NASCAR insider 'optimistic' about Cup Series short track racing in 2025

The short track racing for the NASCAR Cup Series used to be a calling card, but it’s been a bit downtrodden over the past couple of seasons, since the advent of the Next Gen car.

Still, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic is optimistic that positive change is on the horizon. With a focus from Goodyear on providing a tire that can revitalize the product, Bianchi believes short track racing could return with a vengeance in 2025 for the Cup Series.

“To get better on short tracks, it’s going to be through Goodyear,” Bianchi proclaimed, via The Teardown. “They’re probably the most important component of this. And I would argue that what we saw at Martinsville in the fall, and I’ll even throw Richmond in there, the second Richmond race, where they brought the Option Tire out for the first time in a points race, it really was because of what happened at Bristol and the eye-opening moment of, ‘Hey, tire wear is essential here.’

“We’ve got to be careful about going too far, but if we’re going to make things better, it’s going to be through that avenue, and nothing we do with the car. So, yeah, I agree with you. I wish we could figure this out and I hope they can do it, but I feel like I am much more optimistic about the short track package than I honestly have since the Next Gen car has been around, because I do feel like now, at least there’s a roadmap of producing good racing, and here’s that roadmap. Here’s what you need to do.”

While the spring trip to Bristol Motor Speedway was revered, Goodyear and NASCAR tried to replicate the tire that they brought to Tennessee throughout the remainder of the 2024 campaign to no avail. Still, there’s hope that with more time and effort that the duo can find a solution that works for everyone.

As Bianchi mentioned, Martinsville’s fall date and the second race at Richmond are providing some hope, as well. NASCAR is doing everything they can to try and return the excitement to short track racing, as they’re some of fans’ favorites on the schedule year-in and year-out.

Time will tell if they make the necessary changes, but it’s paramount to NASCAR’s success that they get it right. Short track racing is in the Cup Series’ blood, and if it takes the whole offseason, it’ll be worth it to find some answers to the questions plaguing the action.