NASCAR at Watkins Glen: Just utilize “The Boot” already
By Asher Fair
Unless…
…NASCAR starts utilizing “The Boot”. There would be several advantages of doing so. One key advantage is the fact that the track would become much more challenging and the real “road course ringers” would rise to the top. The diagrams of the current track that NASCAR uses and the full track, including “The Boot”, don’t even look alike.
The second key advantage is that the race at Watkins Glen would become a true road course race for the Cup Series. There are two other road course races on the Cup Series schedule, one at Sonoma Raceway and one at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval.
The Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway features a track is a shortened version of the track that IndyCar uses. It just doesn’t have that authentic “Sonoma Raceway” feeling to it, especially with the winding hill portion cut out of it for the Cup Series race. Any fan of both NASCAR and IndyCar will tell you the same thing.
The Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway roval basically features just the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval track, minus a few feet of it here and there, and a shorter section of track in the infield that is nowhere near the length of a real road course. Plus, no one considers Charlotte Motor Speedway a road course venue. No one.
That’d be like considering Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the host of the Indy 500, a road course venue just because of the annual race that is held at the track’s road course. No one considers it that. No one.
Fortunately, the Xfinity Series already races at the full versions of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America, so the Cup Series would be the key beneficiary of the addition of “The Boot”.