Following the huge success of NASCAR’s Easter weekend at Rockingham Speedway, NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell has teased a possible Cup Series return to the North Carolina track.
The doubleheader saw both the Xfinity and Truck Series return to the iconic track, ‘The Rock,’ after several years, and this saw tremendous ticket sales and a fanfare response. With this, questions were of course being asked about a Cup Series return.
O’Donnell, only recently promoted to the role of NASCAR president, is enthusiastic about the sport’s return after “an unbelievable turnout.” He however confirmed to The Charlotte Observer that he’d like to keep it to just Xfinity and Trucks for now while bringing in more Cup Series drivers, but “you never know what the future holds beyond that.”
These comments are carefully worded, hinting at a potential Cup Series return if the hype around the 0.94-mile track is sustained. It hasn’t been since 2004 that the track has hosted the series.
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Easter weekend saw a sellout crowd of 25,000 fans on the Saturday and 16,000 on the Friday. Tyler Ankrum won the Truck Series race, but drama surrounding Jesse Love saw his car being disqualified following the Xfinity Series race, making Sammy Smith the eventual winner of the North Carolina Education Lottery 250. The race saw 17 lead changes between eight drivers.
Talking to the media following the race, Ankrum said the following to the media:
“It’s really, really cool. When we get to bring back these old tracks, it’s really, really cool. You can tell the fans are really excited. Even on pit road, the fans are going crazy all the time, and they’re talking so loudly you can hear ’em from pit road.”
“You kind of get the feeling of what I imagine as a kid what Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon felt like. They’re here for us – they’re not here for the Cup guys. It’s really, really cool to see racing like this come back to North Carolina…”
Kasey Kahne added: “I think a Cup event would be fantastic here. I used to enjoy watching it and being a part of it the one year I was.
“It could make a great race.”