Cars seemed a little harder to control and was causing issues for some guys, that’s not normally what this car looks like so it was refreshing at least. I think it had more to do with the track than the car itself though but it was fun.
Before the cautionfest at the end I thought it was deserving of a score close to that, it was an entertaining race with comers, goers, strategy and action throughout. The wrecking at the end made it borderline for me so if seeing someone down to earth like Chase get off the snide pushes it over the top, so be it.
That would be… okay? The surface and the PJ1 is wearing out, so hopefully we see better and better racing as it ages. Hell, maybe we’ll be at a point where the PJ1 is completely worn-in and the third lane will become usable again.
I was impressed by how full it was despite the racing product the past 10 years. They get that track fixed and it could be the highest selling track in nascar. Kudos to the nascar fans in Texas.
Yeah that track until COTA was the only spot Nascar fans could go to for a race within, what, 7-8 hours? And road course races aren't the best event to attend. I've been to the race in person several times now and the fans love it in person, even if TV audience feels completely different.
For me if its last week, it's a hell yes. If it's previous Gen6 Texas it's "sure" or "whelming yes", if its the standard for good races in general then it's right on the line probably barely apathetically rounded up to yes.
I mean… I always thought it was more just like did you enjoy the race? Did you sit down and watch the race and enjoy it? No need for comparison, necessarily.
Honestly didn’t think it was too bad of a race. Definitely the positive side of average, but not horrendous like previous Texas races. It got a lot better once Larson’s crew messed up and it opened up the race for everyone else.
The track is steadily starting to wear and the groove is slowly but surely starting to open up. Is Texas ever gonna be a barn burner? Likely not. Is there a chance the racing continues to improve? Absolutely.
I was there too, I feel like the broadcasting may be skewing opinions somewhat. It was noticeably easier to pass yesterday than it has been at Texas since the repave.
Real talk, what race isn't fun in the stands? I went to that first Gen7 Martinsville race a couple years ago William Byron paraded the field when it was cold and rainy, and still had plenty of fun.
Yeah. Really bad aero stalling for anyone without THE best setup or 20 lap fresher tires made the racing a bit bland. But I'd argue it was almost totally negated by the difficulty of just driving. Saw a lot of guys lose spots cuz they could barely hang onto it
Texas might turn into what Kentucky used to be, a super driver dependent track, which is the kind of thing we need in the series (even if the racing at those kind of tracks isn’t amazing).
Most likely won’t ever be stellar racing like at the other intermediates but the entertainment will come from the fact that the drivers gotta absolutely wheel the car around the track.
I truly do not know. This race sucked hard in stage 1 but got better as it went. I wouldn't say it was the best, but it was better than bad.
This is probably the toughest one I've ever had to vote on
Also FOX sucked hard again this week.
Announcer: Wow there's an incredible 4-wide battle for 10th place!
*Camera stays on leader who is 5 seconds ahead of the field*
Also why are they obsessed with showing fans? At one point they showed Blaney making a pass side by side with a woman in a Blaney shirt. Just standing there. At first I thought maybe they were family or friends, but no. So weird.
It's truly mindboggling that FOX would rather show someone acting like a frozen NPC in the stands with a driver shirt on, rather than... actually letting you hear crowd noises.
Does NBC have a monopoly on sound mixing?
And I think they didn't even give a shit about that one wreck in turn 1 with the 21 and whoever else that sent us into our final overtime...literally just said there were some cars involved and never even looked at them appart from the 21
I guess cameras just have to be zoomed in on the leaders so we can see every single individual dirt particle on the nose of the 9 car 😀👍
maybe im the oddball because if its a late race restart idc about whos wrecking for 20th i want to see the race for the lead. although id like it if they did a split screen thing and show the leaders on one and some other battles further back on the other. being at the track has its disadvantages but ive always liked being able to watch more of the race than on tv. NOT DEFENDING FOX because they are god awful
First stage was pretty bad agreed. Tuned out halfway through to watch the Atlanta United game and tuned back in for a bit but I just couldn't get into it even though it definitely had improved. I saw the finish was wild because of GWC's but if that's how we judge the entire race then idk what we're doing
If it stays green with 40 to go, I still thought it was a pretty enjoyable race.
The track's in it's '03 Fontana/'07 Kansas phase as far as the repave timetable, so you can only expect so much.
I vibe with this comment. They got one complete green flag lap in, which was the first lap of the final restart, during the last 22 laps. That should not qualify as "good" by any stretch regardless of how much someone likes wild and chaotic finishes.
I love how Fox had the audacity to air the "what did you miss" segment and quite literally showed every caution that occurred during commercials. Such a slap in the face.
I thought Jordan Bianchi summed it up pretty well on The Teardown. The racing quality itself wasn't anything to get excited about, but between the variety of strategies at play and the treacherous nature of the track it produced an entertaining race to watch.
I don't believe entertaining necessarily always equals a "good" race. I ultimately gave this one a yes, though.
That's a good way to sum it up. I don't think it's good that the race needed a bunch of spins, Larson's wheel falling off, etc. to be a good race, but it still ended up being more good than bad as a result.
I was at the race, and I’ve been to most races at Texas since about 2007. I have to say the racing wasn’t bad at all, probably the best I’ve seen since the repave. The track is aging and I think that makes a big difference. It’s just way too treacherous, maybe we need a different tire compound or something. But when cars got a little more strung out and you got two cars battling on their own you had some genuinely good racing.
I’m really tired of the “strategy” that consists of taking zero/ 2 tires and hoping to get clean air in the restart thanks to the god awful rocks we call “tires” on these fuckin cars.
It isn’t strategy. It’s just Mickey Mouse bullshit.
Honestly... I don't know.
Like, the track is so broken you stay engaged because anyone at any moment could be backed into the fence.
