Among all of the Richmond Raceway controversy this week is the question of whether the track should have two races every year, and Joey Logano has weighed in. The two-time NASCAR champion is all for Richmond staying on the schedule twice a year.
Given how the racing has been at Richmond lately, and this is not a Next Gen issue alone, Richmond has just not been providing the action it once did. The track is one of NASCAR’s most historic. In previous eras of the sport, it was one of the best tracks on the schedule and warranted two dates every year.
However, NASCAR is evolving. The sport is reaching out to new venues, they want to put on an exciting product that can attract a wider fanbase. Joey Logano does not want to see Richmond messed with, though.
“It is one of my favorite race tracks and I’ve always said, I’ve always said that no track should have more than one,” Logano said during his Behind the Wheel segment on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “But, gosh Richmond is so cool. Like it’s one of the race tracks that I would like to race in a weekly series. I think I would actually really like that one. Mainly because it is one of the only race tracks that we have tire fall off anymore. Darlington and Richmond, name another one that we have that much, you can’t.”
Joey Logano believes tire fall off is rare in NASCAR now. And it is, to be fair. So, keeping Richmond at least gives you a track that eats up tires.
“For those reasons, because we don’t have a lot of those because everybody just repaves the race tracks lately. You used to have Fontana, you used to have Atlanta, Texas used to be that way before they repaved it. Then they repave it with this new asphalt that lasts forever. Like, the technology in asphalt is obviously way different than it used to be and it seems like it just lasts forever and it never gets to the point to where it was before they paved it.
“Look at Charlotte even, it’s been a long time since they repaved Charlotte. Yeah, it’s bumpy but it’s not like there’s a significant amount of tire fall off there. So, the asphalt is just different that they’re repaving the tracks with. Richmond is one of those, that like, the survivor, you know what I mean, like yeah! It has a special place in my heart for that.”
Now, Joey Logano is biased. Richmond is one of his best tracks performance wise. He has an average finish at Richmond of 9.7 in 30 total races. Since 2021, Logano has an average finish of 6.3 in Richmond races. So, it makes sense that he would want it to stay.
Still, given the on-track product currently, it feels like this is a venue that could be kicked from one of its two dates soon.
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