The topic of the potential run-what-you-brung NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race has been the most hotly debated topic in NASCAR over the course this past week, and it’s got everyone a bit confused.
If the car is the problem, why wouldn’t drivers and teams want to fix it? If it’s a dollars and cents decision, how bad of a spot is the sport really in? There’s a lot to get into, and thankfully, two writers here at Frontstretch wanted to weigh in on every angle.
Put Up or Shut Up Time Is Long Past Due
“If you ain’t trying to cheat a little, you ain’t likely to win much,” is a popular adage that seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty once said.
That advice shouldn’t apply to everyday life, but it holds weight in racing. What made NASCAR such a poetic story of man vs. machine was that sentiment Petty uttered. Even now, teams try to find every competitive advantage they can to get that extra tenth of speed and strength out of the racecar.
It’s no secret to fans, especially the older generation of fans, that the wiggle room to experiment (or cheat) with the cars is thin. The Next Gen car is a spec car, with much of it being single-source parts that all teams have to use and cannot modify. The areas where teams are allowed to use trial and error have grown smaller.
If you are out of the loop, the potential was there to find the loophole to today’s NASCAR for one race.
You would think the teams would jump on the opportunity, right? Not so fast.
Several team owners rejected the idea, citing financial losses, lack of incentives and detriment to their fleet of cars as reasons for rejecting the idea. Denny Hamlin addressed the criticism of the decision, as well as why he came to that point in his Actions Detrimental podcast. Starting around the 13:40 mark of the show, Hamlin stated that he had discussed the scenario with several team owners, as well as whether they were yea or nay on the idea.
A run-what-you-brung race is a golden opportunity. It carries echoes of what helped make the sport great while injecting some creativity into the teams’ and drivers’ hands again, and it is an option that should be pursued.
But before I support that opinion, let me say that there was validity to Hamlin’s reasoning for rejecting the idea. The 23XI Racing co-owner estimated that it would cost the teams approximately $2 million, as well as practically wasting an extra car. Teams only get seven chassis per car, and according to Hamlin, NASCAR’s proposition was to allow teams to bend or alter Next Gen parts in a way that would typically make cars illegal.
Additionally, Hamlin said that what teams are fighting for — an integral component in the 23XI-Front Row Motorsports lawsuit against NASCAR — is more compensation from NASCAR, which they would need to conduct such a project. And to Hamlin’s point, $1 million doesn’t mean what it did 30 years ago, which is where NASCAR should step in and make the race mean something more, both financially and for bragging rights.
All of those points are matters that make me agree with those who were skeptical of the proposal, and NASCAR has to iron out the kinks better before coming to the table.
However, after listening to both sides, it made me scratch my head and wonder why the sport in general didn’t take the idea and run with it. Was there not enough time given for brainstorming? Did NASCAR leave some gray areas out that would have dampened the prospect of this?
One can’t observe the idea and not drool over the potential. Part of what has hurt NASCAR over the years is the fact that the cars are no longer like their street counterparts. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday is now an old marketing bit that holds no relevancy. Despite NASCAR’s attempt to make the Next Gen car look like its showroom model, there is still very little on the car that is truly stock.
While this opportunity likely would not have made it much more stock than what we’ve seen, it would bring back a throwback sense of teams working to see who can build the fastest car, as well as letting the manufacturer become more invested in the project. In a time when the sport is trying to appeal to additional OEMs, this could have been a key occasion to both allure a new one and rekindle the old gearhead days for the present OEMs.
The All-Star Race is a chance to experiment with several aspects, as we have seen before. A run-what-you-brung race could open the door to several alterations, such as playing with horsepower, messing with the skew of the cars, adjusting ride heights, altering the underbody and so on. In other words, teams would have a wide-open space to cheat and have permission to do so under parameters.
Based on the many voices who have disclosed a framework of what this race would have looked like, the teams’ response should have been to inquire about it more rather than rinse and repeat. NASCAR should have also invited more collaboration, as well as truly make this a run-what-you-brung race. Hopefully, there will be another opportunity down the road. – Luken Glover
Neat Concept, But the Teams Made the Right Choice
On paper, the idea of NASCAR allowing Cup teams to run whatever parts and pieces they want to in the All-Star Race sounds like a really interesting and unique proposition, in more ways than one.
Not only would it allow crew chiefs and teams to really think outside the box and experiment with the ways that they assemble and set up their cars, but it would also likely put on a more compelling race, as there wouldn’t be nearly as much parity across the field, which in turn would lead to more passing on track.
In addition, the ability for teams to experiment with different diffusers, spoilers and other critical parts of the Next Gen car could even help NASCAR in finding ways to improve the racing on short tracks, which have been a major area of concern since the car was introduced in 2022.
However, as great as that all sounds, I completely understand why teams largely rejected NASCAR’s run-what-you-brung concept. As Hamlin discussed, allowing race teams to extensively modify the Next Gen would likely result in an arms race of teams spending massive amounts of money trying to build the fastest, most tricked-out car that they can for a non-points race that simply does not pay enough to justify the large cost (which Hamlin suggested could be well into the millions).
Sure, the winning organization takes home $1 million, but when you consider the potential cost for teams and the fact that the All-Star Race has been paying out the same $1 million prize since 2003, it becomes apparent pretty quickly that the event would just not be economically feasible.
Even when you take into account the recent comments from Mike Forde, NASCAR’s managing director of racing communications, who stated on his podcast Hauler Talk that teams would only be able to use existing single-source parts and would not be allowed to build their own new parts, I have to imagine that organizations would still find ways to push the limits and spend huge amounts of money in pursuit of speed. Despite the fact that the All-Star Race itself doesn’t really seem to reward them much for their efforts.
As Hamlin said, “(The teams) are all a bunch of cheaters. All we’re going to do is try to find the most cheated-up thing we can do to this car.”
I would love to see a run-what-you-brung concept come to fruition someday in the All-Star Race, especially in this era of Cup teams having very little room for experimentation with the car. However, based on the information that we know about NASCAR’s proposed parameters for the event, along with the financial challenges that race teams face under the sport’s current economic model, I just don’t think that the concept was well thought out enough to happen this season. – Jake Altmayer
Jake Altmayer joined the Frontstretch team in 2025, assisting as a news writer and contributing to other weekly columns and articles, such as Friday Faceoff and Xfinity Breakdown. A 2024 graduate of DePaul University, Altmayer has closely followed NASCAR's national series (Cup, Xfinity and Trucks) for nearly a decade and has attended more than a dozen races over the course of that time. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, spending time with his loved ones, and listening to his favorite band, the Beach Boys.
Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR's dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.