While Las Vegas Motor Speedway adding a second race weekend in 2018 was great news for NASCAR fans out west, the announcement was a bitter pill to swallow for New Hampshire.
The byproduct of LVMS adding a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race was that New Hampshire Motor Speedway will lose one of the two races it’s hosted every season for nearly two decades. The move could negatively impact the Granite State’s tourism economy, and it’s also a blow to NASCAR fans across New England.
“I’m right there with them,” NHMS executive vice president and general manager David McGrath said Thursday, via USA TODAY. “I care about them, and I understand this is disruptive. But this is going to get better.”
And although the news is a “gut punch,” according to McGrath, he insisted NHMS would use the loss of its September Cup race as an opportunity to improve the one race it still will host in July.
“Give me some time,” McGrath told reporters. “Let me show you what we’re capable of as a team. We understand the angst. We understand there were two races (and) now there’s one. Let us make this great. Don’t turn your backs on us. Let’s work together.”
Despite the loss of the NASCAR weekend, NHMS should not lack for racing going forward. It is still expected to host numerous car, motorcycle and racing experience events on both its road course and oval throughout the season, as usual.
Thumbnail photo via Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Images
