The race was boring as hell. And it wasn’t really Larson’s domination that was the problem, though it certainly didn’t help. The real problem is the fact that nobody back in the pack could pass to make the racing interesting. A race can have two overtimes and a surprise winner and still be boring. Also, every time a driver goes out and criticizes fans it just makes them look bad and turns pubic opinion against them.
I’m not a Kyle Larson and I agree that it was a boring race, but a dominant performance should be expected for a few races a year. That’s how motorsports has always been.
It wasn’t boring because he dominated. It was just a boring race with very little passing. If someone was riding the high side as a slower car it took 15-20 laps to pass if you passed
I kinda agree with what Kyle Larson said about the fan base, would the rating gone up a little bit? Probably. But the output of the race was boring no matter if Kyle Larson won or lost. The main thing about this race is that it was boring, because of the Next Gen and the tires. The Next Gen obviously sucks at Bristol, but this felt like a new low, there was no strategy because the tires were harder than a rock and green flag runs on tires lasted for a century. You couldn't pass either, the guy in 2nd place for most of the race couldn't even get out of 20th because you couldn't pass anyone, the guy who had top 5 speed for the entirety of stage 1 got back into the top 10 with around 100 laps to go when he got a penalty. This is a new low for short track racing and at this point, NASCAR needs to do something, because if they don't, short tracks will get less money from tickets, resulting in less races on the schedule, to maybe even tracks being deserted entirely.
It not the tires, it's the arrow package and hp. It's a nascar problem, not a Goodyear problem. Even though tire ware is interesting, it's not the best racing because you really don't get to see who the best racers are. Nascar has always been about car control with managing your equipment, not strictly equipment management.
It wasn't even a race it was an event it was called follow the leader you can't even consider this a race when there was absolutely no racing done nascar should be very embarrassed by this
Somebody in Larson’s comment section of that tweet disagreed with him, saying that he voted “no” not because of Larson’s dominance, but bc there was barely any passing behind him. And personally, I think both Larson and that commenter have good points. I think we all can agree the Next Gen has its issues on short tracks in general. But like Larson said, one caution with 2 to go tends to change everything. Just look at 2022 spring Martinsville and 2014 Texas fall 🤷🏼♂️ (Tangent: one of these days, NASCAR’s gonna realize that putting PJ1 on the bottom at Bristol and cleaning the rubber off the top are having the exact opposite effect as they intended)
Same, I've seen plenty of good races that just had good hard racing the whole time but not a close finish...2005 really was probably the only time close finishes were the norm and not the abnormal.
Something NASCAR does that really shoots themselves in the foot is advertising. They advertised this race to be full drama, tire issues, wrecks and fights. We got none of that. The biggest wreck we got was LaJoie spinning off screen. It wasn’t an exciting battle for elimination, majority of the drivers were too far in points to do anything. Their advertising set expectations, they failed to even touch any of those expectations so of course we’re not happy.
I didn't realize I had watched a bad race until I got home from the track and everyone told me. Looked like every high banked half mile race I've ever been to.
"We whomped em again, didn't we Kyle", There were races back in the early days of Nascar where dominant drivers lapped the field multiple times. Like Kyle or hate him, he is one great driver and history will prove it.
I'm not gonna set their erase or pay for a race where one driver leads almost every lap and it's followed the leader that's not a race and I would be requesting a refund for that because I paid to see a race and I did not see a race I would leave almost halfway through it and request a refund because I would say that I wanted to see a race and I'm not seeing a race i'm seeing follow the leader it's an absolute disgrace is what this event was it wasn't even considered a race it's an event a race has racing and this did not have any of that
@@BeautifulAngelBlossom Yeah, I don't think you were a real bonafide race fan to start with, maybe switch to watching Golfing or some other super stimulating endeavors.
Funny how fans wish for the old days, but the moment we get a race similar to "the old days" (such as races where one guy absolutely destroys the competition and wins by a mile), people hate it. So if you wonder why people say "NASCAR fans hate everything," here's a prime example.
Me and some buddies were in a discord call watching the 1998 Daytona 500 for those who hadn't seen it, this one kid said it was boring because the cars were all running spaced out mostly single file at Daytona 😂
How dare fans want a race to be competitive and not want a race with zero passing. Here's a FACT that you of you PATHETIC "all you do is complain" clowns need to know: Calling a race that has zero on track lead changes and no passing a "boring disgrace" isn't being toxic nor whining... it's being sensible. I'm so sorry we don't call every single race good.
It's unreal, at this point I'm almost glad NASCAR is NOT listening to these people. Kenny Wallace is right, those are a loud but small minority of armchair fans.
@@RobbieLancelot the car sucks at short tracks and road courses. People have a reason o be upset. Nascar is doing everything except changing the overall car. This car is only good at mile 1/2 tracks
I said it after the race, and I’ll say it again Right now we’ll say this race was garbage, but 5 - 10 years down the line, we’ll be amazed at what Larson did on Saturday
I agree with Larson. Not a fan of his but his dominant performance shouldn’t be punished with multiple OT’s and potentially losing the race just because it was a boring race. Dominant performances just happen from time to time in auto racing and we just have to accept it
I mean, the fanbase is always divisive, but slighting the fans for merely not enjoying a race he won is dumb. It clearly wasn't him. It was the track and tires. People dont get overwhelmingly upset when he wins, but calling a boring race boring isn't something he needs to be defensive about. It just looks kinda bad on him.
It wasn’t the track and it wasn’t Larson. Anyone could’ve dominated and it still would’ve been a boring race. It is the entire car that is the problem but nascar won’t change a thing
I think Larson isn't wrong about what he said a different finish probably would make everyone say "Yeah it was a great race!" (Ex. Richmond, North Wilkesboro). He should at least acknowledge the lack of racing that was going on and the fact it'd take him 10 laps to put 30th a lap down. It is easy for someone who led 450 laps to say the race was fine. Samantha Busch's tweet pretty much nailed it. I think Nascar needs to serious look into reengineering this car and take some big swings at it rather than small aero adjustments or different tire compounds this is a bigger problem than that.
I don't care who would have won tyler Reddick could have won the race and I would still say it wouldn't been the race it was followed the leader you go to Bristol to see a intense race not to see a follow the leader event and that's what that was nascar and Bristol should be embarrassed by this
What makes fans hate Larson is partially the driver, but mostly his fanbase, and even as someone who is a fan of Larson, Larson fans can be quite insufferable at times. As far as the next-gen on short tracks goes, there is still A LOT of work to be done, and patience is running very thin. We’re about to enter year #4 of this car and NASCAR STILL has not fixed their problems with short track racing.
Larson and Elliott fans are especially annoying and toxic online from what I’ve noticed. It’s rare you see one take any kind of accountability for their driver
Elliott haters are More Toxic then then the Fanbase itself. Especially when something happens to Elliott. Or if something Catastrophic happens That made him lose the race. especially after what happened at the glen and the roval where they were Screaming PAYBACK BY REDDICK! JUSTICE FOR LAJOIE!!! Not to mention the double standards according to them Elliott does something stupid they Hold a Grudge against him anything they get or Rub it in their face anytime something Disagrees with it or say. Nah I hate Elliott im not even a Elliott fan! But anyone else does it. And they Keep their months shut.. also another reason why i dont root for larson. His fanbase and The BeSt DRivEr In THe WOrld!!!! Nonsense and the HES BETTER THAN VERSTAPPEN Crap which drives me away from Joining his fanbase
@@JackLikesTrackhouseTELL YOU WHAT IM STILL SMILING SINCE SATURDAY NIGHT AND STILL FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT 500.. !! ILL TRY AND GET AHOLD OF LARSON TO LET HIM KNOW HE’S BACK IN FIRST PLACE …!! IS THAT THE KIND OF ACCOUNTABILITY YER REFERRING TOO ? 🏁🏁😎
The bristol night race this past weekend was Average i came to watch NASCAR races for excitement for example kansas,talladega,Daytona etc etc but i this was my first time not enjoying the event which for myself is disappointing People saying NASCAR should add more horsepower which i agree aswell as fixing the blow overs we are seeing a bunch but NASCAR will never fix this car and add more horsepower like i said before i am disappointed ☹️
If joey logano denny Hamlin won people would say this was a horrible race. Terrible no passing no tire fall off blah blah. But if Elliott or Larson won like he did people actually liked the race even though it was boring. Nascar fans will never be happy.
