Chase Elliott is a man of few words, however, after the viewership for NASCAR tanked this season, he finally spoke his mind on how NASCAR should not compete with America’s number one sport. Soon many fans also reiterated the Hendrick Motorsport driver’s thoughts regarding the playoff timings.

During a media appearance, Elliott stated, “36, 45, 50 races, I don’t think it matters how many races we have but I don’t see any reason in competing against NFL football when that starts. In my opinion, that’s not a battle we’re ever going to win. I think we should be smart about that.”

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NASCAR’s viewership took a sharp 8.8% drop during last weekend’s race at Talladega, scoring an average of 2.827 million in viewerships. This was a significant drop compared to the previous season’s race at the same venue, where 23XI Racing’s driver, Bubba Wallace, come home to a historic win. The average viewership last year was 3.10 million. Where does the main problem seem to lie? Well as stated by Elliott, NASCAR’s efforts to schedule the playoffs at the same time as the NFL season seem to be the problem. Pitching NASCAR against America’s biggest sport is a move that is most certainly bound to fail.

NASCAR fans reiterate Chase Elliott’s thought that NASCAR should not compete with NFL

Fans reiterated that the scheduling was a major part of the downfall of viewerships. Moreover, they also stated NASCAR was required to begin promoting their races better.

Some even called for NASCAR to get rid of the playoff system entirely, and instead just keep the stage racing and a points system. Doing that would perhaps shorten the season and make it more appealing since it would not clash with the prime NFL or college football season.

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Do you agree that NASCAR should start considering its stance to compete against the NFL season? Let us know what you think in the comments section.