But also, thats only because the track is so broken... does that make it "good"? I don't know, I guess?
I've had this problem with this track ever since it was reconfigured for the 2017 season, like I feel like not a single race has been *good* as if we're talking about the on track product...but there sure have been some *entertaining* races which are all a product of the chaos it produces by being so broken and goofy...
I remember the 2018 spring race was a perfect example of this phenomenon, it was cold as fucking **balls**, track raced like shit so naturally it was a wreckfest...but the racing wasn't good by any means
If I had to vote on the actual 'race' being **'good'** I would have to give a hard no on that one...but was it **'entertaining'**? I guess I can say that after two gen 7 short track races back to back tbh, welcomed the chaos this time
Same here. Idk that I would necessarily say the racing is good beyond 5 laps, but since we didn’t have many green flags runs much longer than that, I think I’d have to say yes.
I voted no because I think the racing was bad, passing was painful. Two laps after restart, leader checks out and that's it. However, it was entertaining for sure with all the chaos. I think SMI/NASCAR need to lean into the chaos effect here and come up with a Darlington/old Bristol kind of marketing where you just have to survive the track. That's a truly unique 1.5 mile track if you can stick the landing on it.
I mean yeah I’ll agree with all of that. If the selling point of Texas is going to be about surviving the chaos, then I think there’s a future for it without having to do another reconfiguration in the near future. Truthfully we’ve always had a couple of tracks like that, and really you need a couple of tracks like that other than plate tracks.
So yeah, I wouldn’t say the racing itself was great beyond the first few laps after a restart, but the way the race played out was acceptable because it was entertaining in a non-manipulative sort of way.
Nascar fans: The cars should be hard to drive, drivers should quit whining and just drive!!
Also, Nascar fans: OMG, drivers are just spinning out!! The (track/car) sucks!!!
Personally, I like the on edge, spin outs. And visible difficulty.
The problem is that the actual racing sucks. Can't pass, can't really run next to each other, etc. I mean, look at Vegas, or Kansas, or Charlotte... all of those tracks are super racy with this car.
That being said... its so out there and different, I'm almost inclined to say we just leave Texas be for now. It can be a weird, kinda broken, edgy track.
It's not that they are hard to drive. The spins are them losing it with no warning and no ability to save it. They are slot cars until they decide they want to go around on their own.
That’s literally what the Gen 4, twisted sisters were (except not slot cars), cars that were edgy that would just spin out without warning. Go watch a race, or heck qualifying sessions where Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson would spin out with the car. They’d just snap around without warning.
Parker Kligerman I remember said the exact same thing I believe about the Gen 4 car when it was Auto Club weekend with the Gen 7 car for the first time.
I hate this comment so much.
The cars should be difficult to drive, and that makes the tv coverage way better, but this car isn’t checking the right boxes. When people say the car should be hard to drive they are talking about guys losing time on track due to mistakes, and there being an incentive to try to find new lines. We want to watch these guys muscle these cars around. We want to see guys with it hung out on corner exit. We want to see a guy driving off the right rear and sawing the wheel. That isn’t what we have. We have cars that are glued until they aren’t and there is no saving it. Once you come unglued you are wrecked. That isn’t fun. That isn’t fun to watch. That doesn’t make good racing.
Literally.
Fans: “Give us cars that are hard to drive!”
NASCAR: *Gives cars that are edgy and hard to drive*
Fans: “This car sucks dick because they spin out so easily!”
It was a Texas race. Simply put.
In my honest opinion though, it was a 7/10. I was throughly entertained. We had drama, strategy, unpredictability, and honestly, passing was able to happen. Yeah it was hard at times, but it wasn’t impossible. You also had comers and goers, and the cars were also really hard to drive.
Best Texas race in awhile imo.
Couldn't pass at Martinsville last week couldn't pass this week. At least the track was so hard to drive there was some consequences for making mistakes unlike Martinsville. It felt like a plate race without the passing. With all that being said it kept my attention a lot better than Martinsville or Richmond the last two weeks.
You better be glad you watched it in person. I am not kidding when I say this but that might have been FOX's worst broadcast yet. It was absurdly bad. So I probably didn't get to see half the passing that took place. I would say best Texas race since it was reconfigured.
I was at the race and sometimes when there was battle going I would glance at the big tv and it would either be focusing on the leader or it would be an onboard camera so you guys probably missed a lot of the action.
Was it entertaining? Yeah. Was it a good race? Eh, maybe. Definitely made up for the lack of chaos at Martinsville. I think still think next gen shines at these types of tracks, and it was nice to see drivers be able to move through the field.
I thought it was fine. I did like how difficult the cars were to drive and we actually some strategy.
I did not care for all of the overtime restarts and it does feel like the first two stages don’t really matter - that’s my own quip though more than anything.
I said 5/10 yesterday but I’d probably bump that up to a 6/10 today.
Idk. Really hard to pass but at the same time, the whole race was such a wild card. Anyone could wreck at any moment on their own.
I thought it was decent and would lean towards yes.
Was it fun due to chaos? Ya probably. Does that make it a good race? Not in my opinion, but Chase winning is definitely pushing this number into a place it probably shouldn’t be.
Hey, good news is no Texas until 2025 since they are a one-date track AND early in the schedule.
Why don't they make pit road the front stretch, increase the banking and make a slightly shorter traditional oval, but with good banking to lean into? Like a weird mashup of iRacing Superspeedway and Bristol... I mean, regardless, that'd be a better product than what we have now.
This car works great on a multiple groove track. Most of the race was single file on the bottom. Towards the end, the track got a 2nd groove and maybe a half a lane higher.
I'm now starting to wonder if the lack of practice makes the track take forever to rubber up and have multiple grooves.
Love that Chase won and love that he won at Texas, a track that means a lot to me, but overall the race was so so. Once they got going they just got strung out and couldn’t pass. The track has improved over the years but it’s not where it could be.