I think narrowing the tire back to where it was will help make the racing better. One theory I have with lack of tire wear is that the wheel is now aluminum and is now bigger. Aluminum dissipates heat faster than steel. and having a bigger wheel means that there is LES air volume to heat up. The tires don't have a chance to heat up and wear
I've personally been pretty consistent with my standards and views on what makes a good race. But I wasn't watching Bristol for the winner. Even though I like Larson. But once I saw that Brads car was toast and laps down. I just switched to my backup favorites for the playoffs. Suarez, Briscoe, and Hamlin. Even though I hate him the rest of the year. Wouldn't mind seeing him finally getting that championship just to get the chip off his shoulder. It wasn't the Cheese Grater 500 sponsored by Food City. That was absolutely fire. But it wasn't Pocono, or Phoenix. I've yet to enjoy a race at either.
My wife is a HUGE Larson fan. Bout lap 300 she turns to me and says “this is boring.” Now I am an Elliott fan, but I like track house, so I was watching the cut off and amazed how the 99 was above the line while running 32nd 😂. Short tracks and road courses. That’s what they sold us on when this car was introduced. 😢
I believe that it is okay to have some races here and there. It’s annoying that it has to be Bristol, but not all 36 races need to be the best race ever to be a fun season or sport. Last NFL season was so boring and had blowouts frequently. Fans weren’t that upset with it. However, Bristol is awful right now and needs to be fixed
What I ended up saying at the end of that race was "Remember back when you played a NASCAR game and got really good at it and basically would win every race by half a lap, That is what Larson did tonight" and what I wish I would have added on to that was that fact that it would kill the fan base if that happened every week for years, hell mid Jimmy domination is when I stopped watching NASCAR the first time, BUT that is not the core issue of the Bristol race the core issue was no one could really go anywhere Gibbs got the speeding penalty and made up time eventually but it took him the whole race, then he got stuck behind Suarez and basically fell off from there Meanwhile Truex got the same penalty at the end of the second stage and went from the second place car to a lap down and could not make up many positions the only car you could reliably pass that night was the 66
No problem with Larson dominating. I treated this like an F1 race where Max Verstappen is running away with it. The most entertaining part was watching the Cut Off Line drivers try to do what they can to make it to the next round.
The difference between the Gen 6 and earlier cars vs the Gen 7 is that the teams could make changes to the chassis and other areas within the rules. The Gen 7 allows zero changes. So what you have is spec cars (think IROC), equal engines (reduced HP) and equally talented drivers and crews. You can't compare Cup to Xfinity because the cars are different, the crews have more flexibility to change the cars and the talent level is just less overall than at the Cup level. A level playing field doesn't mean that everyone has to run the exact same stuff. As for NASCAR fans: yes I do think they like the gimicks and chaos of a lot of wrecks more than the racing. I had both on, but I mostly watched the Eldora USAC 4-Crown on FloRacing. If you want to see a lot of passing, go to a dirt sprintcar or midget race.
Kyle is wrong here. Aside from the Kyle Larson fans, This race had nothing to offer. As a NASCAR fan, that was a snoozefest. Showing once again that this car sucks on short tracks. Once you got back in traffic, you couldn’t do a thing. That race was horrendous. There is no way they brought the same tire from the spring. Spring race was infinitely better.
Idiot the reason the tires didn't wear this time was because they had other series on the track laying rubber all weekend in the spring they didn't...so the concrete was a cheese grater to the tires...it's common sense unless your hate of the sport blinds you.....
@@truckercowboyed2638 Sure, passing at Bristol was always difficult, but this is to another extreme. There is no reason that a car with top 5 speed should take 300+ laps to go from 26th to 15th. Truex, running in 3rd, got stuck behind the 15 of Kaz Grala for 30+ laps at one point. This is too much. "It's called dirty air" And clearly it's a problem
I do think a suprise winner absolutely would have jumped that poll. That would be entertaining. But I agree that the race itself just wasn't very entertaining. Watching the Nascar in car on youtube you saw kyle busch get mired back in the high 20s all day, stuck 1 or 2 laps down and the pace of the race was that by the time they got near a strage break the tail of the field was already getting lapped. So you watched him, brad kesolowski, and todd gilliland try in vain to pass one another when there just isn't enough on one lane or the other to do anything. Only for Kyle Larson to eventually put them another lap down in one direction and Josh Biliki to go down another in the other direction. What's real disappointing is that the stage was set for so much entertainment with the points. Literally 75% of the people in the playoffs were not safe. A big surge or an unfortunate wreck could have swung about anyone in or out and the most we got from that was truex going from 2nd to out with a speeding penalty and Briscoe having a solid day 2 positions from being lapped.
the reason this race was boring wasn't because of larson's domination. I actually enjoyed that aspect of the race. The reason this race was boring was because there was next to no movement throughout the entire rest of the field. The next gen car is awful at short tracks, and that's what made this race bad as well. Quite frankly though, if there were multiple overtime restarts, and Larson lost, I would've been even more upset. This race ended the way it should've, and that's about the only props I can give it.
It's pretty simple really, when the Xfinity series is more enjoyable than the cup series week to week, something has to change. Nobody is blaming kyle larsons dominance for it being a bad race, the car, the stages, and the tire are fucking awful. The adjustment window these teams have to turn a 15th place car to a 3rd or race winning car is so small. Nobody that was slow in this race ever got any quicker, and nobody that was fast ever got slower. It was literally like watching traffic go by, maybe even less exciting.
My Opinion: I'd give this race a 5/10, here's why: What Larson did was impressive, but you are right, watching someone dominate like that, have no adversity to really overcome, just sucks. Good for him, but man it's a slap for everyone else. I think the outlook prior to the start of the race was much different. I personally was expecting to see Bowman and Byron in the mix more, maybe swapping the lead. Bell as well. We got none of that. You are also right, fans will say something is bad because x,y,z, but not ACTUALLY look at the product. I think 27% is kind of unfairly low... It should have been more like 40, maybe 50. There actually was SOME glimmers of good racing going on, that overall (minus the spring) was an improvement on this package. The coverage was actually decent, I have no complaints really there. Some cars seemed to fall off, so that was interesting to watch develop Watching Suarez get frustrated with Stenhouse I think sums it up... This car is just boring at lower speeds. It handles too well. Ricky should have wrecked 2 or 3 times trying to save that car... But the grip level is just too high. I think that grip is what makes the 1.5 tracks so , because the car can provide about as much as the driver is ballzy enough to try. Nobody was really in a position to get frustrated because they just couldn't get around other cars. The fact that Larson was having SUCH a difficult time passing some of the lap down cars kind of testifies to that. When you have a car that doesn't race well, can't be set up much, all are the same, and is brittle (suspension wise), on top of a b.s. timer that prevents you from fixing the car, yeah, it's frustrating. It truly baffles me that in this format, where drivers are literally getting eliminated by 1 point, that we have a vehicle policy that prevents drivers from getting back valuable points... (Case in point, Ryan Blaney at Watkins Glen)... That's a tangent but I do think it applies to how aggressive the rest of the field is willing to be
I also think social media in some ways has led to this incredible nitpicking of races. Everything is so online and diagnosed to the macro degree. I don’t think there was this level of complaining when Jeff Gordon led like 390 of 400 laps at Dover once, or Jr having such a strong car on restrictor plates in the early 2000’s that he could actually get gaps on the field on his own. Nascar is a very objective sport it seems like.
