NASCAR VP Slammed As “Out Of Touch” For Continuing To Defend Boring Cup Series Races: “We’ve Got A Product That Is Good”

Aaron Ryan·
CULTURESPORTS
·
NASCAR Watkins Glen
Sean Gardner/Getty Images via NASCAR Media

Not really giving NASCAR fans any hope…

The NASCAR Cup Series debuted their Gen 7 car back in 2022, and from the very beginning there have been complaints from fans about the quality of racing that we’ve seen from the car.

The Gen 7, or “Next Gen,” car, was designed to lower costs for teams by introducing single-source suppliers, meaning that all of the teams buy their parts from the same supplier instead of making everything in-house. The car also features a rear diffuser meant to generate more downforce, a larger wheel using a single lug nut, and 670 horsepower on most tracks (with the exception of Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta, which run a 510 hp package).

All of this has combined to make it almost impossible to pass, especially on short tracks and road courses, and has resulted in some lackluster races, to put it mildly.

Ok, let’s be honest, some of the races this season have been downright boring lately.

It’s been a criticism of the car for years, but over the past year, the conversation has reached a fever pitch as fans are finally reaching their boiling point over the lack of passing and excitement in races.

NASCAR has been slow to respond, pointing to close races as a sign of a strong product on the track, but the problem is that the races are close because the cars are basically all the same and drivers can’t pass each other.

There’s been talk of adding horsepower, especially on short tracks, which have historically been some of the most exciting races but over the past couple years have become snoozefests in the Gen 7 car. But it sounds like the earliest that any changes would be made would be next season, so that doesn’t really do anything in the immediate future.

Even drivers like Denny Hamlin are concerned about the product and whether fans will start to tune out on Sundays. During a recent episode of his podcast Actions Detrimental, he compared the outrage to the hatred of the so-called “Car of Tomorrow” back in the late 2000s:

And NASCAR’s most popular voice and leading ambassador, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is even sounding the alarm on the Gen 7 car:

“I don’t love the Next Gen car. It’s an IMSA car. It’s a sports car. It’s got a diffuser. It’s got low-profile tires, it’s got big rims and big brakes. It’s a sports car. It’s not a NASCAR stock car, but it’s here. Everybody’s invested.”

Sounds like everybody recognizes that NASCAR has a problem on its hands. Everybody, it seems, except for NASCAR.

Earlier this week, after a race at Watkins Glen that many fans were calling the most boring race they’ve ever watched (which in my opinion is a little bit of an exaggeration, but still, it wasn’t a great race), NASCAR Senior VP of Competition Elton Sawyer was asked about the car’s performance on road courses, and he didn’t exactly give fans hope that anything’s going to change any time soon:

“I think we’ve got a product that is good, but as we said last week, we’re always looking to make our product better.”

Respectfully, I think a lot of fans would disagree when you say you have a “product that is good,” especially on short tracks and road courses. The Cup Series had the slowest qualifying speed of the weekend at Watkins Glen, even slower than the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series:

And the fact that Sawyer continues to insist that NASCAR is happy with the product on the track didn’t sit well with many fans, who criticized his statement as “out of touch” and “tone deaf.”

And listen, I get that NASCAR is in a tough spot here. They can’t exactly come out and say, “Yeah, we know the racing sucks right now.” At least not without announcing some immediate changes, and that’s not going to happen. But continuing to offer full-throated defenses of the product on the track isn’t exactly giving fans hope for change, which is what it’s going to take to keep people watching, at least on short tracks and road courses.

It’s safe to say the Cup Series is in trouble, especially when the Xfinity Series is producing by far the best racing every weekend.

Let’s just hope that NASCAR recognizes the problem and is actually working to fix it. But based on Elton Sawyer’s comments, fans aren’t convinced.

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