemed to be able to do it. There are always a few who can, and they tend to rise to the top.
NASCAR has raced in Richmond since 1953, an important connection that must be maintained. Richmond is a legacy track that deserves respect. But for reasons no one really understands, racing here has regressed to an often single-file procession where most overtaking occurs as a byproduct of tire strategy. This can’t be blamed on the Next Gen car – the problem was also present with the previous car – nor is there any apparent solution on the horizon.
“The tires explode and it becomes really, really hard to pass, and you end up in traffic, and it really hurts your tires, really bad,” Truex said. “But that’s kind of what we’ve fought against here in the past. Pretty typical of Richmond.
Short track racing is popular among fans and drivers. NASCAR should add short tracks to the schedule – as is the case with North Wilkesboro, Iowa and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – not remove them. But while NASCAR may currently have overall issues determining the right set of rules for these tracks, Richmond’s woes go beyond that. This is a Richmond-specific issue that may not apply broadly to other short tracks.
“I’m thinking, where else are you going to go, right?” Hamlin said. “NASCAR owns it, so they’ll want to go to another NASCAR track. If they have another NASCAR track, that one already has a date as well.
Hamlin is right. NASCAR options are limited. But the sanctioning body is considering adding an international race to the 2025 calendar, with Mexico as the leading candidate. Any new circuit added to the calendar would require the abandonment of a race in progress.
How would NASCAR create space for a new race? The leading candidate to drop out is the spring race in Richmond, according to industry sources.
Nothing is official with the 2025 calendar. A lot can and probably will change in the coming weeks and months. But whatever the final version, NASCAR is expected to limit itself to a single visit to Richmond. Running here once a year is good. Anything more than that is too much.
(Top photo of Denny Hamlin taking the checkered flag Sunday at Richmond Raceway: Alex Slitz/Getty Images)