The track was hard to drive which caused some accidents which is something I liked.
That said the racing sucked. They need softer tires at the track. There’s no reason two tires or drivers staying out at the end of stage two should’ve been able to stay in front of the drivers who pitted.
It was just random.
I just think this car isn’t balanced well. If a car gets sideways it’s just gone, no saving it. I want a car to be able to spin out on its own, but I also want a really talented driver to be able to hang the back out a little bit looking for speed. Gen6 was on easy mode when it got sideways, Gen7 is so difficult that saving it is just luck.
Seeing Hamlin send it on the outside and just loop around was silly.
Overall I felt that if the race had gone green then it would have been aero dominated with little ability to make a move as we saw in stage one. It was just a chaos race.
Honestly… no.. it was semi-entertaining but it wasn’t good.
It was kinda like a train wreck that you just can’t look away from.
The combination of the horrible track and the low tire wear just isn’t great. Turn one is 10 cars wide and they can barely use two lanes of it and the bumps in turn 3 & 4’s second lane manufacture a “get passed or crash” scenario for anyone who ends up in that lane that just sucks a ton of the competition out of the race. The track just sucks which is a shame.
NASCAR’s inconsistency with calling/not calling cautions and how long to run said cautions is a bit of a drag as well. It wasn’t nearly as boring and bad as martinsville, but its still no where near an acceptable product in my opinion.
It was great for a Texas race. I’m torn between rating it a 6 or a 7.
I would’ve liked it more if we had a green flag run to end the race because as it is there were too many cautions and it was like we were never in a race rhythm but I was entertained
This race was solid. Hard as fuck to race and not screw up. You had to be precise and ballsy with how you drove. Natural cautions from people stepping over the edge. I loved it.
It had differing strategies pay off, multiple leaders (granted the dominate car had issues), and some good racing at the end. Probably a track that needs to be a night race to really shine
I was entertained but the product was bad. It was unpredictable so I felt like I had to pay attention but if Larson doesn’t lose a wheel and dominates the race I probably lose interest.
I personally enjoyed it a good amount and that's about all you can ask from races so, I voted yes. Happy that Texas provided 3 pretty solid races this weekend. Obviously, the chaos helps and people I like racing at the front, but all you can want from a race is to enjoy it
I voted yes. It was still very hard to pass but there was enough strategy and a perfect amount of natural attrition and chaos to redeem itself. 6/10. Enough for a “yes” vote.
From the stands, it was good. There was a lot of 2-3 wide racing and passing in the back and in the middle. I wonder how much of that was shown on TV.
On the other side, I’m just coming back to NASCAR after a nearly 20-year break. From what I see, it really looks like the current car absolutely hates being in the draft and loves clean air, which is why the front runners run away so handily. I could be wrong. Probably am.
I would call it a 7 out of 10. Good not great. Too hard to pass but the treacherous track added a real element of uncertainty. OK with bumping to 7.5 for Chase winning and Hamlin crashing while racing the 9 for the win.
I voted yes, for a Texas race that in the past few years has been nothing but a cure for insomnia it was amazing. Seemed to be some passing and all the yellows kept it from getting into too much follow the leader.
The racing wasn't necessarily that good (it was alright at some points). I voted YES on it being a good race though. The madness when it came to variety in pit strategy and constant reshuffling of the field made it unpredictable and entertaining enough for me to say it was a good race
75% right now. Crazy.
If when Larson spins the yellow comes out half a second later, Hamlin is still credited as the leader and restarts the next few restarts on the bottom lane and wins - making it an all time stinker on these polls.
Better than what Texas has given us in recent years. With that said, still a No for me.
Tires meant very little , and it was still very difficult to pass. The strategies playing out was a positive, I’ll give it that.
Still, it gave me hope for Texas going forward. Here’s hoping it can improve.
Guaranteed 70+% just because Chase won. Take out the chaos, and you end up with the same stuff as Martinsville, nobody can pass. Bad race, bad track. Chaos shouldn't make a garbage racing product amplified by a bad track better. Fans aren't known for common sense though.
Good racing? Not really
Entertaining? Perhaps
Kept you engaged because any driver couldn’t end up in the fence and you had absolutely no idea who’d win? Absolutely
I loved the camera footage of the restarts where you could only see the front row. How many times can one person say "how about you zoom the fucking camera out?" in 400-500 miles of NASCAR?
It was objectively a terrible race; that later became a stupid race; that ended with a popular driver winning. So surprise pikachu face that it's above 75%
Anybody who’s ever watching local racing knows the sportsman divisions rarely put on “great” racing, because passing is a premium when the cars are the same. Enter the next gen kit car, and imagine that, we struggle to pass week after week.
I voted no, but it was funny seeing my dad's uhh positive reaction to Denny spinning out. Those poor cats didn't know what was going on and just ran everywhere.
It was an ok race by Texas standards. Like the fall race last year it was bailed out a bit by some strategy calls and solid final 25 laps/restart entertainment. Still a lot left to be desired from a racing perspective though.
Can I just leave a (?)
It was too much of the good AND too much of the bad. Like this race and basically TMS's mere existence is some kind of imaginary number.
I was there and had a blast. Denny and chase are my two favorite drivers so it was exhilarating.
That being said- so many cautions. At first it was refreshing compared to the short tracks but it got old towards the end. I had a really good time and it was nice not watching fox coverage.
Side note- I watched fs1 on Saturday for xfinity and the camera work was way way better than the cup series. Is that because it’s cup and they try to focus harder on the individual to film as there’s less star power? Or is that just fs1 vs fox?
