1. That Darlington Race Was … Weird
Jeff Gluck of The Athletic has been helpfully taking the pulse of NASCAR fans for years now thanks to his “good race” poll. It’s great because of its binary nature: races are either good or they aren’t.
Even if what makes a race good is wildly subjective, that dynamic works the vast majority of the time because it’s simple and to the point. When people watch a race, their entertainment level may vary but it’s usually easy to describe.
However, I’d submit that the 2025 Goodyear 400 was not like that. Restarts were fun but not mass chaos. A late caution added drama in the form of an overtime finish. There were, allegedly, battles for position throughout the field even during long green-flag runs, or at least the FOX Sports crew said there were.
Those are all ingredients for what I’d consider a good race. One big one was missing, though: passes for the lead.
William Byron held a hammerlock on P1 from the moment the green flag first dropped, leading the most laps he ever has in a NASCAR Cup Series event (243). He only lost the top spot during an exchange of green flag pit stops in the final stage.
The exception to the rule was Ryan Blaney, who actually ran down the leader and looked set to grab his first victory of 2025. But when Kyle Larson spun to bring out a late yellow, everyone headed to the pits and Denny Hamlin‘s team got him out in front, where he was never truly challenged during OT.
So to review: the two best cars all day only lost because their pit crews were a little slower than another one at the wrong times. Some fans might like that, appreciating that NASCAR is, after all, a team sport.
But currently, the “No” voters are leading by a narrow margin in Gluck’s poll, suggesting that there’s no real consensus on whether Darlington was a good race or not. For a track with its history, that’s not horrible but isn’t optimal either.
2. Throwback Weekend Has Lost Some of Its Luster
Speaking of suboptimal parts of the sport, Throwback Weekend at Darlington was an amazing idea in concept and execution when it first became a thing a decade ago. Teams bought in wholeheartedly, and seeing the tribute schemes combined with some of the drivers essentially cosplaying as racers from bygone eras was fantastic.
Now? Not so much. In terms of commitment to the bit, participation in Throwback Weekend feels like it’s at an all-time low, and drivers expressed that sentiment too. A good chunk of the Cup Series teams didn’t even bother with liveries that were homages to anything, and some of the other schemes were more obscure than ever.
The latter isn’t necessarily a bad thing — the lowest hanging fruit is long gone by now, and it’s great to see some more forgotten moments of stock car racing history memorialized. It’s also not like NASCAR can force the teams to take part in the gimmick.
Yet it might be better to pause Throwback Weekend than to see it wither away. Absence makes the heart grow fonder with these types of things, and it’s not hard to imagine that everyone involved in NASCAR might appreciate it more if Darlington pressed pause on it for a year or three. We need more cars and drivers to throw back to, after all.
3. We Just Saw What Can Happen When the Damaged Vehicle Policy is Relaxed
One of the least popular rules in NASCAR over the past few seasons has been the Damaged Vehicle Policy. Intended to keep cars with no business being back on the track after taking damage, it went too far and gave teams an absurdly short time to make repairs and almost certainly kept drivers who would have returned to races and kept on grinding for a few more points from doing so.
The changes made to the rule for 2025 were widely lauded, as cars can now return to action after crashes that would have parked them just last year. The problem is that … well, damaged cars are back on track and can affect the end of a race.
Darlington ensured that it wasn’t even a hypothetical situation. After an incident early in the race, Larson returned to the racetrack and stayed around until the end despite being more than 160 laps down. It made sense for his team to try it, though it ultimately gained them nothing as Larson finished 37th of 38 entrants.
He indeed also brought out the final caution that cost Blaney a victory. It wasn’t hard to see fans (mostly Blaney fans to be sure) complaining about why Larson was running with no chance to gain a few points unless other cars ended up with DNFs.
This is “you can’t have it both ways” and “be careful what you wish for” all mashed into one. Giving damaged cars the chance to return is good, except when it isn’t.
It’s not like every race is going to be decided by a repaired vehicle limping around, but is even one too many? If your answer is yes, maybe you liked the Damaged Vehicle Policy just fine the way it was.
4. Drivers Will Definitely Be Able to Point Their Way Into the Cup Series Playoffs This Season
If you’ve been a regular reader of this column over the past few years (thanks Mom and Dad!), you already know I have a strange fascination with the quest to have more than 16 Cup Series winners in the regular season, meaning that no one makes the field on points and a victory does not lock you into the postseason.
With that in mind, it grants me no pleasure to declare that the quest is dead for 2025 after only eight races, probably as early as I’ve ever called the time of death under the current playoff system.
Christopher Bell and Hamlin have seen to that. By winning five of the races so far in 2025, they’ve negated the unlikely triumph by Josh Berry and all but assured we won’t sniff 17 winners in 26 regular season events. There are plenty more drivers I expect to win, for sure, but some might not do until the playoffs start, and it also seems likely Bell and Hamlin both visit victory lane again the way they’re running — along with Byron, who has only one win so far but dominated so much of Darlington.
The good news is that means points matter again, at least in the regular season. There will be multiple spots in the playoffs available for drivers who are consistent but may not end up seeing the checkered flag. Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, and yes, Kyle Busch, all seem like they could be racing all the way through Daytona International Speedway in August with a real chance to still be alive the next week even if they don’t win before then.
5. Tariffs Hit NASCAR Collectors in a Very Real Way
I wouldn’t classify myself as a serious NASCAR diecast collector — I own more 1:64 scale cars than anything else, purely for space reasons — but I have dabbled in the hobby for years and always get sucked back in whenever I lapse for a while. So I grimaced just a bit when I heard that Lionel Racing is increasing the price of diecast cars, effective immediately.
Lionel is increasing the prices of 1:24 scale cars anywhere from 18 to 29%, with more adjustments yet to be announced. The reason? As Sports Business Journal reports, it’s because of tariffs imposed on China, where its diecasts are manufactured.
Diecast cars certainly aren’t an essential item, so there’s an upper limit on how much sympathy non-collectors will have for those who now have to pay a lot more to enjoy their hobby. Nonetheless, it’s a great example of how decisions made at the highest level of government can have unintended trickle-down effects, sweeping up companies and people in their wake.
