Written by Michael Your
It has never been a more exciting time to be a NASCAR fan than it is right now. There have been many thrilling changes, such as new cars, new teams, new drivers and new tracks, it is difficult to see the resemblances to prior years. NASCAR has been a heavily stereotyped sport for the past decades, but they made it clear that they are not the same sport as they were in the past. To understand where we are now, we must first understand where we came from.
Ross Chastain’s viral “Hail Melon” from Martinsville 2022
The year is 2019, and the sport has been havocked by numerous bad new rules and changes. From the controversial overtime line, the ever changing and confusing playoff schedules, the sport was hurting for something good to happen to it. Mike Helton, the 2019 NASCAR president, made countless questionable changes that divided the fan base. By the end of the 2019 season, he resigned and was replaced by Jim France, putting the sport back into the family’s legacy.
2020 was looking to be an optimistic year, with a new president, the future was seeking good change. But that dream was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite their best efforts to adapt and remain in person, the howling V8’s went virtual to a simulator known as iRacing. Races were streamed on the simulator, but the spectators and fans were not pleased. On May 17, 2020, it was the first major sport in America to return to normalcy with live races and track events. Though much was different, they continued to adapt to make up for lost time. It was exciting to be a NASCAR fan as it was broadcasted back-to-back from Sunday Nights through Thursday Nights. In a time when no other sports were on, NASCAR brought in new viewership from people locked indoors.
In 2021, more exciting changes happened. For the first time in NASCAR history, a back breaking 7 road courses, a new dirt track and a new superspeedway were added to the schedule, breathing a fresh breath of variety to the sport. Jim France made it clear that the sport was no longer stuck in the past and is branching out to new audiences. With the addition of new disciplines of racing, we saw new winners such as AJ Allmendinger emerge — who won the Daytona International Speedway Road Course configuration. Allmendinger was the first of many of a new generation of drivers who specialized in specific track disciplines. These underdogs stood up against the powerhouses of big money teams.
To toss more winners into the mix, in 2022, a new generation of race car was released called the NEXT GEN. These cars fixed the downfalls of the gen 6 cars, who were much slower, handled worse and were more dangerous. With the addition of a new generation of cars, also came more rules that drew the competition closer – giving opportunities for small garages to have a chance. Jim France mandated that specific official vendors will be supplying the chassis and performance parts, as opposed to the teams manufacturing them. This was a reoccurring problem with all generations of previous cars as the big-name teams could fork out more money to have the best parts, leaving the smaller teams drowning.
This further enhanced the dramatic nature of racing to the sport. For example, in 2021 on 1.5-mile tracks, Kyle Larson won half the races, meanwhile with the next generation of cars in 2022, there were no repeat winners on 1.5 mile tracks, which are the most competitive. This was exciting as it gave smaller race teams a chance to close the gap on skill and not team finance.
In 2022, we saw more exciting track disciplines added to the schedule. Racing around the perimeter of the previous home field of the Los Angles Rams and Raiders, the LA coliseum exhibition race provided a fantastic spectacle of something that has never been done before.
In 2023, the NEXT GEN car continued to prove its stay as dominant in all disciplines. It raced at the 24 hours of LeMans against purpose-built endurance super cars, and still held its ground. New to this season was the addition of a new type of race, the Chicago Street race. It further showed the wide application of this platform. The Chicago Street race was something that has never been done before – racing through the streets of downtown Chicago, just like how F1 does it – it brought the racing literally to a new demographic of people, the residents of Chicago. With everything against this event, from rain cancellations and delays, a new type of race winner emerged… S.V.G. Shane Van Gisbergen, a supercar Grand Prix champion from New Zealand, won on his first start in NASCAR and on the first street race. If it was unbelievable that AJ Almendinger, a racer past his prime (if he ever had one) won at Daytona Road Course in 2021, then SVG’s win at Chicago was beyond belief.
SVG wins Chicago Street Race 2023
We have also seen new faces to the sport in recent years. Trackhouse Motorsports was founded by Pitbull in 2020. The 23XI team was ventured by Michael Jordan. These celebrities attract more interest to the sport from their audiences as well, making an exciting mashup.
With the recent release of the Netflix series Full Speed, it broke stereotypes and showed the dramatic complexities of the sport. It showed the heroes and villains and why it was the greatest motor sport.
NASCAR for the longest time was stuck in the past. With the same old tracks, with the same winners every week and teams clinging onto their past legacies, the sport began to stale. But now, much has changed. We are only just 7 weeks into the season, and all those years of change are finally paying off. The sport has matured. Many older fans have been disappointed with the changing of the sport, but just like the NASCAR of the past, they too, are stuck in their ways. It is hard to argue that side now as there are more varieties of tracks (showing that the drivers do more than “turn left”), exciting new drivers from other motorsports, new teams emerging and the fact that anybody can win on any given week – it truly is the most exciting time to be a NASCAR fan.
Show this to your non-NASCAR friends. https://t.co/HUVyDCxrrB
— Eric Estepp (@EricEstepp17) February 25, 2024