Nascar has long had three “crown jewel” races—the Daytona 500 (richest), the World/Coke 600 (longest), and the Southern 500 (oldest). When the Winston Million came along, the Winston 500 at Talladega was added as a fourth crown jewel race, mostly because, well, Winston sponsored it. I doubt anyone would consider a random spring drafting track race a “crown jewel” today.
But if not, then what is?
Here’s a list of candidates for what the modern fourth “crown jewel” race would be:
BRICKYARD 400
Pros: Held at the world’s most-famous speedway, held at the world’s greatest-capacity enclosed sporting venue, is almost always a major celebration when someone wins it.
Cons: About as exciting as watching paint dry, about as much passing as an early-00’s F1 race, most of the fans come dressed as empty seats.
BRISTOL NIGHT RACE
Pros: One of the highest-attended races every year, endless highlights, “The Last Great Coliseum”
Cons: By “endless” highlights I mean they ended with the repave, track is kind of in the middle of freaking nowhere, no need to push Michael Buffer’s appearance fee even higher.
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP RACE
Pros: The most-important race of the year by default, actually airs on network TV, winner-take-all most of the time.
Cons: Its literally called the “Nascar Cup Series Championship Race”, race is near-meaningless for the non-championship drivers, five minute post-race due to Sunday Night Football pre-show.
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