After a bland short-track race at Martinsville last weekend, NASCAR is headed to the intermediate track of Texas for this Sunday’s race. Moreover, Sunday’s event will also see Dr. Phil McGraw take on the duty of driving the honorary pace car to kickstart the race.

The prominent TV personality and author will drive one of the Chevrolet Camaro Pace cars that will lead the field and get the Cup Series race started with the drop of the green flag at the 1.5-mile race track. He will be joined by U.S. Army Major General Kevin D. Admiral and TCU head football coach Sonny Dykes.

Here’s how Dr. Phil rose to fame as one of the most popular television personalities in the late 90s

In 1998, Oprah Winfrey invited McGraw to appear on her show. He had an instant impact because of his personality and soon started to appear weekly on his segment as a relationship and strategy expert. Winfrey even helped him launch his very own program, Dr. Phil, in September 2002.

McGraw also has several awards and recognitions to his name. He was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2015, and in 2022, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His biggest achievement came in 2006 when he received the Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association for his contribution and awareness regarding mental health issues.

However, despite all his achievements back in the day, it was indeed a questionable call by NASCAR to rope him in as a pace car driver. Especially when they are pushing for a narrative of attracting new race fans to the sport. This move would have made sense a decade ago, but in 2024, Dr. Phil’s involvement doesn’t make Sunday’s event any special.

NASCAR fans were livid with this choice and were brutal in sharing their opinion on Dr. Phil’s role as honorary pace car driver at Texas Motor Speedway.

Fans react to Dr. Phil serving the duty of driving the pace car at Texas Motor Speedway

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Although McGraw is a well-known TV personality, his involvement with NASCAR was not taken well by the majority of the fans. Taking a direct jibe at the sanctioning body and SMI, a user wrote, “Yall should be ashamed”. Labeling this move as a desperate one, another user followed up stating, “Wow, shoulda holla’d at me if that desperate! 😉”.

One fan was quick to point out how Texas Motor Speedway isn’t the most favored venue by the fans, and bringing Dr. Phil was certainly not helping their case. “TMS, you’re already pretty much the most hated track on the schedule. You don’t have to make it worse”.

Another fan shared his disappointment, stating that he won’t be tuning in to watch the race. “Bad move nascar. I’ll be sure not to tune in this weekend!”

Frustrated by NASCAR and SMI’s choice to pick Dr. Phil as the guest for Sunday’s event, a user wrote, “Out of all the people in North Texas, come on, we have better options”.

Dejected in his choice of being a NASCAR fan, a user added, “Ughh. I can’t believe I’m still trying to be a nascar fan. There is nothing going on in anyway to support the fan base right now”.

This move isn’t a step forward in the right direction, but more like taking a step back. If NASCAR is planning to grow and promote its sporting product, it will need to rethink its approach because Dr. Phil certainly doesn’t add value or relevance with his presence.