Did You Notice? … The kiss of death for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 came midway through its final stage. With passing at such a premium every driver felt stuck behind an 18-wheeler, TNT production smartly pivoted to the one place the frontrunners might separate themselves: fuel mileage.
It was the only story left to sell at an Indianapolis Motor Speedway where cars seemed permanently stuck in place. It’s also the worst possible marketing ploy for your sport when there’s literally nothing left to sell.
“Stay tuned to see who can save their gas just enough that their car gets filled a bit faster than everyone else! Watch us make a TikTok out of that Sunoco can!”
I don’t know about you, but I don’t spend my free time staring at a gas station looking to see which middle-aged office worker pumps faster and leaves quicker than everyone else.
If that’s the hill you’re looking to die on in order to get people to keep watching NASCAR, you’re in trouble.
Sadly, we’ve seen this pivot in far too many races in recent years, especially as the problems passing with the Next Gen car have become more prevalent. Everyone from officials to TV producers, looking for the best way to keep promoting the sport, are backed into a corner. Left with no passing, they seek ways in which drivers and crew chiefs are playing a game of chess.
Look at how he pitted one lap before everyone else. Look at how that driver is saving fuel and babying his car into the corners. Look at how that rear tire changer gained his team an extra second during that pit stop.
Now, look: when told as part of a larger story, those moments in NASCAR can be the missing puzzle pieces of a thriller. A great pit stop under caution, for example, that pushes someone up from fifth to first can be the coup de gras of a race where someone started 35th and drove themselves all the way to the front.
Fuel mileage races, once in a long while, can provide an upset winner and throw everyone a curveball. These are great side attractions when used correctly.
Here’s the problem: too often, they’re the only attraction.
All these toys, from Amazon Prime’s Burn Bar that calculates fuel to a pylon that compares green-flag pit stop times, are only useful if the racing is good. They weren’t built as a full-time entertainment replacement for cars beating and banging against each other. Let’s just say watching that fuel gauge go from green, to yellow, to red doesn’t equal the excitement of seeing Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim mashing fenders or flaring tempers.
Yet that’s the problem: these enhancements are now being viewed as the main attraction, the way to keep fans watching and entertained during a boring race. And I have news for people trying to sell tickets and maintain NASCAR TV ratings: you can only put lipstick on that pig for so long. All that makeup doesn’t change the fact you’re still watching a pig.
“Nobody was going to pass,” Christopher Bell said, “Unless there was a huge mistake.”
People are already watching a series with limited passing: Formula 1. Over there, the thrill of Drive to Survive combined with the millions poured into sleek-looking race cars help mask the fact 22 cars run in place shortly after a rolling start.
There’s technology and personality and lead-up drama that allows F1 fans to soak up every minute. The race is almost an afterthought with all that going on.
NASCAR was … not built that way. A sport born on moonshine and bootlegging and drivers slamming into each other on short tracks doesn’t jive with 36 cars running in place. Engines blowing, dirt flying, sometimes even punches thrown doesn’t really square with the words “aero push.”
There’s a blue-collar tint to the sport, an old-timey feel that too often races like Indy replace with words like “track position” and “fuel mileage.” Those are the types of strategy that cause the typical NASCAR fan to tune out.
Steve O’Donnell has done a great job so far as the sport’s new CEO. I commend him. The quality of decision-making so far has been exceptional.
But there’s one blemish remaining on that early resume. Every day he waits to order research and development on the Gen 8 is another day we’re rolling the dice that “strategy” and “watching fuel tanks run dry” keep fans psyched in the stands.
It’s a gamble I wouldn’t want to take, especially with the percentage of these races rising in recent years. Now, even tracks like Indy or intermediate ovals, once the bread and butter of the Next Gen, aren’t immune to these snoozers developing.
Fans will only have so much patience, especially in a world with 1,000 entertainment options. I know development of a new car will be costly.
But the cost of waiting, hoping fans like to watch for math … I fear an outcome far worse.