There are probably people out there incredibly put off by Larson dominating, but were glued to their tv at 6am in recent years watching Verstappen win by 20 seconds calling it the greatest thing ever.
yeah i agree with Kyle. i mean the fan base will never be happy. I can appreciate domination. yeah it’s a boring race however I can appreciate a team absolutely nailing the setup, nailing the pit stops, and running away with it.
I hated watching Jeff Gordon kick Dales ass. with Larson I see how good he is and Im watching the Michael Jordon of Nascar do his thing so I respect and appreciate getting to see this guy race.
As a fan that was in the stands myself, I’ll admit that I had my phone opened up on UA-cam TV watching some of the Tennessee/Oklahoma game at points. I’m a NASCAR fan AND a Tennessee Vols fan, but I decided to check out some of the football game because the current state of Tennessee Football is just way better than it has been since a little while before I was born (I was like 1-2 years old during their last National Championship) and was better to watch at the time over leader having a comfortable 2-3 second lead at points in the race. I can respect it but I can also tune out into something else if it’s more interesting (which again is why I feel like we shouldn’t have any Saturday Night races in the middle of college football season especially when nearby school in a major sports desert is actually pretty decently good for the first time in 20+ years). Comparing both races, I prefer the Spring race over this one because it was just such a positive anomaly to what Short Track racing has been with the Gen 7 car. I can also respect the sheer dominance that Larson put on during that race since he’s just like that in about any car he can step into (just needs to improve on Superspeedways since that’s his main Achilles Heel). Though even with the stage breaks and all, still seemed to be the better overall race this weekend than Singapore GP since Norris led 100% of the race compared to Larson’s 92.4%. Though I will agree that the poll could have been skewed a little bit more if it was a different driver who’d have won the race. I do feel like it would have been more positive if Chase would have won while I do feel like it would have been more negative if either Denny or Bubba won the race. Fans can get persnickety about the little details at times and that’s fine since they do them… but this was like being a Star Wars fan since the original trilogy coming out of The Phantom Menace level of “What just happened?”. Either way, When is the Verstappen vs Larson exhibition race since I’d like to see that happen for the sake of finally settling that debate.
I’m convinced that Larson wants to go back to the eighties, when races were won 70 percent by car and 30 percent by driver, instead of the 2000s, where the cars were on-edge yet it was difficult for teams to find big advantages. Larson likes it when a race just comes together. Fans don’t.
I don't think Kyle Larson is wrong, even specifically looking at the Birstol situation. Look at the Daytona 500 this year for instance. The fan base regularly hates on the idea of cars just cruising around at half throttle instead of actually racing and the entirety of the Daytona 500 was just that, except for the big wreck at the end and the dash to the finish that shook up the entire race. According to your poll, 73% of people enjoyed the GEICO 500 this year.
My previous comments aside, Nascar needs to reduce the downforce and increase tire wear on these cars. I believe going back to gen 4, all the vehicles have been around 3400lbs, so I don’t think that is necessarily an issue.
Regardless of "excitement," he Bristol night race is just a cool race to watch, I always enjoy it. Part of the problem is so many "fans" expect every race to be, as you say, a barn burner. Not every race is going to be exciting; it's statistically impossible. The problem with having as many exciting finishes as we've had lately sets an unrealistic standard for the... more gullible... fans.
I'm not a Larson fan but i don't mind he dominated. What bothered me was passing. Take Truex as Example, ran top 5 all night, even in second awhile, but a penalty put him in the back and just couldn't pass. He should have at least got a few positions.
To all the fanboys defending this race and trying to pull the "all you do is complain" card... here's a truth bomb: "All you do is complain" is not a valid argument,and it never will be. If thats the only response to criticism against your precious sport you have,then you've lost the argument.
Because no one cares what you whiney people have to say you're not important to the sport you can be replaced by people who appreciate the sport so go pound sand
I never thought I would leave a NASCAR race pissed off but I was there Saturday night & I left pissed off. I do not get to go to many races because I'm Canadian & it cost a lot for us to go with travel, tickets, hotel & exchange rates so I always look at the positives of every race I go to but it just can't be done here. I like Larson but the lack of passing & tire wear was just too much to ignore & with about 40 to go I was hoping for a yellow to get some sort of strategy in the race but that never happened. I was also at the Xfinity race & I could take away some positives from that race was also at Trucks & ARCA was so excited for my first 4 race weekend to be at Bristol but the cup race left me heavily disappointed. I now see no point in my wanting to or trying to go to other tracks I love like Martinsville & other short tracks might as well only look at Michigan, Pocono, drafting tracks & 1.5 mile tracks from now on.
It happens. Sometimes races are dominated by one driver. Bill Elliot in the mid 1980s won races like this. Earnhardt in the late 80s early 90s too. Jeff Gordon in the mid to late 90s. Heck, Truex Jr dominated a Coke 600 like that when he was still in the 78. Stop with the hysteria every time a race doesn’t end with a three-way photo finish.
Nah it was a snoozefest. I have noticed whenever Larson takes the lead and drives away boredom ensues. I remember the All=Star Race at North Wilkesboro. Had it not been for the breaks he would have lapped the field. No doubt he's good and can drive anything, but whenever he's that dominant I start changing the channel.
I didn’t get a chance to watch the race since I went to the drive ins to see Transformers One and Speak No Evil. But from what I seen from the highlights it was ok, but from I’ve heard it most likely went the way that myself and others were thinking where we had the little happy accident in the spring race and then come this time we’d be back to our regularly scheduled program. This car just really needs more testing on short tracks and road courses. It produces some great racing on intermediates, Super Speedways need some slight work, but short tracks and road courses have just lost the touch that fans liked prior to the Gen 7. We know it’s not an aero issue since the diffuser is basically nonexistent, the spoiler is basically back to 2017/2018 size, Goodyear and NASCAR can’t seem to find an even point between durability and wear, if the horsepower increases at least to 750 and that doesn’t even help it, then what? Like ik NASCAR will never do it cause it’s expensive, but it’s like the fans have begged on their knees for more short tracks and road courses, well what happened? We finally got more road courses, then people complained there were too many, like oh yes 5-6 road courses in a 36! Race…schedule…is too much. -_- bruh. BUT, we finally got more short tracks with the likes of the LA Coliseum, North Wilkesboro, Iowa, Bowman Gray, but now the racing just sucks at em right as we get these. Which doesn’t help in NASCAR’s if they want to race internationally where most of the tracks that r gonna be raced r either road or street courses. Welp frick. So what’s gonna happen if NASCAR shows up in Mexico and the race is freakin boring and the fans don’t want it? Not saying it should be an absolute wrestling match on the track but just lots of passing will make it good. But we’re not gonna get it since the short track and road course product sucks. Like NASCAR if u wanna do this, ya gotta work on this car more. No more cutting the downforce and calling it a day bs. Actually work on it!
Honestly, if you're going to be a motorsport fan, you are going to have to accept the fact that some races are gonna be dominated by a driver on top of lack of cautions weather it be NASCAR, F1, IMSA, or anything else, you have to accept that reality. Does it suck in the moment and seem unfair for the next 24 hours? Yes 100%. But, it's just racing.
I have no issue with Larson dominating. The problem I have is that other good cars that got shuffled to the back for whatever reason had absolutely no way of moving forward. Like a car that was fast enough to be running 2nd at the start of the race suddenly couldn’t get past 24th. Practically no one was able to pass anybody throughout the field. And there’s the aggression at Bristol?!? Like don’t blatantly wreck anyone, but use your dang bumpers! The whole night they’re hyping up driver tempers flaring at Bristol, but it looked like everyone was content to just drive in circles. I get that they weren’t content-they just couldn’t pass-but it’s not what Bristol should be, and has often been.
