Zachary Peters

The long winter is here, and The NASCAR 2023 season is over. We must live off the meager spoils of the now-dead season, so this is a great time to reflect on what we all just saw. There were great moments, fun moments, drama on and off the track, and racing. Some of that racing was good, and some was very bad. Here are the things that stand out to me.

This season, two items stand at the forefront of my mind and deserve top billing in this essay. First, the racing product is nearly broken (emphasis on nearly). Secondly, the championship rang hollow for the second year in a row. These two issues play a role in the third item that stands out: continued struggles with viewership.

The racing product produced great races at mile-and-half tracks if it was not too cold, as we saw early in the year. Both Kansas races stand out in my mind as exceptional races. Homestead was compelling and fun to watch. The Coke 600 has been resurrected back into relevance, and even Texas was not as horrible as usual. These are great things!

As another positive, super-speedways became more compelling after a rough start as things warmed up. The emergence of the new Atlanta is exciting, and even if the track ages and the drafting is less intense, this car produces great racing on mile and a half’s. Atlanta will be the place to be for the next ten years.

However, road courses were a nightmare of following the leader. The Chicago street course was only salvaged by horrible conditions that created entertaining racing conditions and SVG’s brilliant run at the end of the race. It was a decent race despite NASCAR making the terrible call to shorten the race in the middle of a pit cycle.

Even more troubling, the heart of NASCAR, short tracks were a slog of boring racing. They were not challenging, intense, entertaining, or compelling in any way. Unless your driver won, there were no redeeming moments at any short track. I take that back; as a Larson fan, the return to North Wilkesboro was remarkable because of how he won, and it was a lovely sentimental moment for NASCAR.

It is evident that NASCAR must take action to address the racing product on short tracks and road courses. This car was designed to be a cost-saving venture, but engineers and those in the know knew this might be the problem. You no longer have superspeedway, short track, intermediate, and road course cars. There is one design and very little flexibility for teams to address problems in the car at tracks where they are not performing correctly.

Credit NASCAR for trying. NASCAR midseason has attempted to improve the short-track package, but there has not been any noticeable improvement after several tests. Goodyear may have found a better tire after the last two races of the year. This winter, there will be more tests to work on the tire and address the shifting issues (too much shifting into corners). NASCAR will also test aero issues that create problems for cars not in the lead.

Unfortunately, the most obvious solution is the last option for NASCAR. More horsepower is on the table but is the last resort. A decision for more horsepower would excite drivers and fans alike, but for reasons unknown to me, NASCAR likes the engine packages weak. It doesn’t seem right that you can buy street-legal cars with more horsepower than the cup cars.

The current engines are designed to have more horsepower but are currently limited by NASCAR rules. We could have 100+ horsepower added just by changing the rules, and yet we have had countless tire and aero tests trying to fix the car. It simply does not make any sense. For something that was supposed to save teams money, this car is costing a lot in extra testing.

Ultimately, we will end up with different engine and aero packages, and teams will be forced to fork out more and more money for an inferior product. If that’s the case, get rid of the next-gen car. It will have failed in its primary objective in existence.

These problems with the car and on-track product stand hand in hand with a points and playoff system that leaves room for much improvement. In my humble opinion, the playoff system is not always horrible. Many times, a worthy driver is awarded the championship. The problem is the opportunity that exist for a lucky average team to steal a championship, as has happened in the past two years with the 22 and 12 teams. Moderate to good performance carries you into the playoffs, and then a month of great racing propels you into the championship. Any championship system allowing a team to win all the races except the last race and not be crowned champion is verging on being a farce of format.

Racing is not a stick-and-ball sport, and what works for baseball and football does not work for NASCAR (baseball has its own playoff issues). For NASCAR, the season is too long, the stakes too high week in and week out, and consistency is valued second only to wins. Even if the fans cannot articulate it, they sense the problems and disjointed nature of an eight-month-long season decided by only a handful of races at the end of the year. The past two years have left a sour taste in many fans’ mouths concerning the validity of the playoffs.

There are several fixes that would not be a total destruction of the playoff system NASCAR loves and champions. First, award more points for winning a race. You could even consider eliminating locking in teams in the playoff based on one win. Force them to stay focused and push all year, but that may be too far for some.

Second, increase the points carryover from the regular season to the postseason. Make consistency matter, and reward excellence all season, not just 1/4 of the season. I am only looking for a 10% increase in carryover, but that would make a difference.

Decrease the number of playoff cars and playoff races. You need to be in the top ten by the final eight races to deserve to be a champion. The long playoff system and a quarter of the field in the playoff are not helping TV ratings, so take a step back and make the playoff fair.

Finally, no more winner-takes-all-final races, especially if that race is at the abhorrent Phynox raceway. The final championship round needs to be at least three races. Seriously, how can a driver be in the top three or four in points all year and not even make it to the championship race because of one moment of bad luck? That is not sporting or fair. Once again, fans sense this reality.

Tv ratings are down. Sure, there were some excellent moments and great racing this year, but there is enough wrong with the sport for core fans to be annoyed 90% of the time. Why would a new fan get hooked if older fans constantly complain about the product? Unlike many media types, I think a lot of the complaints are NOT overreactions.

There are also star power issues. That is an entire article/essay topic for another time. These drivers have yet to be discovered by those outside of racing. I have favorites, but I am a racing fan. Nobody outside racing fans know Larson, Hamlin, or even Elliott. My father-in-law does not and has not followed NASCAR, yet he knows the old names like Dale Sr, Wallace, and Mark Martin. The responsibility for this lies on everyone from sponsors, the network, NASCAR, the teams, and the drivers.

The networks that partner with NASCAR make horrible choices. The times of races make no sense, and where those races are broadcast plays a role in the decline of relevance. Every race must be on the main network channel from late winter to late summer (before football season). Ratings will go up 10-20% by the end of the year just by doing that. The networks are squandering their investment, and NASCAR is suffering for it.

I love racing, and because of that, I can not help but be concerned by the product and results of the season we just witnessed. There are so many negatives that it makes it difficult to appreciate the positives. NASCAR has work to do; we can only hope those in charge are honest with the problems and take drastic action to correct the failures. With that being said, I cannot wait for 2024 when we go racing again.

What do you think? Let me know.