Could the CARS Tour and Mazda MX-5 Cup Partner With NASCAR at Martinsville?

The Mazda MX-5 Cup, which partners with IMSA, tested at Martinsville Speedway this week, and by all accounts it was a successful test. Many are now wondering what a race with Mazda MX-5 Cup cars would look like at Martinsville Speedway, but, what if NASCAR went one step further? What if they brought in the Mazda MX-5 Cup and the CARS Tour amongst other series for a full week of racing leading up to the NASCAR stars racing that weekend?

How Would it Work?

Martinsville Speedway is one of the most iconic short tracks in the country. Any late-model stock car driver dreams of racing in the Martinsville 300 one day, and NASCAR should give these types of drivers a platform when the big stars come into Martinsville. With a tripleheader weekend coming up during the April race weekend, the lead-up could be a full week of racing featuring other racing series.

With NASCAR coming to town on Friday, you could fill Tuesday through Thursday with different racing series for a full week of racing. Here is how the schedule could work:

• Tuesday Night: Mazda MX-5 Cup heat races followed by 150 lap feature
• Wednesday Night: CARS Tour heat races followed by 200 lap feature
• Thursday Night: Whelen Modified Tour heat races followed by 200 lap feature
• Friday-Sunday: Truck (250 laps), Xfinity (300 laps), and Cup (400 laps) weekend

Imagine Martinsville Speedway having this kind of a super short track week heading into the spring NASCAR weekend. It would be great for those in the Martinsville area to catch all different types of series racing on the same race track. Everyone races at the track that they all hope to race at in the big leagues one day, and, the best part is, something like this has been tried before.

The Example of North Wilkesboro

North Wilkesboro Speedway welcomed NASCAR back in May, and the week leading up to it was more than just NASCAR races. The CARS Tour and the ASA STARS National Tour each hosted races in the days leading up to the NASCAR All-Star Race.

It was great for fans to be able to camp out and see some entertaining late model racing in the days leading up to the return of NASCAR to North Wilkesboro. The drivers even got into it with guys like William Byron, Johnny Sauter, and Erik Jones participating in the races. North Wilkesboro’s proximity to Charlotte allowed for that to happen.

Martinsville is only about a two-hour drive from Charlotte, which is farther than North Wilkesboro, but it’s still decently close. Some big names could find their way onto the entry list of these races.

Why not try something like this? Why not bring some series to Martinsville, and make a big short track celebration week out of Martinsville race week?