I can't say anything about dominant performances because I was a Jimmie Johnson fan for basically my whole life. My whole childhood was watching him win 5 in a row and dominate year after year. I can appreciate those kinds of performances, but this is a bad faith argument by Larson. There was virtually zero tire falloff and passing throughout the field was almost impossible thanks to the dirty air. Even though I knew that they were running the same tire as the spring, I wasn't expecting that kind of race since it was really a perfect storm that created those conditions. But to see such minimal fall off was really disappointing. If anything the boring nature of the race can be attributed to the tires, car and track and not Larson himself. I understand that races won't always be barnburners, nor should they be, but that was a really dull and lackluster race.
Once again… The talk about the car and the short tracks. If nobody else see that the short track packages are gonna stay garbage unless they put some of the ideas back in the driver and teams hands. And I’ve been saying those suspensions they have are made from a pack of Twizzlers😭😭
Maybe I'm a weirdo but if Larson lead as many laps as he did but a green-white-checker or 2 happened and he got screwed out of a win I'd thought it was an even WORSE race than it actually was!
I thought the race was solid, not great but enjoyable and I do agree with Larson on his take of “when has Bristol ever been easy to pass” and I think tires where just a touch more fall off from being perfect, they fell off we saw that with Gibbs with Suarez. The way these cars are being Spec cars the only thing that can save this is horsepower, goodyear I think did pretty good this week and im tired of people blaming the tires and good year these cars just need to be harder to drive and I also think shrinking the fuel tank could be a thing to look into. Make these guys need to pit because with stages green flag stops are getting more and more rare
I don't hate Larson bc of his talent. I hate him bc of his "I'ma Hendrick driver, so fuck you" air he has about him. Funny enough, that became clear to me at Bristol, at the penultimate dirt race where Larson just barreled thru Ryan Preece.
To me my issue was with how boring the race was and I was there in person and yeah it was not good. Ive long accepted that domination has been part of the sport for a long time. It won't be the last time either.
Larson is not correct. He was the right winner. Overtime would not have helped. The problem is there were no good stories mid-race. There were no real "comers" and "goers." The only "goers" were via pit penalties. There were too few pit stops, too few incidents, and no real clips that are marketable at all. THAT is why Bristol was bad. No stories outside of Larson dominating the race and MTJ stubbing his own toe. It was just dull.
According to you're poll, it was like 11% that thoguht it was bad, but the vast majority thought it was average, good or great. I think it was al ittle above 40% in the average range, which is where I would rate it. I get the sense that for many of the younger or new fans, they have an expectation or need for wrecks and "chaos" in order for them to see it as anything other than a bad race. They need to perceive the races to have "something happening" and that something can be flat tires, wrecks, spins, failed parts, anger on the radio, fights after the race, etc, but seemingly have nothing to do with the racing itself. The racing itself was another average NASCAR race, just like the thousands I've seen since I was 5 years old. It wasn't great and it wasn't bad. Not much happened, but there was some good racing at times, and we got to see one of the best drivers to ever sit in a Cup car dominate a race with the Next Gen in a way that hasn't been done in this car until now. Interesting enough, I think the results we're seeing with this car kind of begs the question: What problem did this car actually solve? Maybe the intermediate races, but that seems to be it. The best teams with the best drivers still win the most races and it kinda seems like we might be getting to a point where dominant races could be something we see a few times a seasons again. I mean, Larson basically dominated Darlington too, leading over 70% of the race, but with the late race cautions, it changed what the outcome was likely going to be. Personally, while I don't expect the dominant car to win every time, it's kinda nice when the best car and driver actually does win. That's the ultimate reward for being the best car and it really stinks when someone clearly has the best car, but then they lose it because of some late race nonsense. It's especially frustrating when it's from a caution that wasn't really necessary, which happens more than it should. Point being, the right driver and team won, which is something we should be applauding. Okay, so not much happened in this race as far as wrecks or tire wear, but at least the race didn't end with a fluke winner or a series of G/W/C where the drivers who are supposed to among te best in the world can't stop wrecking each other.
Bad race sure but I’m a huge Larson fan so I still liked who came and conquered whoop whoop lol😅😅😅😅. But in all seriousness yes Bristol night was a horrible race, the best race of this round was Watkins Glen in my opinion. Had some passing but at the same time almost every playoff driver had something go wrong with them (it wasn’t Team Penske dominating like the week before either), so the entertainment factor was there, plus that finish man with Christ Buescher and SVG man chef’s kiss that was beautiful to watch.
How about try to ELIMINATE stage racing or at least stake cautions. It’s like a clown show seeing cautions thrown for no reason. I want the old strategies to work itself out. Look at Indy Car they have thrilling races with organic strategy!
I'm in the same boat as you are Jaret. It would have been great to see something similar to what we saw in the spring or at Iowa this year, and the race really was a little bit of a letdown on Saturday night. On the other hand, Kyle Larson is my favorite driver for races such as Kansas and Bristol. On the one hand, he can win in a very entertaining fashion and beat Buescher to the line by 0.001 of a second. On the other, sometimes he can completely crush the field, as we saw on Saturday night. Everything has to be appreciated before he retires. A win's a win, no matter how you get them. Enjoy him while you can.
It was a great race. Ever one was running hard but safe. In my eyes you saw every driver drive hard and not wreck get were you need to be for points. Don't wreck get those points. That's what I saw in all the drivers strategies. Clear, hard but smart driving. Now, going into Kansas and Talladega you are gonna see the same thing like we saw the last 3 weeks. Everyone gonna run very hard then the last race they are gonna run hard but with ease to just to advance
What do you think of the 2024 Bristol Night Race? Do you agree with Kyle Larson?
God awful boring. No I do not agree with.
The race was boring as hell. And it wasn’t really Larson’s domination that was the problem, though it certainly didn’t help. The real problem is the fact that nobody back in the pack could pass to make the racing interesting. A race can have two overtimes and a surprise winner and still be boring. Also, every time a driver goes out and criticizes fans it just makes them look bad and turns pubic opinion against them.
I absolutely agree with Larson.
Fans were complaining about Overtime finishes and now they’re complaining when it doesn’t happen
@@TheIceberg more horsepower!!!
Come on NASCAR! Get your heads out of your asses and do this!! Come on Phelps!
Absolutely God Awful - Not what Bristol is supposed to be or should be
I’m not a Kyle Larson and I agree that it was a boring race, but a dominant performance should be expected for a few races a year. That’s how motorsports has always been.
It wasn’t boring because he dominated. It was just a boring race with very little passing. If someone was riding the high side as a slower car it took 15-20 laps to pass if you passed
Been that way for over a decade now. The spring race was a fluke that woke people up to how trash its actually been@@timechanger9162
You're not Kyle Larson thats for sure.
Most NASCAR fans are not motorsports fans. That's why they complain when a driver dominates a race
It wasn't even a race it was followed a leader you can't even call this a race
I kinda agree with what Kyle Larson said about the fan base, would the rating gone up a little bit? Probably. But the output of the race was boring no matter if Kyle Larson won or lost. The main thing about this race is that it was boring, because of the Next Gen and the tires. The Next Gen obviously sucks at Bristol, but this felt like a new low, there was no strategy because the tires were harder than a rock and green flag runs on tires lasted for a century. You couldn't pass either, the guy in 2nd place for most of the race couldn't even get out of 20th because you couldn't pass anyone, the guy who had top 5 speed for the entirety of stage 1 got back into the top 10 with around 100 laps to go when he got a penalty. This is a new low for short track racing and at this point, NASCAR needs to do something, because if they don't, short tracks will get less money from tickets, resulting in less races on the schedule, to maybe even tracks being deserted entirely.
Cry more
@@truckercowboyed2638 shut up
yeah
It not the tires, it's the arrow package and hp. It's a nascar problem, not a Goodyear problem. Even though tire ware is interesting, it's not the best racing because you really don't get to see who the best racers are. Nascar has always been about car control with managing your equipment, not strictly equipment management.
