Josh Shapiro talks to media during race weekend at Pocono Raceway
Shapiro answered both sports and news questions at Pocono Raceway ahead of Sunday’s Cup Series race.
LONG POND — One of the talking points about NASCAR was the idea that the sport could potentially compete in Philadelphia.
While there isn’t a track in the City of Brotherly Love, NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell shared with reporters and editors how it could be done — primarily using the historic Franklin Field as the hose site of the event. O’Donnell made sure to include that any plans to have such a race are preliminary at most, but the detail he discussed it with made it more than just a tossed-around idea.
“The days of just building a rural track are over, but if we can build a track with some real estate development around it and partner with some people, we’re gonna look at major cities and bring the product to the fan base within the city as well,” O’Donnell said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who spoke to the media ahead of the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway, was asked about a potential NASCAR race in Philadelphia. While he was open to it, he made sure to voice his support of the Tricky Triangle.
“First and foremost, we don’t want to do anything that undermines Pocono,” Shapiro said. “But I’ve seen Ben May quoted saying, ‘The more NASCAR, the better.’ The more we can turn people on in communities that haven’t been to Pocono yet to get excited about racing and make the trip to Pocono next year, the better.
“I want to see more NASCAR, more racing.”
Should a Philadelphia race come to fruition, Pennsylvania would have two races in a similar fashion to Illinois, which hosted the Chicago Street Race and the Enjoy Illinois 300 in Madison.
Pocono Raceway just had its third consecutive sellout for its Cup Series race this season and it was featured on Amazon Prime Video as a part of the new media rights deal, so its spot on the schedule is safe. That said, it’s a strong possibility NASCAR takes the two-hour drive south to race in the commonwealth’s biggest city.
Read the full article here