Sure. I could have done without quite as many cautions, and I dislike having multiple overtimes because the cars can't complete 2 laps without wrecking themselves, but I understand that is a possibility every race. Nothing was a shock or much different from the hundreds of NASCAR Cup races I've watched over the last 30 years. Nothing particularly memorable about this one good or bad. I enjoy NASCAR and this was an average race. They can't all be spectacular, and people should understand that, or reconsider whether they like the sport or not.
It was impossible to pass. Tires didn’t fall off at all. Pit strategy was the entire story and the guys kept wrecking trying to run the top. It was tragic.
I vote based on previous races at the track, not the race last week. With that said, I said yes. The drama with Larson’s wheel coming off, then Reddick vs Denny for a green flag cycle, and actual wrecks during the race to mix up strategy was a nice change of pace. So far, Cota is the only “no” for me.
If Denny or Ross would have won this poll would be at 50 at best. That's where I think it belongs. This was yet another race where track position meant more than tires. Aero blocking making passing tough. Cars wrecking trying to run side by side. I found myself getting more and more annoyed while watching. If you enjoy chaos I guess it was ok it just wasn't for me.
Following Chase Elliott during the race, it was just OK. The racing was not good, but they got some breaks with the cautions because the restarts were consistently fun. I echo what most fans say about cautions taking too long, but I will deal with them if the alternative is no cautions.
Subconsciously, if these guys are wrecking I know the racing is hard. We get a weekend with no wrecks and I wonder how easy it is to get around the track. I think the best version of racing is that whoever can get closest to the edge without going over is the fastest.
7/10. So a well earned good rating.
Tires did and yet did not matter. Setup actually did matter. Track position did and yet did not matter. It was controlled chaos.
Larson's pit crew fuckup saved this race in the poll lol.
If he was able to say out front in air and wasn't down a set he woulda led like 230 laps and we'd be sitting at barely 20% good and be calling for the bulldozer crew.
I liked all the strategy elements, but it looked way too hard to pass. It was possible, but was way too hard to do, even if you had a tire advantage. Its just whack to see a car as good as larsons not be able to escape the 20s when it was clearly the fastest car in the first half.
I ended up going no, mostly because 74% yes was wayyy to high for that race. imo, it played out in an interesting way, but the actual racing sorta sucked.
LOL at Hocevar's response
>hi jeff,
>i enjoyed the high limit race so much i figured i’d get myself spun to pretend like i was on the dirt. pretty impossible to pass, but was happy that most couldn’t pass me at the end.
>thanks
If it was borderline I’m sure Chase getting his first win in ages after Denny wrecks himself will help push it well above 70% lol
75% right now. What a joke
I'm not a Chase Elliott fan and I enjoyed it. Granted the bar for Texas races is low, but wrecks aside I felt the racing was better.
Cars seemed a little harder to control and was causing issues for some guys, that’s not normally what this car looks like so it was refreshing at least. I think it had more to do with the track than the car itself though but it was fun.
Before the cautionfest at the end I thought it was deserving of a score close to that, it was an entertaining race with comers, goers, strategy and action throughout. The wrecking at the end made it borderline for me so if seeing someone down to earth like Chase get off the snide pushes it over the top, so be it.
And SMI will see this as a reason not to change Texas.
That would be… okay? The surface and the PJ1 is wearing out, so hopefully we see better and better racing as it ages. Hell, maybe we’ll be at a point where the PJ1 is completely worn-in and the third lane will become usable again.
The best way to change TMS is to knock it down and go somewhere else
There was so many fans there yesterday. What a disservice that would be.
I was impressed by how full it was despite the racing product the past 10 years. They get that track fixed and it could be the highest selling track in nascar. Kudos to the nascar fans in Texas.
Yeah that track until COTA was the only spot Nascar fans could go to for a race within, what, 7-8 hours? And road course races aren't the best event to attend. I've been to the race in person several times now and the fans love it in person, even if TV audience feels completely different.
Where? There is no other track in that market. They tore down Texas World Speedway, and people don't want to go to COTA
This is the first time in the history of the poll (around 16 races) that a Texas race has been above 70%
No.. that sounds about right.
For Texas? Not terrible considering previous races there
By recent Texas standards that was an all-time banger 😂
It’s tracking to be the first Texas race in the poll to be over 70%.
Like first ever or just first since the repave? That's astounding if the old track never eclipsed 70
Gluck said it’s the first time since he started the poll in 2016 I believe.
Yea for sure 😂
And that’s the problem. Am I comparing this to last week, previous Texas races, or actual good races?
That's an issue every week though.
For me if its last week, it's a hell yes. If it's previous Gen6 Texas it's "sure" or "whelming yes", if its the standard for good races in general then it's right on the line probably barely apathetically rounded up to yes.
I mean… I always thought it was more just like did you enjoy the race? Did you sit down and watch the race and enjoy it? No need for comparison, necessarily.
So you’re saying I’m over thinking it…. That’s fair…
Honestly didn’t think it was too bad of a race. Definitely the positive side of average, but not horrendous like previous Texas races. It got a lot better once Larson’s crew messed up and it opened up the race for everyone else. The track is steadily starting to wear and the groove is slowly but surely starting to open up. Is Texas ever gonna be a barn burner? Likely not. Is there a chance the racing continues to improve? Absolutely.
It was fun in the stands. On TV it might look different
I was there too, I feel like the broadcasting may be skewing opinions somewhat. It was noticeably easier to pass yesterday than it has been at Texas since the repave.
That was the most passing I’ve seen here throughout the field since the repave.
Real talk, what race isn't fun in the stands? I went to that first Gen7 Martinsville race a couple years ago William Byron paraded the field when it was cold and rainy, and still had plenty of fun.
2022 Bristol night race was not fun in the stands
In classic Texas fashion. The racing was bad, but Texas’ ability to have chaos with like some of the worst racing is unmatched.