I believe he has a point but the race was far from the best racing Bristol could offer. More hp and tire wear would make the racing better.
what about the bump and run
It wasn't even a race it was an event it was called follow the leader you can't even consider this a race when there was absolutely no racing done nascar should be very embarrassed by this
Somebody in Larson’s comment section of that tweet disagreed with him, saying that he voted “no” not because of Larson’s dominance, but bc there was barely any passing behind him. And personally, I think both Larson and that commenter have good points. I think we all can agree the Next Gen has its issues on short tracks in general. But like Larson said, one caution with 2 to go tends to change everything. Just look at 2022 spring Martinsville and 2014 Texas fall 🤷🏼♂️
(Tangent: one of these days, NASCAR’s gonna realize that putting PJ1 on the bottom at Bristol and cleaning the rubber off the top are having the exact opposite effect as they intended)
I think NASCAR fans are so consumed with passing and exciting finishes that it’s ruined the sport.
Same, I've seen plenty of good races that just had good hard racing the whole time but not a close finish...2005 really was probably the only time close finishes were the norm and not the abnormal.
Something NASCAR does that really shoots themselves in the foot is advertising. They advertised this race to be full drama, tire issues, wrecks and fights. We got none of that. The biggest wreck we got was LaJoie spinning off screen. It wasn’t an exciting battle for elimination, majority of the drivers were too far in points to do anything.
Their advertising set expectations, they failed to even touch any of those expectations so of course we’re not happy.
I agree with Kyle Larson.
Solution is bring back Gen 4 cars for the short tracks
I didn't realize I had watched a bad race until I got home from the track and everyone told me. Looked like every high banked half mile race I've ever been to.
"We whomped em again, didn't we Kyle", There were races back in the early days of Nascar where dominant drivers lapped the field multiple times. Like Kyle or hate him, he is one great driver and history will prove it.
I'm not gonna set their erase or pay for a race where one driver leads almost every lap and it's followed the leader that's not a race and I would be requesting a refund for that because I paid to see a race and I did not see a race I would leave almost halfway through it and request a refund because I would say that I wanted to see a race and I'm not seeing a race i'm seeing follow the leader it's an absolute disgrace is what this event was it wasn't even considered a race it's an event a race has racing and this did not have any of that
@@BeautifulAngelBlossom Yeah, I don't think you were a real bonafide race fan to start with, maybe switch to watching Golfing or some other super stimulating endeavors.
Funny how fans wish for the old days, but the moment we get a race similar to "the old days" (such as races where one guy absolutely destroys the competition and wins by a mile), people hate it. So if you wonder why people say "NASCAR fans hate everything," here's a prime example.
Me and some buddies were in a discord call watching the 1998 Daytona 500 for those who hadn't seen it, this one kid said it was boring because the cars were all running spaced out mostly single file at Daytona 😂
That’s not what people are complaing about. The old days you could pass
How dare fans want a race to be competitive and not want a race with zero passing.
Here's a FACT that you of you PATHETIC "all you do is complain" clowns need to know:
Calling a race that has zero on track lead changes and no passing a "boring disgrace" isn't being toxic nor whining... it's being sensible.
I'm so sorry we don't call every single race good.
It's unreal, at this point I'm almost glad NASCAR is NOT listening to these people.
Kenny Wallace is right, those are a loud but small minority of armchair fans.
@@RobbieLancelot the car sucks at short tracks and road courses. People have a reason o be upset. Nascar is doing everything except changing the overall car. This car is only good at mile 1/2 tracks
He’s got a point
I said it after the race, and I’ll say it again
Right now we’ll say this race was garbage, but 5 - 10 years down the line, we’ll be amazed at what Larson did on Saturday
I agree with Larson. Not a fan of his but his dominant performance shouldn’t be punished with multiple OT’s and potentially losing the race just because it was a boring race. Dominant performances just happen from time to time in auto racing and we just have to accept it
Great game Tiger Woods I knew you still had it in you!
What that was a race? Had me fooled.
Man, Ice sounded fired up.
I mean, the fanbase is always divisive, but slighting the fans for merely not enjoying a race he won is dumb. It clearly wasn't him. It was the track and tires. People dont get overwhelmingly upset when he wins, but calling a boring race boring isn't something he needs to be defensive about. It just looks kinda bad on him.
It wasn’t the track and it wasn’t Larson. Anyone could’ve dominated and it still would’ve been a boring race. It is the entire car that is the problem but nascar won’t change a thing
@@timechanger9162shut up
@@truckercowboyed2638 Aw what a big man telling someone to shut up on the internet with nothing to back it up
Fans aren’t going to like him the way they did when he was in the 42, just Hendrick fans
I saw Larson’s tweet this morning and was waiting for this video😂
I think Larson isn't wrong about what he said a different finish probably would make everyone say "Yeah it was a great race!" (Ex. Richmond, North Wilkesboro). He should at least acknowledge the lack of racing that was going on and the fact it'd take him 10 laps to put 30th a lap down. It is easy for someone who led 450 laps to say the race was fine. Samantha Busch's tweet pretty much nailed it. I think Nascar needs to serious look into reengineering this car and take some big swings at it rather than small aero adjustments or different tire compounds this is a bigger problem than that.
I don't care who would have won tyler Reddick could have won the race and I would still say it wouldn't been the race it was followed the leader you go to Bristol to see a intense race not to see a follow the leader event and that's what that was nascar and Bristol should be embarrassed by this
What makes fans hate Larson is partially the driver, but mostly his fanbase, and even as someone who is a fan of Larson, Larson fans can be quite insufferable at times.
As far as the next-gen on short tracks goes, there is still A LOT of work to be done, and patience is running very thin. We’re about to enter year #4 of this car and NASCAR STILL has not fixed their problems with short track racing.
Larson and Elliott fans are especially annoying and toxic online from what I’ve noticed. It’s rare you see one take any kind of accountability for their driver
Elliott haters are More Toxic then then the Fanbase itself. Especially when something happens to Elliott. Or if something Catastrophic happens That made him lose the race. especially after what happened at the glen and the roval where they were Screaming PAYBACK BY REDDICK! JUSTICE FOR LAJOIE!!! Not to mention the double standards according to them Elliott does something stupid they Hold a Grudge against him anything they get or Rub it in their face anytime something Disagrees with it or say. Nah I hate Elliott im not even a Elliott fan! But anyone else does it. And they Keep their months shut.. also another reason why i dont root for larson. His fanbase and The BeSt DRivEr In THe WOrld!!!! Nonsense and the HES BETTER THAN VERSTAPPEN Crap which drives me away from Joining his fanbase
Then stop watching the sport.
@@JackLikesTrackhouseand an Elliott fan some of us are horrible. Atlanta 2022 is the biggest example I can think of
@@JackLikesTrackhouseTELL YOU WHAT IM STILL SMILING SINCE SATURDAY NIGHT AND STILL FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT 500.. !! ILL TRY AND GET AHOLD OF LARSON TO LET HIM KNOW HE’S BACK IN FIRST PLACE …!! IS THAT THE KIND OF ACCOUNTABILITY YER REFERRING TOO ? 🏁🏁😎
The bristol night race this past weekend was Average i came to watch NASCAR races for excitement for example kansas,talladega,Daytona etc etc but i this was my first time not enjoying the event which for myself is disappointing
People saying NASCAR should add more horsepower which i agree aswell as fixing the blow overs we are seeing a bunch but
NASCAR will never fix this car and add more horsepower like i said before i am disappointed ☹️
If joey logano denny Hamlin won people would say this was a horrible race. Terrible no passing no tire fall off blah blah. But if Elliott or Larson won like he did people actually liked the race even though it was boring. Nascar fans will never be happy.
Literally no one liked the race and Larson won. Wtf are u on about
I think narrowing the tire back to where it was will help make the racing better. One theory I have with lack of tire wear is that the wheel is now aluminum and is now bigger. Aluminum dissipates heat faster than steel. and having a bigger wheel means that there is LES air volume to heat up. The tires don't have a chance to heat up and wear
I miss the bump and run. 😢
They still do bump and runs wym?
They did it all night
What I mean like 2002 Jeff Gordon bump and run on rusty Wallace I know they did that all night but it's just not the same. Seems like bumper cars.
