LOUDON, N.H. — No temperature checks, masks, or social distancing were required at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. The grandstands were fully open with fans ready to live free and watch racing.
But after 15 months of pandemic-forced flexibility, not everything is the same at the New England stop on the NASCAR circuit, or the sport as a whole.
“There were a lot of sacred cows in NASCAR,” said Steve Phelps, the company’s third-year president. “Doing a midweek race, or doubleheaders, not having practice and qualifying, those were unheard of. Doing one-day shows was unheard of. We proved we can do all those things.”
Safety and cost-cutting shifted three-day events, with teams bringing an extra car for practices, to one-day, one-car events at all but eight tracks (including the signature Daytona 500, Coca Cola 600, and championship in Phoenix). Qualification for other tracks, including NHMS, now involves a points system. Phelps didn’t expect full weekends to return for 2022.
That’s fine by Kyle Busch, the pole-sitter for Sunday’s Foxwoods 301. Instead of traveling on Thursday or Friday, he and other drivers are parachuting in on Saturday or Sunday. To him, the show remains the same.
“It’s great to have the fans back and the grandstands being full again,” said Busch, who was eager to “hang with all the Northerners. Those people up there love their racing.”
Looking to shake up fan interest, NASCAR this season introduced a schedule Phelps called “the boldest in 51 years.” It includes races on dirt at Bristol, Tenn., the twisting turns at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and Road America in Wisconsin, a new superspeedway at Nashville, and the road course in Indianapolis instead of the Brickyard 400 oval.
More impactful changes could be on the way.
The projected rollout of the Next Gen car, which replaces some of the half-century-old technology in current cars, remains on track for Daytona next February. NASCAR touts them as sleeker copies of showroom Camaros, Mustangs, and Camrys. Since some of the major components will be standardized, NASCAR believes they will be more durable and cost-effective, lowering the barrier of entry for new suppliers and teams.
They also could be more green. For now, the Next Gen car’s power plant will remain the same as the gas-guzzling, internal combustion engines racing Sunday. But NASCAR, like all industries, is grappling with climate change.
Could NASCAR go hybrid or — gasp — all-electric in the future?
“We’re exploring a lot of different options,” said Phelps, a favorite son of Burlington, Vt., who ran track at the University of Vermont and got his MBA from Boston College. “Nothing specific to announce today, but the stakeholders of the sport are looking at it. I think it’s important. It’s hard to say what things will look like in 20 to 30 years. We want to do our part while creating compelling entertainment and racing.”
When asked about climate change, Phelps pointed to the social justice stances NASCAR took last year, which included an industry-wide show of support for its only Black full-time driver, Bubba Wallace, after a noose was found in his garage in Talladega, and the banning of the Confederate flag at tracks.
Phelps said those moves “changed the face of the sport forever, in my opinion,” and created a more welcoming sport. Phelps pointed to new team owners Michael Jordan (23XI Racing) and Pitbull (Trackhouse), the company’s June hire of New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara as the company’s first growth and engagement adviser, and the June 2020 hire of Brandon Thompson as vice president of diversity and inclusion.
The support for Wallace and the banning of the Confederate flag “were in the best interests of the sport, but the country was ready for those changes,” Phelps said. “I would look at green the same way . . . I believe younger people — and this is a gross generalization — would probably view climate change and environmental things and being more green as important to the future of the country.”
NASCAR’s attempts at becoming a more green sport so far include a switch to an ethanol-blend fuel in 2011; recycling all tires, oils, fluids, and batteries used in competition; and encouraging fans in campgrounds to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
After a one-year ban, campers are back at NMHS, which hosted an estimated 12,000 fans last year at 35 percent capacity. The 2020 Foxwoods 301 was the first live sporting event in New England after the red flags of March 2020. The race was pushed from July 19 to Aug. 2. Some 2.21 million people watched the race on NBCSN.
NHMS general manager David McGrath said he expected to welcome approximately 44,000 for Sunday’s race. What remains: hand sanitizing stations, electronic ticketing, and cashless concessions, with more grab-and-go options at the latter; and a full deep clean of the grandstands before and after the race.
McGrath said hiccups were few last year, pointing to a few long lines. The GM said a total of “zero point zero-zero” COVID-19 cases were attributed to the weekend, which was good news after fans rushed to the front of the grandstands to celebrate Brad Keselowski’s win.
“If I had to grade NASCAR fans for that event, I would give them an A-plus,” McGrath said. “I’m not Pollyanna-ing this. They behaved. They listened. It was awesome to watch.
“The pandemic forced us to modify, and quickly accelerate, our long-term planning,” he continued. “It forced us to move faster, and that’s not a bad thing. Change for the right reasons is always good.”
. . .
The checkered flag of Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, the Ambetter Get Vaccinated 200, was unfurled for Christopher Bell, who won all three stages in the No. 54 Toyota Supra. Bell, who started 14th, won for the third time in three races at NHMS. “I don’t see a lot of Christopher Bell shirts up there,” he mused, assessing the crowd. Maybe next year. Bell will start ninth in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race . . . In the Whelen Modified 100, Ryan Preece, of Berlin, Conn., used a slingshot move to go from third to first on the final turn, passing third-place finisher Ron Silk and runner-up Justin Bonsignore to win for the first time at NHMS. “I feel like I won Daytona, man,” said Preece, who recalled going to races here as a kindergartener. “If you’re from this area, this place means a lot to you.”
Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports.
"much" - Google News
July 17, 2021 at 10:22PM
https://ift.tt/3hMNfIh
‘Those people up there love their racing’ — a much different NASCAR excited about this weekend’s return to Loudon - The Boston Globe
"much" - Google News
https://ift.tt/37eLLij
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "‘Those people up there love their racing’ — a much different NASCAR excited about this weekend’s return to Loudon - The Boston Globe"
Post a Comment