NASCAR has spent the last several years searching for new ways to expand its reach to old audiences, attract new ones, and keep existing ones engaged through experiments with its format, track schedules, international drivers, and so on. But NASCAR veteran Jeff Burton does not want the sport to lose track of what made it famous in the first place.

The sport has been making a lot of changes, from moving the Clash among Daytona, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and Bowman Gray Stadium to introducing the Chicago Street Course, racing in San Diego, and even discussing future international events.

While those moves have sparked plenty of debate, NASCAR deserves credit for being willing to try something different. At the same time, Burton cautioned that the sport cannot lose sight of the identity that made it successful in the first place as it chases new audiences.

Speaking on Ask Jr., Markus Smith praised NASCAR for refusing to stand still, citing several recent scheduling experiments as evidence that the sanctioning body is actively seeking ways to grow. “I’d also say, I mean, a huge thanks to NASCAR for trying some things.”

Looking back at the Clash’s journey from Daytona to the Los Angeles Coliseum, then Bowman Gray Stadium and now back to Daytona, Smith argued that every experiment offers valuable lessons, regardless of whether it becomes a permanent fixture.

Jeff Burton echoed that philosophy, saying innovation only works if organizations are willing to accept that not every idea will succeed, as he said, “You can’t be afraid to fail.”

That willingness to experiment, however, should not come at the expense of NASCAR’s roots. Matt Weaver stated that while he enjoys seeing the series race on temporary street circuits, he would not want those events to replace the traditional speedways that helped build the sport.

“I love street course racing… but I also don’t want to stray too far away from who we are from our identity standpoint. I don’t want to lose Chicagoland to go to downtown Chicago. I don’t want to lose Auto Club to try to go race in Long Beach… I like having one or two of these a year, but I do not want to lose Kentucky. I don’t want to lose Joliet.”

He further added, “It’s very important to me, just as a racing enthusiast, that we’re still fundamentally NASCAR.”

Burton largely agreed with that viewpoint. While he believes events like the Chicago Street Course create opportunities NASCAR would never have at a permanent racetrack, he also stressed that those races should complement the schedule and not redefine it.

“The massive advantage of the street course, that gives us a chance to be places we otherwise wouldn’t be.”

But he immediately followed that with a reminder that every successful expansion needs a solid foundation.

“But I agree with you. I think that’s a limited basis. We have to have a core. We have to be who we are. You have to have a foundation in order to have these other things happening.”

The conversation then shifted toward where NASCAR could explore next. Instead of repeatedly returning to the same temporary venues, the panel discussed the possibility of taking the sport to entirely new markets, including Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.

Weaver argued that if NASCAR continues to use street courses, rotating them among different cities could expose the sport to new audiences.

Burton pointed out that expansion does not necessarily require replacing traditional tracks. Using Chicago as an example, he suggested that permanent facilities and temporary street races can coexist, much like Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Charlotte Roval have.

“I view Chicagoland Speedway and the street course in Chicago much the way I view the Roval and the Oval… you have them both… depending on what the environment is.”

The veteran opined that NASCAR’s long-term success depends less on adding races to an already packed calendar and more on putting the sport in front of people who might never otherwise experience it.

Every new market, he argued, is another opportunity to showcase NASCAR’s drivers, teams and racing to potential lifelong fans.

“I’ve said this for I think my whole life. I don’t think we need to run as many races as possible. I think we need to be as many places as possible because I think the more people know our drivers and the more people know our crew chiefs and the more people watch our racing, the more fans we’ll have.”

In fact, Burton considers NASCAR’s greatest marketing tool to be the races themselves.

“Our best commercial is the event. And the more events we can put on and the more people we can put in front of, I think the better we are.”