Entering the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, one trend that the sanctioning body and fans had hoped would have been left in the prior year was the entertainment value at 1.5-mile tracks. Now passed the halfway point and 10 intermediate races later, it’s become apparent that the bland, anti-climatic, single-file racing is the hand drivers and viewers have been dealt yet again.
Except for pit strategies and occasional tire fall-off, there hasn’t been much room for excitement in the opening two stages. Admittedly, intensity typically ramps up in the final segment, but before that, we’re reduced to relying on green flag, single-file racing. While the varying calls on pit road near the end of the stages could provide some enticement for avid race fans, the product itself is nowhere near satisfactory for those involved with the sport and the casual audience tuning in from home.
What’s NASCAR done to increase the competition-rate at 1.5-mile tracks in 2020? It comes down to two factors; tires and traction compound.
The tires Goodyear has brought weekly have been good — too good, actually. Each week, it seems the organization brings overly durable rubbers. While it enhances the safety of drivers and prevents blowouts on cars that produce substantial amounts of downforce, it doesn’t allow for fall-off to occur. It’s how Richard Childress Racing finished 1-2 at Texas Motor Speedway. Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick stayed out on older tires and were able to hold off the faster cars of Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. Good racing needs tires that wear out.
The PJ1 traction compound has also become the subject of controversy and hasn’t been well received by fans or the drivers racing with it. We got a glimpse of the substance in 2019, and the premise is that it would add more grip to tracks notoriously difficult to pass at, and this would essentially add another lane.
Making a regular appearance at a majority of the venues in 2020, it’s now safe to say that the PJ1 doesn’t necessarily take away or add to the racing in general. We only really saw this method succeed at Phoenix Raceway — which is incredibly important given the fact that’s where the championship will be held. Still, it’s one race out of 20 that’s added to the competitive value.
While the PJ1 has been minutely helpful at best, the process has been wildly inconsistent. Denny Hamlin has been the winningest driver of the season and on 1.5-mile tracks with three, and he’s openly stated that there have been races where there was no mention of the traction compound being applied to the racing surface. This can undoubtedly hamper team-wide preparation and performance if not made aware ahead of time.
With tires and PJ1 proving to be ineffective in producing better quality racing at intermediate tracks, it begs the question, what can?
One thing many have attributed to the monotonous racing has been the horsepower reduction packages being run. Fans have been clamoring for higher horsepower packages at 1.5-mile tracks for quite some time now to add excitement potentially. This would be an ideal scenario for the long-term, but is there a short-term plan that could be implemented this season?
The answer to that is a resounding no. It’s not possible for NASCAR to devise a package fast enough to apply it to the remaining races in 2020. Not to mention, there is still a global pandemic, and the funding may not be there.
Even if this were a possibility, drivers and teams would be seeing this package for the first time in a live race setting, most likely in the Playoffs. It was announced last week that NASCAR would finish off the season without practice or qualifying, so this is something you really couldn’t implement without any notes or practice with a championship on the line.
For now, fans will have to soldier through the tedious racing at 1.5-mile tracks, but hopefully, the sanctioning body listens to views and those involved with the sport to make a change in the near future.
