The Pinty's Dirt Truck Race, also known as the Pinty's Dirt Race at Bristol and the Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt, is a
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...
race at
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the m ...
. The inaugural race took place in 2021 in support of the
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
'
Food City Dirt Race
The Food City Dirt Race is an annual 250-lap, NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This is one of two NASCAR races held at Bristol, the other being the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. It was the ...
.
, the event is one of two
dirt track races on the Truck Series calendar alongside the
Corn Belt Weekend at
Knoxville Raceway
Knoxville Raceway is a semi-banked 1/2 mile dirt oval raceway (zook clay) located at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Iowa, United States. Races at the "Sprint Car Capital of the World" are held on Saturday nights from April throug ...
.
History
In 2013, the Truck Series raced at
Eldora Speedway
Eldora Speedway (nicknamed "The Big E", "Auto Racing's Showcase Since 1954," and "The World's Greatest Dirt Track") is a high-banked clay dirt oval. Located north of Rossburg, Ohio in the village of New Weston, Ohio, it features permanent and ...
in
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
's first
dirt track race since 1970. Known as the
Eldora Dirt Derby
The Eldora Dirt Derby was a annual race in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race held at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. During its existence from 2013 to 2019, the race was the only dirt track racing event on any NASCAR nationa ...
, the event ran from 2013 to 2019; it was canceled in 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and was then removed from the 2021 schedule.
Bristol Motor Speedway, a half-mile concrete short track, had its surface covered by clay when it hosted the
World of Outlaws
The World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American motorsports sanctioning body. The body sanctions two major national touring series. It is best known for sanctioning the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late ...
dirt late model
A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.)
The precise definition ...
and
sprint car
Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...
tours in 2000 and 2001. Although successful with over 85,000 in average attendance, the race was canceled after its second year due to logistical difficulties: 14,000 truckloads of materials were needed to convert the track to dirt regulations, which resulted in damage to the streets outside, with 8,000 cubic feet of red clay being hauled in from a nearby farm for the surface.
The track also had to be widened from 12 to 14 feet and the banking was reduced from 36 to 23 degrees.
On September 30, 2020, NASCAR revealed the 2021 Cup Series schedule, which featured a spring dirt race at Bristol that replaced the existing event on Bristol's normal concrete surface. The Truck Series followed suit in its schedule release on November 19, with the Pinty's Dirt Truck Race being one of two dirt events on the series calendar alongside a July round at
Knoxville Raceway
Knoxville Raceway is a semi-banked 1/2 mile dirt oval raceway (zook clay) located at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Iowa, United States. Races at the "Sprint Car Capital of the World" are held on Saturday nights from April throug ...
in Iowa. The event would run alongside the Cup Series dirt race; World of Outlaws events would also take place on the temporary dirt surface, which began to be laid down in early January 2021.
The 2021 race was originally scheduled for Saturday, March 27 with four heat races to determine the starting grid, but rain forced it to be pushed to Sunday. Rain had been in the forecast entering the weekend, prompting NASCAR to delay the heats on Saturday to deploy "packers"—vehicles like
Ford Crown Victoria
The Ford Crown Victoria ("Crown Vic") is a full-size sedan that was marketed and manufactured by Ford. The successor to the Ford LTD Crown Victoria, two generations of the model line were produced from the 1992 to 2012 model years. The Ford ...
s to pack the dirt together—and late models to test the surface's viability before starting the first heat; it only completed one lap before being halted due to mud accumulating on the trucks' windshields and grilles.
Further rain and
flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...
ing on Sunday resulted in a second postponement to Monday.
Past winners
* 2021: Race postponed from Saturday to Monday due to rain.
Manufacturer wins
References
External links
*
{{NASCAR Truck Series races
NASCAR Truck Series races
Annual sporting events in the United States