Veteran NASCAR crew chief Rodney Childers has voiced strong criticism of Texas Motor Speedway’s current track configuration, labeling it a “fatal flaw” that hampers racing.
In a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Childers emphasized the difficulties that the Texas Motor Speedway poses for drivers and negatively impacts the race quality.
Rodney Childers Calls Out Texas’s Turn 1 as a Major Obstacle
Childers, one of NASCAR’s most respected crew chiefs, has called for major changes to Texas Motor Speedway, claiming its current configuration ruins the racing experience.
In a candid podcast, Childers said, “It’s an odd-shaped corner. You know even with the old car like, we would treat it as like, the entry to turn one we would treat it as a short track. We had all of our short track brake stuff to be able to get into turn one and not get loose.
“It’s just a weird shape, and you know it’s hard to get in there without getting loose, and then you’re just you’re kind of you know some laps you’re just kind of in and up where you end up because you can’t turn the steering wheel.”
In past seasons, NASCAR applied PJ1 traction compound to improve grip and widen the racing groove. According to Childers, it worked at times but created a new problem that extended well beyond race weekend.
Childers said, “So I don’t know how you fix that, it’s those races when we put the PJ1 up there were good but on the other side of it there was some of those races where you know we put the PJ1 down and I said this a couple years ago you put the PJ1 down and then you put a ton of rubber over top of the PJ1 well then it just keeps that section of the racetrack covered up for a year until you go back.
“That’s not what we need. We need the sun to be beating the crap out of it. So you know I don’t know what the answer is I think if you at least got rid of you know if you could just grind just that one bump I’m not saying grind the whole racetrack or anything but if you could get rid of that one bump maybe some guys could move up further and be a little more racy in three and four,” he added.
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The Texas Motor Speedway was reprofiled to promote side-by-side racing. However, the altered track has proven very unpopular with drivers and fans. Childers joins a growing chorus of voices within NASCAR calling for the Texas Motor Speedway to undergo some changes if not anything major.