For the first time since 1970, NASCAR will be returning to a dirt surface at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Many drivers in the Cup Series lack experience or have little with such kind of racing. One of such drivers is Martin Truex Jr. who is feeling like a rookie as NASCAR is set to make its highly-anticipated return on a dirt surface.
“It will literally be the first time I feel like a rookie since 2006,” Truex said. “Definitely going to be a lot of learning going on there. I have very little dirt experience, I’ve never raced any big race on dirt. The two I did were Schrader charity races, I did that twice. I really had fun with it, when I ran those modified, it was fun. I thought it was pretty good, but I’ll be like a fish out of water.”
Truex recently won his first Cup race of the 2021 season at Phoenix Raceway and booked his spot for the playoffs. Since it is a relatively new experience for most of the drivers, they will be on equal footing except for some drivers who have a lot of dirt racing experience.
As for Truex, no one in the team has set up a car for dirt racing before. So, they will need to figure that out in a better way than anyone else to put themselves in a position to win.
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