@@AMP88GODale you are not real
@@crlozwzhrornot2013 What?? Lmao
I've personally been pretty consistent with my standards and views on what makes a good race. But I wasn't watching Bristol for the winner. Even though I like Larson. But once I saw that Brads car was toast and laps down. I just switched to my backup favorites for the playoffs. Suarez, Briscoe, and Hamlin. Even though I hate him the rest of the year. Wouldn't mind seeing him finally getting that championship just to get the chip off his shoulder.
It wasn't the Cheese Grater 500 sponsored by Food City. That was absolutely fire. But it wasn't Pocono, or Phoenix. I've yet to enjoy a race at either.
My wife is a HUGE Larson fan. Bout lap 300 she turns to me and says “this is boring.” Now I am an Elliott fan, but I like track house, so I was watching the cut off and amazed how the 99 was above the line while running 32nd 😂.
Short tracks and road courses. That’s what they sold us on when this car was introduced. 😢
Race was boring. Extremely
Cool story. Watch something else?
Maybe it was boring but it’s good to see the best car win the race every once in awhile
I believe that it is okay to have some races here and there. It’s annoying that it has to be Bristol, but not all 36 races need to be the best race ever to be a fun season or sport. Last NFL season was so boring and had blowouts frequently. Fans weren’t that upset with it. However, Bristol is awful right now and needs to be fixed
What I ended up saying at the end of that race was "Remember back when you played a NASCAR game and got really good at it and basically would win every race by half a lap, That is what Larson did tonight" and what I wish I would have added on to that was that fact that it would kill the fan base if that happened every week for years, hell mid Jimmy domination is when I stopped watching NASCAR the first time, BUT that is not the core issue of the Bristol race the core issue was no one could really go anywhere
Gibbs got the speeding penalty and made up time eventually but it took him the whole race, then he got stuck behind Suarez and basically fell off from there
Meanwhile Truex got the same penalty at the end of the second stage and went from the second place car to a lap down and could not make up many positions
the only car you could reliably pass that night was the 66
Ok so you're crying because some adapted better than others??? That's called racing it happens truex was not beating Larson regardless
No problem with Larson dominating. I treated this like an F1 race where Max Verstappen is running away with it. The most entertaining part was watching the Cut Off Line drivers try to do what they can to make it to the next round.
The difference between the Gen 6 and earlier cars vs the Gen 7 is that the teams could make changes to the chassis and other areas within the rules. The Gen 7 allows zero changes. So what you have is spec cars (think IROC), equal engines (reduced HP) and equally talented drivers and crews. You can't compare Cup to Xfinity because the cars are different, the crews have more flexibility to change the cars and the talent level is just less overall than at the Cup level. A level playing field doesn't mean that everyone has to run the exact same stuff.
As for NASCAR fans: yes I do think they like the gimicks and chaos of a lot of wrecks more than the racing.
I had both on, but I mostly watched the Eldora USAC 4-Crown on FloRacing. If you want to see a lot of passing, go to a dirt sprintcar or midget race.
Kyle is wrong here. Aside from the Kyle Larson fans, This race had nothing to offer. As a NASCAR fan, that was a snoozefest. Showing once again that this car sucks on short tracks. Once you got back in traffic, you couldn’t do a thing. That race was horrendous. There is no way they brought the same tire from the spring. Spring race was infinitely better.
Ummm it's called dirty air Bristol has always had that passing was always difficult too
Idiot the reason the tires didn't wear this time was because they had other series on the track laying rubber all weekend in the spring they didn't...so the concrete was a cheese grater to the tires...it's common sense unless your hate of the sport blinds you.....
@@truckercowboyed2638 Sure, passing at Bristol was always difficult, but this is to another extreme. There is no reason that a car with top 5 speed should take 300+ laps to go from 26th to 15th. Truex, running in 3rd, got stuck behind the 15 of Kaz Grala for 30+ laps at one point. This is too much.
"It's called dirty air"
And clearly it's a problem
I do think a suprise winner absolutely would have jumped that poll. That would be entertaining. But I agree that the race itself just wasn't very entertaining. Watching the Nascar in car on youtube you saw kyle busch get mired back in the high 20s all day, stuck 1 or 2 laps down and the pace of the race was that by the time they got near a strage break the tail of the field was already getting lapped.
So you watched him, brad kesolowski, and todd gilliland try in vain to pass one another when there just isn't enough on one lane or the other to do anything. Only for Kyle Larson to eventually put them another lap down in one direction and Josh Biliki to go down another in the other direction.
What's real disappointing is that the stage was set for so much entertainment with the points. Literally 75% of the people in the playoffs were not safe. A big surge or an unfortunate wreck could have swung about anyone in or out and the most we got from that was truex going from 2nd to out with a speeding penalty and Briscoe having a solid day 2 positions from being lapped.
Gen 7 and tires is the problem.
I guarantee in the future, people will look back at that Bristol race because how great of a performance it was by Larson
the reason this race was boring wasn't because of larson's domination. I actually enjoyed that aspect of the race. The reason this race was boring was because there was next to no movement throughout the entire rest of the field. The next gen car is awful at short tracks, and that's what made this race bad as well. Quite frankly though, if there were multiple overtime restarts, and Larson lost, I would've been even more upset. This race ended the way it should've, and that's about the only props I can give it.
It's pretty simple really, when the Xfinity series is more enjoyable than the cup series week to week, something has to change. Nobody is blaming kyle larsons dominance for it being a bad race, the car, the stages, and the tire are fucking awful. The adjustment window these teams have to turn a 15th place car to a 3rd or race winning car is so small. Nobody that was slow in this race ever got any quicker, and nobody that was fast ever got slower. It was literally like watching traffic go by, maybe even less exciting.
Yep, this is a preview if we have the full season points system, i hope you enjoyed the race.
My Opinion: I'd give this race a 5/10, here's why:
What Larson did was impressive, but you are right, watching someone dominate like that, have no adversity to really overcome, just sucks. Good for him, but man it's a slap for everyone else.
I think the outlook prior to the start of the race was much different. I personally was expecting to see Bowman and Byron in the mix more, maybe swapping the lead. Bell as well. We got none of that.
You are also right, fans will say something is bad because x,y,z, but not ACTUALLY look at the product. I think 27% is kind of unfairly low... It should have been more like 40, maybe 50. There actually was SOME glimmers of good racing going on, that overall (minus the spring) was an improvement on this package.
The coverage was actually decent, I have no complaints really there. Some cars seemed to fall off, so that was interesting to watch develop
Watching Suarez get frustrated with Stenhouse I think sums it up... This car is just boring at lower speeds. It handles too well. Ricky should have wrecked 2 or 3 times trying to save that car... But the grip level is just too high. I think that grip is what makes the 1.5 tracks so , because the car can provide about as much as the driver is ballzy enough to try. Nobody was really in a position to get frustrated because they just couldn't get around other cars.
The fact that Larson was having SUCH a difficult time passing some of the lap down cars kind of testifies to that. When you have a car that doesn't race well, can't be set up much, all are the same, and is brittle (suspension wise), on top of a b.s. timer that prevents you from fixing the car, yeah, it's frustrating.
It truly baffles me that in this format, where drivers are literally getting eliminated by 1 point, that we have a vehicle policy that prevents drivers from getting back valuable points... (Case in point, Ryan Blaney at Watkins Glen)... That's a tangent but I do think it applies to how aggressive the rest of the field is willing to be
I enjoyed the race. 🤷🏻♂️ I don’t put much stock in social media.
We don’t know what we have until it’s gone, Larson Domination will be one of those.
Can we agree that GoodYear didn't back the same tire compound as last spring, which caused the majority of teams to miss the setup on the cars. 🤔
I also think social media in some ways has led to this incredible nitpicking of races. Everything is so online and diagnosed to the macro degree. I don’t think there was this level of complaining when Jeff Gordon led like 390 of 400 laps at Dover once, or Jr having such a strong car on restrictor plates in the early 2000’s that he could actually get gaps on the field on his own. Nascar is a very objective sport it seems like.
