NASCAR, as is the case with all sports, is very much a “what have you done for me lately” world.
That’s true not just for teams evaluating drivers and personnel, but for fans evaluating the racing and NASCAR itself.
Two weeks ago, the month of July couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. Chicagoland Speedway made its return to NASCAR for the first time since 2019, and the Next Gen car that excels at 1.5-mile intermediates put on a compelling show in front of a sold-out crowd during Fourth of July weekend.
One week later was a high-octane, race-long thriller at EchoPark Speedway, and Atlanta — if it hadn’t already done so before — has only continued to solidify itself as one of, if not the most entertaining circuit on the Cup schedule.
Not to sound cliche, but after Sunday, July 12, the vibes were immaculate. July 12 now feels like lifetimes ago.
The next track on the schedule was North Wilkesboro Speedway, a living piece of history nestled in the foothills of North Carolina that was on the verge of completing a comeback 30 years in the making. The track that was left for dead after 1996 and sat dormant for more than two decades was finally returning as a points-paying race on the Cup schedule in front of another sold-out crowd.
If you enjoy races decided by long green flag runs, you enjoyed North Wilkesboro. The race scored a 71% on Jeff Gluck’s good race poll, which is a decent number for a short track race in the Next Gen car. But despite all the positives of the weekend, it was the negatives that were predominately amplified in the week after.
The belief that the 450-lap race was “too long,” even though it was completed in less than three hours, dominated headlines. Other gripes came from the fact that Joey Logano was nearly untouchable, only six cars finished on the lead lap, the race ended on a 175-lap green flag run to the finish and that the race didn’t contain the typical “action” or “fireworks” that one would expect from a short track event.
The highly heated debate on race lengths continues to rage on, and even more fuel was spilled onto the already blazing inferno when Sunday’s (July 26) Brickyard 400 wound up being an absolute dud of a race. It currently sits south of 23% on Gluck’s good race poll, which would make it a bottom-10 Cup race in the poll’s 10-year history.
Passing after restarts was just as impossible in the 2024 and 2025 Brickyard 400s as it was in 2026, but the previous Next Gen races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway had compelling endings consisting of differing fuel strategies and late-race restarts that redeemed them, in a way. With no late cautions and everyone on the same pit strategy this time around, this year’s Brickyard 400 ended with a 30-lap parade; there were no late-race heroics to save it.
The blowback to the Next Gen car, to Indianapolis Motor Speedway and just about everything regarding Sunday’s Cup race has been swift. The topic of whether or not the Brickyard 400 was worthy of being a crown jewel was already a debate leading into the race weekend, and now the racing looks so dire that the idea that the Cup Series should not even race at IMS with the Next Gen car has become a point of discussion.
The upcoming days will be clouded by negativity without a doubt, but in a “what have you done for me lately” world, all it takes is one good race to turn the tide back around.
The entry lists for the upcoming weekend of races are released on Mondays, and it wouldn’t be much longer until the focus turns toward previewing the upcoming race instead of reacting to the race that was just put in the rearview mirror.
But this time, there is no focusing on next week. This is the only weekend from the start of the season in February to end of the season in November where there won’t be any on-track action. There’s dead air that needs to be filled, and it will be filled by more contentious debates about race lengths, stage cautions, the Next Gen car, IMS and the poor racing product. It’s an upcoming week where everyone will have a bad taste in their mouth and won’t be able to get rid of said taste until the cars arrive at Iowa Speedway in the second weekend of August.
It’s a shame, because there has been so much to be optimistic about in the 2026 Cup season: Chicagoland and North Wilkesboro returned. NASCAR’s debut at Naval Base Coronado was a home run. The series is in a far better place with the Chase replacing the playoffs. The future is bright with three first-time Cup winners in the last three months. The switch to 750 horsepower on tracks shorter than 1.5 miles has done wonders to improve the racing, and so has the increased tire wear. I could go on and on about the positives of this year.
If NASCAR’s off week came after Atlanta, everyone would be high fiving each other and riding that feel-good momentum through the peak of summer. Instead, we’re pondering what went wrong in one of the biggest races of the year and questioning whether less racing is better. What a difference two weeks makes.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf
People need to stop blaming the Next Gen for poor races at Indy. The “Brickyard 400” has rarely given us good races. It’s why they tried the road course in 2021…a year BEFORE the Next Gen came out. Most Brickyard 400’s have been boring and everyone knows it.
I like the Next Gen car, it was time NASCAR moved into the 21st century. I think the Next Gen’s lack of horsepower has hurt it, as the chassis is just better than the engine. I also think 10-12 gallon fuel cells could improve Next Gen races at road courses and bigger ovals. Fuel saving would be harder, strategy would be more important, and more stops could break up the packs of cars.
I’ve been on pit road at Indy as a crew member for road races. From a racers standpoint the place is truly awe inspiring, but the Brickyard 400 is hardly a “Crown Jewel” event, or a most see race.
Totally agree. The attraction for racing at Indy was just because it hadn’t been done. This is one of those, “just because you can doesn’t mean you should’ situations. The track was not built for big, heavy stock cars. The novelty has worn off. Time to put the cars back on the short track is they want to stay at Indianapolis.
I saw the Brickyard 400 back in the early 2000’s (when we used to live near Indy), and the only thing I recall about it was sitting middle to upper seats between turns 1 and 2. It was hot as hell, so hot we quit drinking beer early in favor of smashing Gatorade and water so we wouldn’t die. Two rows ahead of us was a guy who found a different way to flip off Tony Stewart every. single. lap. For the last 10 laps he got creative and was mooning him while flipping him off. Don’t remember who won, or anything else. The most excitement was a drunk dude flipping off Tony Stewart.
Leave Indy to open wheel cars. Take the stock cars a few miles down the road to Indianapolis Raceway Park. Or even better… go to the east side and run ’em at the Speedrome (figure 8 track).
IRP produces superior racing. It’s a PITA for teams there. . Check out Motor Racing & Gravy video on Youtube –Semitruck driver for Halmar Friesen Racing.
Looks interesting, I’ll check it out after work. Thanks!
Heh. I recall being at Martinsville one year, and a guy in front of us got up to cheer Rusty Wallace every single time he passed by. On a half mile track, that got old pretty quickly. After around 100 laps had passed, a friend of mine noticed the guy had a bag of chips under his seat, and there was enough room to reach down between the guy’s seatback and the floor of our seats. Guy stood up, friend grabbed the chips and put them on his seat, guy sat down and smashed the whole bag. We all acted like nothing had happened, as the guy was trying to figure out who did it. He did not continue standing up every lap.
Ha! That’s hilarious!
One of the most boring races I’ve seen!
Can we do 10 gallon fuel runs. Maybe that would help. No passing is absolutely terrible.