NASCAR insider calls out critics calling Bristol Night Race a 'gimmick' NASCAR race

This past weekend’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway sparked a ton of debate. While the racing was exhilarating at times, some drivers and analysts alike didn’t how much of an impact tire wear had on the event.

Many called it gimmicky, wishing to return to a more standard style of race. Jeff Gluck of The Athletic wasn’t on that side though. During the latest episode of The Teardown, the NASCAR insider called out the critics, defending the race in Tennessee.

“The thing is, there was high tire wear. There was a lot of craziness going on. But that’s part of motorsports. It’s no different than fuel-mileage racing,” Gluck stated. “The people tonight saying, ‘This is a gimmick, this is a gimmick’ — I really disagree. A tire that wears out isn’t a gimmick.

“Everybody’s been screaming about this car — ‘You can’t pass, you can’t pass.’ And what have people been asking for? ‘Goodyear, save us. Bring tires that wear out.’ And yes, these wore out a lot. Maybe more than expected. But this wasn’t some ‘tire wear race’ where all the chaos tonight was caused by the tire wear. This was action-packed. It looked like old Bristol — guys moving each other, racing aggressively.

“The cautions weren’t because of people blowing tires. They were because guys were getting into multi-car incidents, going for holes that weren’t there. There was a lot of chaos tonight based on the way guys were racing, and maybe the tire wear started some of that — guys saying, ‘I’ve got speed, I’ve got to use it now. I’m going to be more conservative,’ whatever.

“It wasn’t like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s 14 cautions because people’s tires were blowing every 30 laps and we couldn’t race.’ They made it to the end, and they had this strategy and it saved them. That’s racing. That’s motorsports. It wasn’t a gimmick. It was entertaining.”

In the end, Christopher Bell survived the chaos to win at Bristol, clinching his spot in the Round of 12. With four drivers eliminated, the playoffs will continue at New Hampshire this coming weekend, another track where Bell has excelled.

We’ll see if the critics are more satisfied with the racing this weekend, as NASCAR moves on from Bristol. Gluck gave the event rave reviews, and he’s not alone, but it’s easy to see that it was one of the more polarizing races in recent memory for the Cup Series.