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NASCAR insider Brett Griffin has castigated the official claims regarding the promising display of the short track package at the Phoenix Raceway.
The recently concluded 312-lap Shriners Children's 500 race witnessed the Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell seal his maiden victory of the 2024 Cup Series season. It was the first short track race of the season for which a new package was churned.
NASCAR aimed to improve the aerodynamic profile of the NextGen cars by reducing the vertical planks, shrinking the diffuser, and increasing the rear spoiler to 3 inches compared to the previous year's 2 inches. However, many drivers claimed that the car was underwhelming in traffic conditions. The wider compounds, in correlation with horsepower limitation, apparently robbed the adrenaline rush of driving a stock car.
Griffin's attention was drawn to the lackluster show of the new package and officials' contradictory claims about it being a deep dive into the future, prompting a sarcastic jibe as he took to X (formerly Twitter) to write:
"Me thinking we’d be running the “short track package” at a short track this weekend."
A glimpse into the fifth race on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series calendar
The NASCAR community will witness 36 drivers competing at the upcoming Food City 500, scheduled on Sunday, March 17, at 3.30 PM ET. Bristol Motor Speedway has taken the responsibility of hosting the race as the Speedway will register its 126th Cup race when the 500-lap dash commences.
Fox Sports and PRN will handle broadcasting, with Clint Bowyer, Mike Joy, and 3x Bristol winner Kevin Harvick as commentators. The elevation of nearly 24 degrees on the turns of the 0.533-mile oval will give some tough time to the drivers looking to swoop past their rivals on the turns.
Furthermore, the driver to look out for would be Christopher Bell, who held the 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick during the final stage of the race as he sealed the 2023 Food City 500 victory with a whisker and would be naturally yearning to defend his fate.
