Last weekend, NASCAR held a very special event at Bristol Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Food City Dirt Race, which was won by Kyle Busch. The dirt race was seen as a massive success, becoming Bristol’s most-watched race since 2016.
Naturally, NASCAR wants to run it back next year and they announced Tuesday that they plan to bring the race back in 2023.
Bristol track GM Jerry Caldwell: “Bristol Motor Speedway will prepare for a spring night race on dirt in 2023, giving the fans two great NASCAR shows on different surfaces. The dates for our NASCAR events will not be available until later this year.”
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 19, 2022
“Bristol Motor Speedway will prepare for a spring night race on dirt in 2023, giving the fans two great NASCAR shows on different surfaces,” Bristol track GM Jerry Caldwell said, via NASCAR reporter Bob Pockrass. “The dates for our NASCAR events will not be available until later this year.”
It remains to be seen when, exactly, the race will take place. The 2023 schedule will be released in the coming months.
Sunday night's ratings were the highest for a spring Bristol race since 2016.
Detailed figures out later today from @FOXSports.— Mike Joy (@mikejoy500) April 19, 2022
But if that means it will be possibly scheduled against the Masters next year, NASCAR chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell certainly wouldn’t have a problem with that.
“We’re proud of our sport and feel like we can go up against anything,” O’Donnell said. “Certainly, if you can own a weekend or stand-alone, that’s something you want to do. When we look at the Masters weekend, that’s probably going to wrap up around 7, so probably a good bet, if we do race on (Easter) Sunday, you don’t want to be racing from 4-7 p.m. You want to probably put a night race in there or get your race done before the late round of the last round.”
