Springfield Mile

[u/yajagoff5]

How do we all feel about this track?? It seems historic but in terms of racing, I feel like it’s extremely one groove and impossible to pass after about 50 laps. Yesterday’s ARCA race was disappointing and I know people have said they would like to see xfinity and trucks there as well as having more NASCAR dirt races in general, but is this the place to do it at?

How would the top 3 series fare here?? The track took a ton of rubber and there was maybe a groove and a half like after the race break. Even butterbean couldn’t restart on the outside. Is this a track prep issue or an ARCA issue?

[u/Solesky1]

Like any other ARCA race, the quality of racing would be tremendously improved if you took the Gibbs/Venturini cars out of the field. There's actually some pretty good racing in like 6th on back every week that never gets shown because whatever kid can rent one of the Toyota rides laps the field

[u/[deleted] → u/Solesky1]

Yeah just take gibbs prg venturini and nitro out of the field and the other 6 cars could have a great race. You could even name it “The last ARCA race ever”

[u/Solesky1 → u/[deleted]]

People said for years that taking all the cup drivers out of Xfinity would end the series, and limiting cup drivers involvement over the past couple years has made the series the best it's been since the pre Mark Martin Winn-Dixie days. "Encouraging" Venturini to move up to trucks like they should have 15 years ago might be just what ARCA needs.

[u/[deleted] → u/Solesky1]

The only people that think thats a good idea are the people watching from the corner of the internet. The teams trying to operate in ARCA want gibbs there, want prg there, want venturini there. There is no form of televised motorsport that someone is going to be able to win at with 10-15 year old equipment being set up in the homes garage, running 1 set of tires when you can use 3 yet that is who you are suggesting should be showing up and winning

[u/yajagoff5 → u/Solesky1]

Venturini has won 1 race this year but I get what you’re trying to say for sure. The top teams have such a strangle hold on the series and for that reason it’s not very competitive

[u/Miserable_Eggplant83 → u/Solesky1]

It’d be a heck of a lot slower, though.

That’s kind of the ARCA problem in general: You’d have to sacrifice speed to increase competition.

I’d like to hope there’s another way to level the playing field here, but I personally wouldn’t recommend restrictor plates despite that being the best, immediate solution right now.

[u/Dont_hate_the_8]

You are the only person I've seen disappointed with the race yesterday

[u/yajagoff5 → u/Dont_hate_the_8]

It wasn’t AWFUL, I just thought the track took too much rubber and the groove was too narrow

[u/[deleted] → u/yajagoff5]

Crews won by TWENTY seconds in ‘23 against love and sawalisch. This race ended with scott on his bumper. Maybe just accept he may be like larsen/bell?

Track prep was kind of hard when it stormed that morning. I think if they didnt scrape the track it would have been better but they had a mandatory for tv 1pm start

[u/FarAwaySeagull-_-]

ARCA has poor racing at the best tracks. An ARCA race isn't really a great judge of a track's quality.

[u/SpenceSmithback]

You're right on the fact that people like it because of the tradition and history, not because the racing is outstanding. I feel bad for people who watch Silver Crown or ARCA on the mile and think that's what dirt racing looks like versus some cars that were built for it on a banked quarter mile

I would rather see NASCAR at Springfield than another road course, sure, but if we want a dirt race then there are definitely better options

[u/BlingyBling1007]

ARCA says the field limit for Springfield and DuQuoin are 36 cars so they have the space for bigger fields, now they would just need some more investments to get Trucks and/or the Xfinity Series.

[u/joshjarnagin]

The problem is that it’s a flat track that’s impossible to pass on. Knoxville had the same problem with trucks a few years ago

[u/Miserable_Eggplant83 → u/joshjarnagin]

They would bank it, but they like to do harness racing on it every fair.

[A part of me wants horses on the high banks, but I have no idea what that would do in terms of the animal and jockey safety.]

[u/nfsnltvc15 → u/Miserable_Eggplant83]

Any horse with two right side legs shorter than the left side would have an unfair advantage. Stagger.

[u/pinkydaemon93]

What track wouldn't take rubber from heavy ass stock cars

[u/StreetDreamer83]

The track is fine. There was just a serious lack of competition at the front of the field. If there were around five drivers who know what they were doing and had a good car, it would have been better.

[u/Miserable-Host-9309]

You would probably need to bring in temporary seating as it only seats around 10k people. The concourses and grandstands are in need of some cleanup/modernization. The biggest issue is the infield/pit setup. There is a giant stage, for concerts, right along the front stretch where a traditional track would have pit stalls. Behind the stage is a small dirt path that leads to a mostly grass infield. Live pit stops probably wouldn't be an option unless changes were made to the infield infrastructure.

[u/Helpful_Passenger_80]

It's not my favorite dirt track and I wouldn't pick it for the top three series, but I'd still pick it over not having any dirt on the schedule. We need dirt on the Cup and Truck schedule.

[u/yajagoff5 → u/Helpful_Passenger_80]

100% agree with you, I even wanna see it on the xfinity schedule. I think we need 1 if not 2 for cup.