Dirty Deeds: Bristol Motor Speedway to lay down the dirt for first Cup Series on soil since 1970

NASCAR’s premier series has not staged a race on a dirt surface since 1970.

The Cup Series will dust-off the old-school tradition on March 28 as Bristol Motor Speedway announced plans Wednesday to cover the half-mile in dirt for the facility’s spring race sponsored by Food City.

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon was only 10 years old when the dirt was laid down at Bristol for the World of Outlaws sprint car and late model series.

“I remember my crew chief Shane McDowell showing me old VHS tapes of when the (Outlaws) were at Bristol and thinking how cool it would be to run that track on dirt and now I’m going to get that opportunity,” said Dillon via Zoom chat during Wednesday’s announcement.

BMS workers had to reduce the banking for the track to keep speeds down for those events in 2000 and 2001.

The dirt addition is just one piece of a diverse 2021 Cup Series schedule which has six road course races including the addition of the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Darlington Raceway has its second date returned on the schedule while NASCAR decided to drop events at Chicagoland and Kentucky Speedway.

The series also added an event in Nashville and at the Road America course in Wisconsin.

(IMAGE: Bristol Motor Speedway / Speedway Motorsports Inc.)