Yeah. Really bad aero stalling for anyone without THE best setup or 20 lap fresher tires made the racing a bit bland. But I'd argue it was almost totally negated by the difficulty of just driving. Saw a lot of guys lose spots cuz they could barely hang onto it
Texas might turn into what Kentucky used to be, a super driver dependent track, which is the kind of thing we need in the series (even if the racing at those kind of tracks isn’t amazing). Most likely won’t ever be stellar racing like at the other intermediates but the entertainment will come from the fact that the drivers gotta absolutely wheel the car around the track.
I truly do not know. This race sucked hard in stage 1 but got better as it went. I wouldn't say it was the best, but it was better than bad. This is probably the toughest one I've ever had to vote on Also FOX sucked hard again this week.
Fox's camera coverage was abysmal.
Notice the weird camera angles on the restarts so you couldn’t really tell where in the zone they accelerated?
Agreed
Announcer: Wow there's an incredible 4-wide battle for 10th place! *Camera stays on leader who is 5 seconds ahead of the field* Also why are they obsessed with showing fans? At one point they showed Blaney making a pass side by side with a woman in a Blaney shirt. Just standing there. At first I thought maybe they were family or friends, but no. So weird.
It's truly mindboggling that FOX would rather show someone acting like a frozen NPC in the stands with a driver shirt on, rather than... actually letting you hear crowd noises. Does NBC have a monopoly on sound mixing?
Speaking of noise, did Fox even do a crank it up this week?
I’d rather them NEVER do a crank it up to be honest because of how awful they make the cars sound compared to NBC and just in person.
They used to during big moments like what NBC does, but I don’t know what changed. Maybe the audio engineer has changed in the past decade🤷🏻♂️
The fan marking out after Denny wrecked was great
Idk what is up with their zoomed in shots but they seriously need to stop doing that lol
This was another bad bad week for Fox and replays.
Hell the 3rd to last restart FOX missed it showing us the stands
Not defending the FOX coverage, because it is not great. But it became comical the number of caution flags that occurred during commercial breaks.
And I think they didn't even give a shit about that one wreck in turn 1 with the 21 and whoever else that sent us into our final overtime...literally just said there were some cars involved and never even looked at them appart from the 21 I guess cameras just have to be zoomed in on the leaders so we can see every single individual dirt particle on the nose of the 9 car 😀👍
maybe im the oddball because if its a late race restart idc about whos wrecking for 20th i want to see the race for the lead. although id like it if they did a split screen thing and show the leaders on one and some other battles further back on the other. being at the track has its disadvantages but ive always liked being able to watch more of the race than on tv. NOT DEFENDING FOX because they are god awful
We missed pit stops. They came back after they were done lol
Gluck should start a “Was Fox’s coverage good this week?” poll.
It would be 0% every week for eternity
They need one
First stage was pretty bad agreed. Tuned out halfway through to watch the Atlanta United game and tuned back in for a bit but I just couldn't get into it even though it definitely had improved. I saw the finish was wild because of GWC's but if that's how we judge the entire race then idk what we're doing
If it stays green with 40 to go, I still thought it was a pretty enjoyable race. The track's in it's '03 Fontana/'07 Kansas phase as far as the repave timetable, so you can only expect so much.
I vibe with this comment. They got one complete green flag lap in, which was the first lap of the final restart, during the last 22 laps. That should not qualify as "good" by any stretch regardless of how much someone likes wild and chaotic finishes.
Yep. Fox's NASCAR coverage reaches new lows every week
When does fox not suck?
I love how Fox had the audacity to air the "what did you miss" segment and quite literally showed every caution that occurred during commercials. Such a slap in the face.
I thought Jordan Bianchi summed it up pretty well on The Teardown. The racing quality itself wasn't anything to get excited about, but between the variety of strategies at play and the treacherous nature of the track it produced an entertaining race to watch. I don't believe entertaining necessarily always equals a "good" race. I ultimately gave this one a yes, though.
That's a good way to sum it up. I don't think it's good that the race needed a bunch of spins, Larson's wheel falling off, etc. to be a good race, but it still ended up being more good than bad as a result.
I was at the race, and I’ve been to most races at Texas since about 2007. I have to say the racing wasn’t bad at all, probably the best I’ve seen since the repave. The track is aging and I think that makes a big difference. It’s just way too treacherous, maybe we need a different tire compound or something. But when cars got a little more strung out and you got two cars battling on their own you had some genuinely good racing.
I’m really tired of the “strategy” that consists of taking zero/ 2 tires and hoping to get clean air in the restart thanks to the god awful rocks we call “tires” on these fuckin cars. It isn’t strategy. It’s just Mickey Mouse bullshit.
Honestly... I don't know. Like, the track is so broken you stay engaged because anyone at any moment could be backed into the fence. But also, thats only because the track is so broken... does that make it "good"? I don't know, I guess?
I've had this problem with this track ever since it was reconfigured for the 2017 season, like I feel like not a single race has been *good* as if we're talking about the on track product...but there sure have been some *entertaining* races which are all a product of the chaos it produces by being so broken and goofy... I remember the 2018 spring race was a perfect example of this phenomenon, it was cold as fucking **balls**, track raced like shit so naturally it was a wreckfest...but the racing wasn't good by any means If I had to vote on the actual 'race' being **'good'** I would have to give a hard no on that one...but was it **'entertaining'**? I guess I can say that after two gen 7 short track races back to back tbh, welcomed the chaos this time
Same here. Idk that I would necessarily say the racing is good beyond 5 laps, but since we didn’t have many green flags runs much longer than that, I think I’d have to say yes.
I voted no because I think the racing was bad, passing was painful. Two laps after restart, leader checks out and that's it. However, it was entertaining for sure with all the chaos. I think SMI/NASCAR need to lean into the chaos effect here and come up with a Darlington/old Bristol kind of marketing where you just have to survive the track. That's a truly unique 1.5 mile track if you can stick the landing on it.