I hate GWC's and the overtime crap.
It becomes a crash festival and not racing. It is bumper cars and embarrassing.
Same
As soon as the 5 took the lead I turned it off. Knew it would be boring from there on out. Shit tires. Shit cars. I’m over it
There are probably people out there incredibly put off by Larson dominating, but were glued to their tv at 6am in recent years watching Verstappen win by 20 seconds calling it the greatest thing ever.
yeah i agree with Kyle. i mean the fan base will never be happy. I can appreciate domination. yeah it’s a boring race however I can appreciate a team absolutely nailing the setup, nailing the pit stops, and running away with it.
I hated watching Jeff Gordon kick Dales ass. with Larson I see how good he is and Im watching the Michael Jordon of Nascar do his thing so I respect and appreciate getting to see this guy race.
As a fan that was in the stands myself, I’ll admit that I had my phone opened up on UA-cam TV watching some of the Tennessee/Oklahoma game at points. I’m a NASCAR fan AND a Tennessee Vols fan, but I decided to check out some of the football game because the current state of Tennessee Football is just way better than it has been since a little while before I was born (I was like 1-2 years old during their last National Championship) and was better to watch at the time over leader having a comfortable 2-3 second lead at points in the race. I can respect it but I can also tune out into something else if it’s more interesting (which again is why I feel like we shouldn’t have any Saturday Night races in the middle of college football season especially when nearby school in a major sports desert is actually pretty decently good for the first time in 20+ years).
Comparing both races, I prefer the Spring race over this one because it was just such a positive anomaly to what Short Track racing has been with the Gen 7 car. I can also respect the sheer dominance that Larson put on during that race since he’s just like that in about any car he can step into (just needs to improve on Superspeedways since that’s his main Achilles Heel). Though even with the stage breaks and all, still seemed to be the better overall race this weekend than Singapore GP since Norris led 100% of the race compared to Larson’s 92.4%.
Though I will agree that the poll could have been skewed a little bit more if it was a different driver who’d have won the race. I do feel like it would have been more positive if Chase would have won while I do feel like it would have been more negative if either Denny or Bubba won the race. Fans can get persnickety about the little details at times and that’s fine since they do them… but this was like being a Star Wars fan since the original trilogy coming out of The Phantom Menace level of “What just happened?”.
Either way, When is the Verstappen vs Larson exhibition race since I’d like to see that happen for the sake of finally settling that debate.
Larson dominating is not the problem. The problem is that passing was far too difficult and tires lasted way too long.
I’m convinced that Larson wants to go back to the eighties, when races were won 70 percent by car and 30 percent by driver, instead of the 2000s, where the cars were on-edge yet it was difficult for teams to find big advantages. Larson likes it when a race just comes together. Fans don’t.
Honestly if someone like Hamlin won this race would be rated even lower
this race was hot garbage plain and simple
I don't think Kyle Larson is wrong, even specifically looking at the Birstol situation. Look at the Daytona 500 this year for instance. The fan base regularly hates on the idea of cars just cruising around at half throttle instead of actually racing and the entirety of the Daytona 500 was just that, except for the big wreck at the end and the dash to the finish that shook up the entire race. According to your poll, 73% of people enjoyed the GEICO 500 this year.
My previous comments aside, Nascar needs to reduce the downforce and increase tire wear on these cars. I believe going back to gen 4, all the vehicles have been around 3400lbs, so I don’t think that is necessarily an issue.
Regardless of "excitement," he Bristol night race is just a cool race to watch, I always enjoy it.
Part of the problem is so many "fans" expect every race to be, as you say, a barn burner. Not every race is going to be exciting; it's statistically impossible. The problem with having as many exciting finishes as we've had lately sets an unrealistic standard for the... more gullible... fans.
I'm not a Larson fan but i don't mind he dominated. What bothered me was passing. Take Truex as Example, ran top 5 all night, even in second awhile, but a penalty put him in the back and just couldn't pass. He should have at least got a few positions.
To all the fanboys defending this race and trying to pull the "all you do is complain" card... here's a truth bomb:
"All you do is complain" is not a valid argument,and it never will be. If thats the only response to criticism against your precious sport you have,then you've lost the argument.
Because no one cares what you whiney people have to say you're not important to the sport you can be replaced by people who appreciate the sport so go pound sand
Tell that to Kenny Wallace
@marcforget33 I like Kenny Wallace but he has some bad takes, but he's entertaining so I still watch him.
I always say; "The only people that like a blowout are the fans of the team that's winning."
Nascar has always had leader domination, especially in the old school arena, 90% of the field would be a lap or multiple laps down.
Tri- Angle Gr00vy GR00VE th00se G00D~YEAR Tars NASCAR!
Tars will grip up as they wear!😮
I never thought I would leave a NASCAR race pissed off but I was there Saturday night & I left pissed off. I do not get to go to many races because I'm Canadian & it cost a lot for us to go with travel, tickets, hotel & exchange rates so I always look at the positives of every race I go to but it just can't be done here. I like Larson but the lack of passing & tire wear was just too much to ignore & with about 40 to go I was hoping for a yellow to get some sort of strategy in the race but that never happened. I was also at the Xfinity race & I could take away some positives from that race was also at Trucks & ARCA was so excited for my first 4 race weekend to be at Bristol but the cup race left me heavily disappointed. I now see no point in my wanting to or trying to go to other tracks I love like Martinsville & other short tracks might as well only look at Michigan, Pocono, drafting tracks & 1.5 mile tracks from now on.
It happens. Sometimes races are dominated by one driver. Bill Elliot in the mid 1980s won races like this. Earnhardt in the late 80s early 90s too. Jeff Gordon in the mid to late 90s. Heck, Truex Jr dominated a Coke 600 like that when he was still in the 78. Stop with the hysteria every time a race doesn’t end with a three-way photo finish.
Wonder if people remember Ned Jarrett won a race by 13 LAPS....
Nah it was a snoozefest. I have noticed whenever Larson takes the lead and drives away boredom ensues. I remember the All=Star Race at North Wilkesboro. Had it not been for the breaks he would have lapped the field. No doubt he's good and can drive anything, but whenever he's that dominant I start changing the channel.
I didn’t get a chance to watch the race since I went to the drive ins to see Transformers One and Speak No Evil. But from what I seen from the highlights it was ok, but from I’ve heard it most likely went the way that myself and others were thinking where we had the little happy accident in the spring race and then come this time we’d be back to our regularly scheduled program.
This car just really needs more testing on short tracks and road courses. It produces some great racing on intermediates, Super Speedways need some slight work, but short tracks and road courses have just lost the touch that fans liked prior to the Gen 7. We know it’s not an aero issue since the diffuser is basically nonexistent, the spoiler is basically back to 2017/2018 size, Goodyear and NASCAR can’t seem to find an even point between durability and wear, if the horsepower increases at least to 750 and that doesn’t even help it, then what? Like ik NASCAR will never do it cause it’s expensive, but it’s like the fans have begged on their knees for more short tracks and road courses, well what happened? We finally got more road courses, then people complained there were too many, like oh yes 5-6 road courses in a 36! Race…schedule…is too much. -_- bruh. BUT, we finally got more short tracks with the likes of the LA Coliseum, North Wilkesboro, Iowa, Bowman Gray, but now the racing just sucks at em right as we get these. Which doesn’t help in NASCAR’s if they want to race internationally where most of the tracks that r gonna be raced r either road or street courses. Welp frick. So what’s gonna happen if NASCAR shows up in Mexico and the race is freakin boring and the fans don’t want it? Not saying it should be an absolute wrestling match on the track but just lots of passing will make it good. But we’re not gonna get it since the short track and road course product sucks. Like NASCAR if u wanna do this, ya gotta work on this car more. No more cutting the downforce and calling it a day bs. Actually work on it!
Would've been interesting within the last 163 laps to the finish. They'd pit. You know with a little more tire wear(I don't mean the spring race).
