The NASCAR Cup Series is turning its attention to Richmond Raceway following a strange tire situation at Bristol that former driver and analyst Jeff Burton doesn’t expect to see again.
Burton explained that he doesn’t expect a repeat of the Bristol tire situation because it wasn’t an issue in past races and everyone is still figuring out the circumstances that led to it happening.
“I don’t think so,” Richard Burton said. “I think we had a, you know, we didn’t see this at Phoenix. This was a set of very unique circumstances that happened that we’re not fully understanding why just yet.”
Tires wore out extremely quickly at Bristol, a short track, changing how drivers had to handle the race and forcing them to rely on their crews more than normal. This also made it a race that veteran drivers were better equipped to win than anyone else. That’s probably a contributing factor to why Denny Hamlin was able to win the race.
Amid those issues with tires, ratings were up 10% at Bristol from 2023’s dirt track race at Bristol. In total, 3.809 viewers watched the race.
“So, do I think we’ll see more tires fall off at Richmond than we saw in the past? I do, but I don’t think we’re gonna see something like this happen at Richmond. We didn’t see it at Phoenix. I think this was something that was very unique and unusual. I don’t think it’s gonna be common.”
The track at Richmond is three-quarters of a mile, longer than the 0.533-mile track at Bristol. That is, naturally, going to change how drivers handle their tires and how often they need to change tires.
Last year, Kyle Larson won at Richmond starting ninth in the pole position. He’s now coming off a fifth-place finish at Bristol.
Denny Hamlin: Drivers at Bristol were ‘racing the track,’ not each other
After winning at Bristol, Denny Hamlin explained that the race had more to do with beating the track instead of beating the other drivers.
“Everyone was just trying to manage their own race,” Hamlin said. “It was almost like Darlington where everyone’s just kinda racing the track. Now this is back in the old Darlington before they repaved it, but you’re racing the track. You really were. You’re just trying to hold your line, not get passed but run fast enough to stay in front but not wear out your tires and whoever wanted to make passes would just go to the high line, make a pass and then try to get back down low again. It was a chess game; it really was for 500 laps.”
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