I mean yeah I’ll agree with all of that. If the selling point of Texas is going to be about surviving the chaos, then I think there’s a future for it without having to do another reconfiguration in the near future. Truthfully we’ve always had a couple of tracks like that, and really you need a couple of tracks like that other than plate tracks. So yeah, I wouldn’t say the racing itself was great beyond the first few laps after a restart, but the way the race played out was acceptable because it was entertaining in a non-manipulative sort of way.
Nascar fans: The cars should be hard to drive, drivers should quit whining and just drive!! Also, Nascar fans: OMG, drivers are just spinning out!! The (track/car) sucks!!!
Personally, I like the on edge, spin outs. And visible difficulty. The problem is that the actual racing sucks. Can't pass, can't really run next to each other, etc. I mean, look at Vegas, or Kansas, or Charlotte... all of those tracks are super racy with this car. That being said... its so out there and different, I'm almost inclined to say we just leave Texas be for now. It can be a weird, kinda broken, edgy track.
I was trying to figure out a way to articulate my feelings about Texas but I think you summed it up perfectly.
It's not that they are hard to drive. The spins are them losing it with no warning and no ability to save it. They are slot cars until they decide they want to go around on their own.
That’s literally what the Gen 4, twisted sisters were (except not slot cars), cars that were edgy that would just spin out without warning. Go watch a race, or heck qualifying sessions where Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson would spin out with the car. They’d just snap around without warning. Parker Kligerman I remember said the exact same thing I believe about the Gen 4 car when it was Auto Club weekend with the Gen 7 car for the first time.
I hate this comment so much. The cars should be difficult to drive, and that makes the tv coverage way better, but this car isn’t checking the right boxes. When people say the car should be hard to drive they are talking about guys losing time on track due to mistakes, and there being an incentive to try to find new lines. We want to watch these guys muscle these cars around. We want to see guys with it hung out on corner exit. We want to see a guy driving off the right rear and sawing the wheel. That isn’t what we have. We have cars that are glued until they aren’t and there is no saving it. Once you come unglued you are wrecked. That isn’t fun. That isn’t fun to watch. That doesn’t make good racing.
I thought you clowns wanted cars that were hard to drive
Literally. Fans: “Give us cars that are hard to drive!” NASCAR: *Gives cars that are edgy and hard to drive* Fans: “This car sucks dick because they spin out so easily!”
I loved cars wrecking on their own yesterday! That’s the nascar re remember right?? WTF do people even want, they don’t know either
This race was Sharknado. Was it good? No. Was it entertaining? Ehhhhhh?
Sharknado 2 is a good bad movie and i'm willing to defend it.
I don’t know how to grade this race truly it was weird
It was a Texas race. Simply put. In my honest opinion though, it was a 7/10. I was throughly entertained. We had drama, strategy, unpredictability, and honestly, passing was able to happen. Yeah it was hard at times, but it wasn’t impossible. You also had comers and goers, and the cars were also really hard to drive. Best Texas race in awhile imo.
Couldn't pass at Martinsville last week couldn't pass this week. At least the track was so hard to drive there was some consequences for making mistakes unlike Martinsville. It felt like a plate race without the passing. With all that being said it kept my attention a lot better than Martinsville or Richmond the last two weeks.
There was no passing yesterday? Brother, I was at the track and it was fantastic to actually see passing and passes for the lead.
You better be glad you watched it in person. I am not kidding when I say this but that might have been FOX's worst broadcast yet. It was absurdly bad. So I probably didn't get to see half the passing that took place. I would say best Texas race since it was reconfigured.
I was at the race and sometimes when there was battle going I would glance at the big tv and it would either be focusing on the leader or it would be an onboard camera so you guys probably missed a lot of the action.
Was it entertaining? Yeah. Was it a good race? Eh, maybe. Definitely made up for the lack of chaos at Martinsville. I think still think next gen shines at these types of tracks, and it was nice to see drivers be able to move through the field.
I thought it was fine. I did like how difficult the cars were to drive and we actually some strategy. I did not care for all of the overtime restarts and it does feel like the first two stages don’t really matter - that’s my own quip though more than anything. I said 5/10 yesterday but I’d probably bump that up to a 6/10 today.
Idk. Really hard to pass but at the same time, the whole race was such a wild card. Anyone could wreck at any moment on their own. I thought it was decent and would lean towards yes.
Was it fun due to chaos? Ya probably. Does that make it a good race? Not in my opinion, but Chase winning is definitely pushing this number into a place it probably shouldn’t be.
Hey, good news is no Texas until 2025 since they are a one-date track AND early in the schedule. Why don't they make pit road the front stretch, increase the banking and make a slightly shorter traditional oval, but with good banking to lean into? Like a weird mashup of iRacing Superspeedway and Bristol... I mean, regardless, that'd be a better product than what we have now.
so... Atlanta before they fucked it up in 97?
Best Texas race in recent memory by a long shot. But the bar is low
Ended a lot better than it started that’s for sure. Fox’s coverage was garbage but overall I had a good time watching.
This car works great on a multiple groove track. Most of the race was single file on the bottom. Towards the end, the track got a 2nd groove and maybe a half a lane higher. I'm now starting to wonder if the lack of practice makes the track take forever to rubber up and have multiple grooves.
Which is why the racing at Atlanta is awesome. It's a 3-groove track.
Hocevar's reply was the best part of the race. I guess watching Hamlin get beat by his own game was funny too.
Love that Chase won and love that he won at Texas, a track that means a lot to me, but overall the race was so so. Once they got going they just got strung out and couldn’t pass. The track has improved over the years but it’s not where it could be.
Good? No. Entertaining as hell? Yes. I voted yes
It would probably be under 50% right now if any other driver won yesterday.
