Tracks, Changes, and Complaints

[Purist]

Lately, there has been quite a bit of talk about the tracks NASCAR visits, the racing that has been happening, and the interplay between the cars and the tracks. Along with all this, there has been a fair bit of complaining about all of the above. So, here are some of my thoughts, and some information I have been able to compile on the matter.

In just the last few years, Daytona, Michigan, and Pocono have been repaved, but there were no configuration changes, and eventually, every track has to be resurfaced as a part of basic maintenance.

The following speedways have had changes in the last 15 years, and/or are having changes now:
Atlanta- tri-oval added (1997)
Texas- tri-oval widened (1997)
Homestead- four separate corners consolidated, short chutes removed, 9 degrees to 6 degrees banking (1998)
Loudon- corners redone, apron lane added to bottom of racing surface, 12 degrees changed to 2-7 degrees progressive banking (2002)
Homestead- corners raised, 6 degrees to 18-20 degrees progressive banking (2003)
Las Vegas- corners raised, 12 degrees to 18-20 degrees progressive banking (2006)
Bristol- corners redone, 36 degrees changed to 26-30 degrees progressive banking (2007)
Phoenix- dogleg moved outward and raised, 3 degrees to 10-11 degrees progressive banking, corners redone, 11 and 9 degrees changed to 10-11 and 8-9 degrees progressive banking (2011)
Bristol- corners redone, upper portion of progressive banking ground down (2012)
Kansas- corners raised, 15 degrees to 17-20 degrees progressive banking (2012)

A lot of ire has been directed at the intermediate ovals, particularly the 1.5-milers. However, these tracks have produced quite a number of good, exciting races, as well as some that weren't so enthralling, not unike most other racetracks. Admittedly, many of these ovals are seeing their bankings made more similar to one another, which is a trend I do not like. Prior to the changes fhough, there were clear complaints about boring racing on some of these ovals because, it was thought, they were too flat, and that the lack of banking wasn't allowing enough "racing". In fact, I have recently been going back through and watching the 2001 Winston Cup race from Homestead, and Benny Parsons said out loud that he hoped they would add some banking. It just seems ironic, and kind of silly and stupid, that people called for these changes in the first place. These alterations helped in some respects by making side-by-side running more possible. Now though, these people are complaining again about the racing, and also about these tracks becoming more similar to one another because of the very changes that were asked for. Am I missing something here?

This brings me to something else though. We seem to get on these bandwagons periodically in calling for more "copies" of one racetrack or another. Starting around 1995, "everybody" wanted a 1.5-mile oval, and most often, one with a tri-oval configuration. This tapered off after 2001. A few years later, and perhaps still going a bit now, the fad was for 0.75-mile ovals in the pattern of Richmond. This has expanded a bit, with the length range running from 0.75-1.0-mile iterations. The initial plans for New Jersey Motorsports Park called for a twin to Richmond. Iowa Speedway is a 0.875-mile oval very similar to Richmond. Also, plans for the proposed Canadian Motor Speedway include a 1.0-mile oval very much like Richmond in plan form.

My point here is, I think we want a variety of ovals, so while it is fine to point out features we like, it can come back to haunt us when we attach ourselves too strongly to a particular track as "the model" we want to follow and recreate over and over again.

Before I get to the cars, I have to say that Phoenix in its new form is annoying me. They should rip up most of the pavement inside of the actual racing surface, and especially along the back stretch, there should just be a single lane of apron. At the kink, inside of the white line, there should be curbing and/or ripple strips, to make it an automatic penalty to go outside the designated racing surface in that area.