It was just a few years ago.
NASCAR had some barn burner road-course races and some outstanding short track races.
The fans were loving it and begging for more. As NASCAR started working to appease those requests, they also went over the top to try and satisfy the owners who were begging for cost containment.
Fast forward to last weekend and we may have finally found the straw that broke the camel’s back. The hue and cry is deafening! This car has got to go or the fans will.
NASCAR was started on the backs of moonshiners who built cars designed to outrun revenuers. When they were running liquor they were bragging about who had built the fastest car.
From then until this version of the car one thing was constant, innovation was in the hands of the race teams. From Ralph Earnhardt buying up screw drivers to make axle keys to Smokey Yunick and his incredibly long fuel line, teams made their cars better than the others.
This new car changed that.
This car is a glorified Revell model.
The teams can only buy parts from a specific supplier who makes every one identical. The adjustments to the car are air pressure, shock shims and some wedge adjustments. The real problem is the amount of downforce is approximately 3,200 pounds.
Not that long ago, it was zero. The car is so aero-dependent that, when the fastest car on the track catches the last car on the lead lap, it can barely muster the speed to pass them.
In addition to the car being immensely equal across the board, the tires that are being brought to the track by good year are ridiculously consistent from the beginning of the runs to the end.
If tires would gradually fall off two or three seconds a lap or more, there would be discrepancy in cars during the race. A car may be fast for a period, but another car could take a different pit strategy and come out with better tires. That advantage would making passing easier for that car until the other car came in.
The bottom line is very straightforward.
The fans are fed up.
The minimal amount of on-track passes for the lead is horrible. The only time a driver is able to move forward is two or three laps after a restart.
The thrill for fans was beating, banging and trading paint on road courses and short tracks. This car has absolutely eliminated that unless a driver chooses to drive recklessly, and that generally leads to torn up race cars.
This past week, on two of the most popular podcasts in the sport, The Dale Jr. Download and Denny Hamlin‘s Actions Detrimental, both hosts were very clear about the fact that the current version of the car is all but unwatchable and the racing is horrendous.
When the 15-time Most Popular Driver and the second-winningest active driver scream from the mountain top, then it is dire time for a change.
NASCAR needs to listen.
The series needs to scrap this bolt-together car and put innovation back into the hands of the incredibly talented fabricators who mostly lost their jobs when this car was introduced. The time has come to admit the mistake and at least make the cars somewhat unique racecars again.
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.