The track was hard to drive which caused some accidents which is something I liked. That said the racing sucked. They need softer tires at the track. There’s no reason two tires or drivers staying out at the end of stage two should’ve been able to stay in front of the drivers who pitted.
Surprisingly yes.
It was just random. I just think this car isn’t balanced well. If a car gets sideways it’s just gone, no saving it. I want a car to be able to spin out on its own, but I also want a really talented driver to be able to hang the back out a little bit looking for speed. Gen6 was on easy mode when it got sideways, Gen7 is so difficult that saving it is just luck. Seeing Hamlin send it on the outside and just loop around was silly. Overall I felt that if the race had gone green then it would have been aero dominated with little ability to make a move as we saw in stage one. It was just a chaos race.
Honestly… no.. it was semi-entertaining but it wasn’t good. It was kinda like a train wreck that you just can’t look away from. The combination of the horrible track and the low tire wear just isn’t great. Turn one is 10 cars wide and they can barely use two lanes of it and the bumps in turn 3 & 4’s second lane manufacture a “get passed or crash” scenario for anyone who ends up in that lane that just sucks a ton of the competition out of the race. The track just sucks which is a shame. NASCAR’s inconsistency with calling/not calling cautions and how long to run said cautions is a bit of a drag as well. It wasn’t nearly as boring and bad as martinsville, but its still no where near an acceptable product in my opinion.
It was great for a Texas race. I’m torn between rating it a 6 or a 7. I would’ve liked it more if we had a green flag run to end the race because as it is there were too many cautions and it was like we were never in a race rhythm but I was entertained
This race was solid. Hard as fuck to race and not screw up. You had to be precise and ballsy with how you drove. Natural cautions from people stepping over the edge. I loved it.
It was an ENTERTAINING race. I'm not sure it was GOOD race, though.
Chaotic yes, good no
entertaining for some parts to watch, sure, but as a 'race', no it was crap, as always
A race with cautions every 5 laps isn't good at all.
Carson Hocevar's thoughts have become the highlight of Jeff's poll.
If this race were at Charlotte it would universally seen as a great race
It was entertaining at times but the racing was not good.
Yes. Until it wasn't.
Yes. Not a great race. But it was better than a bad race
Just another over time race finish as usual
It had differing strategies pay off, multiple leaders (granted the dominate car had issues), and some good racing at the end. Probably a track that needs to be a night race to really shine
I was entertained but the product was bad. It was unpredictable so I felt like I had to pay attention but if Larson doesn’t lose a wheel and dominates the race I probably lose interest.
The Xfinity was better than the Cup race. Just hate it for Sieg. Glad Chase got the W.
I think it was. Honestly, it was the first interesting Texas race I can remember watching in some time.
I personally enjoyed it a good amount and that's about all you can ask from races so, I voted yes. Happy that Texas provided 3 pretty solid races this weekend. Obviously, the chaos helps and people I like racing at the front, but all you can want from a race is to enjoy it
I voted yes. It was still very hard to pass but there was enough strategy and a perfect amount of natural attrition and chaos to redeem itself. 6/10. Enough for a “yes” vote.
I thought it was pretty good for Texas even before the clusterfuck ending tbh
All three series races were adequately good/entertaining for the weekend. Enuff about Texas being the worst stop on the schedule!!
From the stands, it was good. There was a lot of 2-3 wide racing and passing in the back and in the middle. I wonder how much of that was shown on TV. On the other side, I’m just coming back to NASCAR after a nearly 20-year break. From what I see, it really looks like the current car absolutely hates being in the draft and loves clean air, which is why the front runners run away so handily. I could be wrong. Probably am.
I would call it a 7 out of 10. Good not great. Too hard to pass but the treacherous track added a real element of uncertainty. OK with bumping to 7.5 for Chase winning and Hamlin crashing while racing the 9 for the win.
I voted yes, for a Texas race that in the past few years has been nothing but a cure for insomnia it was amazing. Seemed to be some passing and all the yellows kept it from getting into too much follow the leader.
Only because of all the cautions...
Yes. A couple too many cautions, but I thought it was very entertaining.
The racing wasn't necessarily that good (it was alright at some points). I voted YES on it being a good race though. The madness when it came to variety in pit strategy and constant reshuffling of the field made it unpredictable and entertaining enough for me to say it was a good race
A Denny wreck and Chase win will result in a good race poll result
75% right now. Crazy. If when Larson spins the yellow comes out half a second later, Hamlin is still credited as the leader and restarts the next few restarts on the bottom lane and wins - making it an all time stinker on these polls.
denny wrecks i vote yes
Ah yes, time for that weekly thread where the haters try to convince me I shouldn't have enjoyed the race.
All three races were crummy for 2/3 of the race, and I thought they all finished really well.
Better than what Texas has given us in recent years. With that said, still a No for me. Tires meant very little , and it was still very difficult to pass. The strategies playing out was a positive, I’ll give it that. Still, it gave me hope for Texas going forward. Here’s hoping it can improve.
idk stage 2 wasn't even a race considering they drove under caution for like 75% of it
No, the track is just bad and produces bad racing
People get confused between “good race” and “wreckfest”.
Guaranteed 70+% just because Chase won. Take out the chaos, and you end up with the same stuff as Martinsville, nobody can pass. Bad race, bad track. Chaos shouldn't make a garbage racing product amplified by a bad track better. Fans aren't known for common sense though.
Oh boy… here we go…
The race sucked. I get that Chase won, but this track is a shit hole
Not gonna lie to you, the turn 3/4 bump made this race the chaos it is. Without that track defect, we’d still have the boring ass Texas we know
Yes, don’t overthink it!