Did You Notice? … Quick hits before taking off…
- Connor Zilisch has run a full season in Cup thus far. Kyle Busch ran just 12 races before tragedy struck. But here we are, 22 races into the season, and Busch still has one more point than Zilisch in the standings. The point has been made, time and again, but it’s a rough rookie season for him at Trackhouse Racing that’s one of the most disappointing in a generation.
- Heim has now won twice in his first 15 Cup starts. Bubba Wallace, with the same 23XI Racing organization, has won once since 2023. It’s a stat that stands out with now another full-time teammate threatening to surpass him on the 23XI totem pole next year.
Follow Tom Bowles on X at @NASCARBowles
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 50+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.
Other than being the home of the Indy 500, Nascar races there have been duds from the beginning. Now that the novelty has warn off it’s obvious that we should be at IRP, not the big track. Besides, if they are so bent out of shape that the bricks that are actually RACED ON got some rubber on them, it’s definitely time to go elsewhere.
Re. Wallace: it should be obvious by now that he is average at best. He is the weak link at 23XI, while he continues to blame everyone but himself about everything. Time for him to go since even the part-time rookie has shown him up.
If you’re going to bash F1, at least get the start procedure right. Standing starts, unless the race director calls otherwise due to weather.
Excellent and accurate point. Plus, F1 often has more “mid-field” activity than NASCAR — and it gets covered on TV. PLUS-PLUS: For what I believe is a fairly reasonable subscription, all F3, F2, and F1 sessions are available for replay.
I had the same thoughts reading the article. Sky Sports and F1 TV both do a far better job of broadcasting races than any of the networks covering NASCAR have. They seem to use far more cameras than US networks use at NASCAR ovals, and rarely miss anything that happens. And they do it on road courses which is much harder than on any oval. Every F1 car has 8 or 9 cameras and the broadcast has assess to them, why can’t NASCAR do this? Strategy is often more important in F1 than NASCAR because of the two tire compound rule, even though they don’t have refueling (Hamilton likely lost, or at least missed a podium finish last week because of Ferrari’s poor strategy).
I agree with Herk56 below about the regular points updates, but it’s nothing new. I remember ESPN and The Nashville Network giving regular “If the race ended now” points updates, as if the race really would “now” and as if it made much difference with 10 or 15 races to go. And I also agree with daytight about the scheduled stage (read TV) cautions.
I agree with your points — this coverage was really disappointing — and not the kind of racing I’d prefer. But there is one thing that is so much worse: the constant reference to points. None of the points information matters, with the “possible” exception of something like the challenge battle, until a stage or the race ENDS! This constant points crap is just annoying. Can you imagine if that type of broadcasting was done in any other pro sport, like basketball or baseball. “If ‘x” gets a hit here, a run will score and the team will move up a half game on ‘team y” and only be 2.5 out of first.” Or: “If LeBron scores here, Philadelphia will be up by two with four minutes to go. And don’t forget, if you’re new to basketball, most baskets score two points unless it’s beyond the three point line, then the basket scores three points.” Tell us about the racing throughout field and cut all constant points updates that don’t matter a bit until the race ends!
Meh. Brickyard is always boring, with or without fuel mileage. Beyond that, other than drafting tracks, we could eliminate most of this by not having scheduled cautions. If you don’t artificially and predictably bunch up the field, there is a benefit to running fast which isn’t often overcome under green by saving a few tenths in the pits. If the teams don’t know the length of a green flag segment, a few may try to save fuel, but most will get what they can, while they can.
Crew member: “Hey Jimmy. There is a guy with a knife wants to talk to you behind the trailer.”
Jimmy Spencer: ” I guess I’ll get a knife and see what he wants.”
Those drivers are gone!
Tom, your assessment is also assuming that Nascar doesn’t screw up the Gen 8 car. Their track record is not good with rolling out new cars, so not sure why people assume that a new car will fix everything.