Ken Schrader Brutally Shuts Down NASCAR’s Questionable Call With Bold Daytona 500 Verdict

NASCAR has not harbored the brightest reputation in recent times. In 2024, several rule changes got on the nerves of both drivers and fans, ranging from missing pylons to Goodyear’s failed tire experiment. The Damaged Vehicle Policy was implemented differently for different drivers. Now ahead of the 2025 Daytona 500, the sport has yet again stirred up a storm. There are no brownie points from critics like Ken Schrader.

The 4-time Cup Series race winner pointed out an absurdity in the new rule. Attracting world-class motorsports icons like Helio Castroneves is always a good thing. Yet are NASCAR’s frantic efforts to capture the eyeballs of fans globally needed in the first place?

Schrader deflates NASCAR’s ‘big’ rule change

The Daytona 500, a crown jewel event, represents core NASCAR. Since the first Great American Race was flagged off in February 1959, it has hosted several legendary moments. Richard Petty won the 1979 Daytona 500, which also witnessed an iconic brawl between Cale Yarborough and the Allison Brothers. Then Dale Earnhardt Sr. tasted his first Daytona 500 victory in 1998. Anybody in the motorsports world would give anything to be a part of the race that produced these iconic victories. Despite that, NASCAR’s new rule states that if a “significant contributor” from another series shows up and cannot earn a spot, they will automatically get a ride. And Ken Schrader ridicules that.

4-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves is the first beneficiary of this new rule. In a recently uploaded video, Xfinity Series veteran Kenny Wallace was curious to know NASCAR’s objective. After all these years of gatekeeping, why throw the latch open now? “I’m trying to get in NASCAR’s head. What made them make such an incredible sacrifice? Because for the last five years, it’s been, ‘Win and you’re in. If you’re not good enough, you suck…you’re a big boy. We don’t give nothing to anybody.’ And now here’s a world-class driver coming in…How is NASCAR looking at this?”

Ken Schrader had an easy explanation: NASCAR is simply not looking with a clear head. He ridiculed the new rule change from top to toe, referring to how iconic the Daytona 500 is. “The Daytona 500 is the biggest stock car race in our nation. You know, that one day, that one race is the biggest. You don’t have to really invite people to go to it.” The season-opening race will allow 4 extra slots besides the 36 chartered spots, and a total of a whopping 46 drivers are attempting to qualify. And fans have already made the Daytona International Speedway a full house. So Kenny Wallace backed up Ken Schrader’s claim: “It’s sold out, by the way.”

And according to another insider, NASCAR’s logic is flawed.

Dialing down the prestige of the Daytona 500

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Running, let alone winning, a Daytona 500 race is an achievement a racer cherishes forever. That is because of what Ken Schrader said—it is the largest stock car race in the US. NASCAR is trying to ensure that a hotshot like Lewis Hamilton or Daniel Ricciardo does not miss out due to qualification. However, that seems to be a non-existent problem. Nobody went home after failing to make the field in 97 percent of NASCAR races since 2022. Moreover, if Max Verstappen came over to start a race like Daytona and failed to make the cut, it would send out a single message. This message would teach people that NASCAR is harder than it looks.

Two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso failed to qualify for the 2019 Indy 500. He had to admit defeat: “We were not quick enough. Simple. The others, they did better. We congratulate them.” Yet when Alonso qualified 5th in his first Indy attempt in 2017, Lewis Hamilton dropped a comment jeering IndyCar. “I took a look at the qualifying results. Fernando, in his first qualifying, came fifth. Does that say something about (the level) of IndyCar? Great drivers, if they can’t succeed in Formula One, look for titles in other races, but to see him come fifth against drivers who do this all year round is … interesting.” And here you see NASCAR handing out the prestige of the Daytona 500 on a plate.

No wonder why veteran racer Ken Schrader thinks the new rule is absurd. However, with barely a month left till the Daytona 500, the excitement remains.