Bristol dirt was better
Honestly, if you're going to be a motorsport fan, you are going to have to accept the fact that some races are gonna be dominated by a driver on top of lack of cautions weather it be NASCAR, F1, IMSA, or anything else, you have to accept that reality. Does it suck in the moment and seem unfair for the next 24 hours? Yes 100%. But, it's just racing.
I have no issue with Larson dominating. The problem I have is that other good cars that got shuffled to the back for whatever reason had absolutely no way of moving forward. Like a car that was fast enough to be running 2nd at the start of the race suddenly couldn’t get past 24th. Practically no one was able to pass anybody throughout the field.
And there’s the aggression at Bristol?!? Like don’t blatantly wreck anyone, but use your dang bumpers! The whole night they’re hyping up driver tempers flaring at Bristol, but it looked like everyone was content to just drive in circles. I get that they weren’t content-they just couldn’t pass-but it’s not what Bristol should be, and has often been.
I can't say anything about dominant performances because I was a Jimmie Johnson fan for basically my whole life. My whole childhood was watching him win 5 in a row and dominate year after year. I can appreciate those kinds of performances, but this is a bad faith argument by Larson. There was virtually zero tire falloff and passing throughout the field was almost impossible thanks to the dirty air. Even though I knew that they were running the same tire as the spring, I wasn't expecting that kind of race since it was really a perfect storm that created those conditions. But to see such minimal fall off was really disappointing. If anything the boring nature of the race can be attributed to the tires, car and track and not Larson himself. I understand that races won't always be barnburners, nor should they be, but that was a really dull and lackluster race.
Bristol hasn't been the same since they reconfigured it.
I don't think it is completely a domination issue, Larson could lead only 1 lap and people would still find a way to complain.
Once again… The talk about the car and the short tracks. If nobody else see that the short track packages are gonna stay garbage unless they put some of the ideas back in the driver and teams hands. And I’ve been saying those suspensions they have are made from a pack of Twizzlers😭😭
Nothing against Larson. But that was the most boring Bristol race I have ever seen.
And I'm getting old.
Maybe I'm a weirdo but if Larson lead as many laps as he did but a green-white-checker or 2 happened and he got screwed out of a win I'd thought it was an even WORSE race than it actually was!
I thought the race was solid, not great but enjoyable and I do agree with Larson on his take of “when has Bristol ever been easy to pass” and I think tires where just a touch more fall off from being perfect, they fell off we saw that with Gibbs with Suarez. The way these cars are being Spec cars the only thing that can save this is horsepower, goodyear I think did pretty good this week and im tired of people blaming the tires and good year these cars just need to be harder to drive and I also think shrinking the fuel tank could be a thing to look into. Make these guys need to pit because with stages green flag stops are getting more and more rare
Denny Hamlin sure took that “ badge of honor” for haters
People stop hating how dominant Larson can be....as long as it doesn't get too Jimmie Johnson-ey
I think 99% of the Larson hate is from people who still haven't forgiven him over 2020.
Change the damn car package for short tracks and NOT the tires.
Bring in the Sticky Stuff and Option Tire for all Short Track events
Truex winning the 600 was very impressive
I don't hate Larson bc of his talent. I hate him bc of his "I'ma Hendrick driver, so fuck you" air he has about him. Funny enough, that became clear to me at Bristol, at the penultimate dirt race where Larson just barreled thru Ryan Preece.
Larson is right, this is a sport but casuals just want a show.
How can one car be so much better than 40 other cars ?
To me my issue was with how boring the race was and I was there in person and yeah it was not good. Ive long accepted that domination has been part of the sport for a long time. It won't be the last time either.
Larson is not correct. He was the right winner. Overtime would not have helped. The problem is there were no good stories mid-race. There were no real "comers" and "goers." The only "goers" were via pit penalties. There were too few pit stops, too few incidents, and no real clips that are marketable at all. THAT is why Bristol was bad. No stories outside of Larson dominating the race and MTJ stubbing his own toe. It was just dull.
According to you're poll, it was like 11% that thoguht it was bad, but the vast majority thought it was average, good or great. I think it was al ittle above 40% in the average range, which is where I would rate it. I get the sense that for many of the younger or new fans, they have an expectation or need for wrecks and "chaos" in order for them to see it as anything other than a bad race. They need to perceive the races to have "something happening" and that something can be flat tires, wrecks, spins, failed parts, anger on the radio, fights after the race, etc, but seemingly have nothing to do with the racing itself. The racing itself was another average NASCAR race, just like the thousands I've seen since I was 5 years old. It wasn't great and it wasn't bad. Not much happened, but there was some good racing at times, and we got to see one of the best drivers to ever sit in a Cup car dominate a race with the Next Gen in a way that hasn't been done in this car until now.
Interesting enough, I think the results we're seeing with this car kind of begs the question: What problem did this car actually solve? Maybe the intermediate races, but that seems to be it. The best teams with the best drivers still win the most races and it kinda seems like we might be getting to a point where dominant races could be something we see a few times a seasons again. I mean, Larson basically dominated Darlington too, leading over 70% of the race, but with the late race cautions, it changed what the outcome was likely going to be. Personally, while I don't expect the dominant car to win every time, it's kinda nice when the best car and driver actually does win. That's the ultimate reward for being the best car and it really stinks when someone clearly has the best car, but then they lose it because of some late race nonsense. It's especially frustrating when it's from a caution that wasn't really necessary, which happens more than it should. Point being, the right driver and team won, which is something we should be applauding. Okay, so not much happened in this race as far as wrecks or tire wear, but at least the race didn't end with a fluke winner or a series of G/W/C where the drivers who are supposed to among te best in the world can't stop wrecking each other.
Bad race sure but I’m a huge Larson fan so I still liked who came and conquered whoop whoop lol😅😅😅😅. But in all seriousness yes Bristol night was a horrible race, the best race of this round was Watkins Glen in my opinion. Had some passing but at the same time almost every playoff driver had something go wrong with them (it wasn’t Team Penske dominating like the week before either), so the entertainment factor was there, plus that finish man with Christ Buescher and SVG man chef’s kiss that was beautiful to watch.
I already don't like Kyle Larson. His take makes me like him even less
How about try to ELIMINATE stage racing or at least stake cautions. It’s like a clown show seeing cautions thrown for no reason. I want the old strategies to work itself out. Look at Indy Car they have thrilling races with organic strategy!
I'm in the same boat as you are Jaret. It would have been great to see something similar to what we saw in the spring or at Iowa this year, and the race really was a little bit of a letdown on Saturday night. On the other hand, Kyle Larson is my favorite driver for races such as Kansas and Bristol. On the one hand, he can win in a very entertaining fashion and beat Buescher to the line by 0.001 of a second. On the other, sometimes he can completely crush the field, as we saw on Saturday night. Everything has to be appreciated before he retires. A win's a win, no matter how you get them. Enjoy him while you can.
Bristol is a race I don't watch . It's the same boring race. I said back in the 90s that they should fill it with water and fill with fish.
How did we go from a hoot and a holler of a race at the Glen between SVG and Buescher? To this milk water?
We need to create our throwbacks cars to our past drivers free instead of using steam link
I don’t like Larson, I don’t like that he won, but regardless if he had won or loss, it was an awful race.
I AM a Larson fan. I watched it for a bit, yawned, and watched the 4Crown Nationals instead. Infinitely more interesting.
I can’t say anything about the race since I didn’t watch it
Here me out let’s have the 7 gen car for most tracks and have a simple cheap to produce car for the short tracks and road courses
It was a great race. Ever one was running hard but safe. In my eyes you saw every driver drive hard and not wreck get were you need to be for points. Don't wreck get those points. That's what I saw in all the drivers strategies. Clear, hard but smart driving. Now, going into Kansas and Talladega you are gonna see the same thing like we saw the last 3 weeks. Everyone gonna run very hard then the last race they are gonna run hard but with ease to just to advance