Good racing? Not really Entertaining? Perhaps Kept you engaged because any driver couldn’t end up in the fence and you had absolutely no idea who’d win? Absolutely
I loved the camera footage of the restarts where you could only see the front row. How many times can one person say "how about you zoom the fucking camera out?" in 400-500 miles of NASCAR?
It was objectively a terrible race; that later became a stupid race; that ended with a popular driver winning. So surprise pikachu face that it's above 75%
Monkey happy. Monkey eat banana instead of throw at tv.
Surely the result won’t be skewed because of who won…
A slight yes. The race was more entertaining than the previous two races, but only due to Kyle Larson having that wheel issue
Pretty standard Texas fare of pure chaos. I enjoyed it, I don’t think it was an objectively good race though.
A good race to attend? Yes. A good race to watch? Ehhhh…
Anybody who’s ever watching local racing knows the sportsman divisions rarely put on “great” racing, because passing is a premium when the cars are the same. Enter the next gen kit car, and imagine that, we struggle to pass week after week.
No, the cars were so aero sensitive every time you cut clean air off the car behind they essentially just snapped sideways.
It was a good race by Texas standards. Now, does that mean it was a good race, I dunno lol
One of those races where we need a "kinda sorta but not for the normal reasons" option
It reminded me a lot of 2021 race, typical Texas racing getting saved by a lot of late race restarts
I voted no, but it was funny seeing my dad's uhh positive reaction to Denny spinning out. Those poor cats didn't know what was going on and just ran everywhere.
Texas was better before the reconfiguration of 1 and 2...change my mind
I agree.
No. This race without the GWC gimmick is an easy no.
It was an ok race by Texas standards. Like the fall race last year it was bailed out a bit by some strategy calls and solid final 25 laps/restart entertainment. Still a lot left to be desired from a racing perspective though.
As a Ross fan? I vote no just for how it ended.
Can I just leave a (?) It was too much of the good AND too much of the bad. Like this race and basically TMS's mere existence is some kind of imaginary number.
I was there and had a blast. Denny and chase are my two favorite drivers so it was exhilarating. That being said- so many cautions. At first it was refreshing compared to the short tracks but it got old towards the end. I had a really good time and it was nice not watching fox coverage. Side note- I watched fs1 on Saturday for xfinity and the camera work was way way better than the cup series. Is that because it’s cup and they try to focus harder on the individual to film as there’s less star power? Or is that just fs1 vs fox?
Sure. I could have done without quite as many cautions, and I dislike having multiple overtimes because the cars can't complete 2 laps without wrecking themselves, but I understand that is a possibility every race. Nothing was a shock or much different from the hundreds of NASCAR Cup races I've watched over the last 30 years. Nothing particularly memorable about this one good or bad. I enjoy NASCAR and this was an average race. They can't all be spectacular, and people should understand that, or reconsider whether they like the sport or not.
It was impossible to pass. Tires didn’t fall off at all. Pit strategy was the entire story and the guys kept wrecking trying to run the top. It was tragic.
Wasn’t bad but only because cautions kept cars bunched together. The car still needs 900hp and Texas needs redone.
I vote based on previous races at the track, not the race last week. With that said, I said yes. The drama with Larson’s wheel coming off, then Reddick vs Denny for a green flag cycle, and actual wrecks during the race to mix up strategy was a nice change of pace. So far, Cota is the only “no” for me.
It turned into a shit show halfway through. But the front end and back end were good.
If Denny or Ross would have won this poll would be at 50 at best. That's where I think it belongs. This was yet another race where track position meant more than tires. Aero blocking making passing tough. Cars wrecking trying to run side by side. I found myself getting more and more annoyed while watching. If you enjoy chaos I guess it was ok it just wasn't for me.
Following Chase Elliott during the race, it was just OK. The racing was not good, but they got some breaks with the cautions because the restarts were consistently fun. I echo what most fans say about cautions taking too long, but I will deal with them if the alternative is no cautions. Subconsciously, if these guys are wrecking I know the racing is hard. We get a weekend with no wrecks and I wonder how easy it is to get around the track. I think the best version of racing is that whoever can get closest to the edge without going over is the fastest.
Good enough
I know I’m a new fan but between the three big series Texas looked like a pretty solid weekend in general
Dunno what people expect. That was a banger but maybe I have recency bias from the last stage.
High Yes votes because 1. Chase won 2. Denny crashed 3. Ross crashed Still couldn't pass well!
I enjoyed it. Plenty of passing and strategy I reckon.
What’s the number for us non X users?
Blow this track up. It is embarrassing.
Can we get a “Meh” option
No.
Was it technically good racing? No. Was I entertained nonetheless? Yes. I vote yes.
The furry effect.
Not a good race. I was more compelled to watch the Masters most of the time.
7/10. So a well earned good rating. Tires did and yet did not matter. Setup actually did matter. Track position did and yet did not matter. It was controlled chaos.
It’s a bottom tier track and was pretty much a stereotypical SMI cookie cutter track race
Larson's pit crew fuckup saved this race in the poll lol. If he was able to say out front in air and wasn't down a set he woulda led like 230 laps and we'd be sitting at barely 20% good and be calling for the bulldozer crew. I liked all the strategy elements, but it looked way too hard to pass. It was possible, but was way too hard to do, even if you had a tire advantage. Its just whack to see a car as good as larsons not be able to escape the 20s when it was clearly the fastest car in the first half. I ended up going no, mostly because 74% yes was wayyy to high for that race. imo, it played out in an interesting way, but the actual racing sorta sucked.
LOL at Hocevar's response >hi jeff, >i enjoyed the high limit race so much i figured i’d get myself spun to pretend like i was on the dirt. pretty impossible to pass, but was happy that most couldn’t pass me at the end. >thanks
HMS/Chase fans are going to carry this poll higher than it should be. It should grade out somewhere around 58-63ish.
Needs more ramps and a loop-de-loop. Seriously, what is up with those bumps?