Even Richard Petty was bored watching the recent Bristol Motor Speedway race. “I think of all the races I’ve seen in a long time that (Bristol) was the less racing of any place we’ve ever seen.” This is what he said after Kyle Larson won the race by leading 462 out of the 500 laps. Bristol just underperformed after it had raised hopes of repeating the first race of the season.

The spring race had teams go helter-skelter after tire wear was much more than expected. Surprisingly, it was even more than what NASCAR and Goodyear had predicted. Mid-race, the teams had to be issued more tries to complete the race. Veteran Denny Hamlin took the chequered flag after JGR aced tire management. However, none of that happened in the recent race. No thrill, no entertainment, just a mundane Kyle Larson show. This has led veterans to question NASCAR over their current short-track package. Even “The King” has joined the bandwagon!

Richard Petty suggests upgrades

The only change NASCAR made for 2024 was to introduce a new aero package wherein they added splitter stuffers, increased the spoiler width to three inches from the previous two inches, and added simplified diffuser and simplified diffuser strakes. As for the horsepower, it remained without any changes at 670. Denny Hamlin, who finished 4th in the recent Bristol race, has continuously appealed for increased horsepower.

Hamlin had previously said, “The more you can get us out of the gas, which means if we have more horsepower, we have to let off sooner, that gives us the opportunity to overtake for the cars behind. Fifty horsepower, while it may not be a game changer, any horsepower gain will be an advantage for passing.” He wants NASCAR to roll back to the 750 horsepower that was used in the pre-next-generation era. According to him, not much would have to be changed to rest to the old HP. While for NASCAR safety remains paramount and hence has been reluctant to change.

However, now even the 7-time Cup Series champion, Richard Petty, has echoed Hamlin’s thought. Petty said, “Until they give them a little bit of horsepower, at least on the short tracks. Because when the cars get down below’em then the outside grove was so fast. If the guys had a little bit of horsepower. Once they got down there, they could at least come off the corners. When they run low, it bogs the car down.” Not to mention, when the 200-time Cup Series race winner suggests something, it’s coming from a tremendous amount of experience.

Richard Petty, a short-track legend, knows racing success firsthand, boasting 552 Cup Series starts on short tracks with 128 wins and an average finish of 8.1. So when he claims it was the least exciting race he’s seen in a long time, you can trust his judgment—and the stats back him up!

In contrast to 54 lead changes in the first Bristol race, this one had only 8, thanks in part to drivers staying out for extra points during stage breaks. Besides Kyle Larson, only three other drivers led laps: Alex Bowman with 34 laps after starting in P1, Tyler Reddick with 3 laps, and Bubba Wallace with 1. This trend continues from recent short tracks; at Richmond, just three drivers led 339 of the 400 laps. While some point to reduced tire wear as the culprit, many NASCAR veterans are laying the blame on the next-gen car.

It’s not the tires; it is the car at fault

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According to Denny Hamlin, upping the horsepower will be step 1, but what needs a change is the design of the car. He had previously suggested a complete makeover of the next-gen car. Where he had said, “The car needs to be re-designed; it needs a full redesign. It can still be called next-gen, but it needs to be redesigned everywhere — front, middle, rear, competition. The whole thing needs to be redesigned.” After the recent Bristol race, he reiterated the same point, noting that NASCAR is trying to solve a car problem with a tire solution.

Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. seconded Hamlin, calling out the next-gen car. According to the veteran, the current car is not suitable for ovals. He said, “We bounce back and forth between where we put the blame every time we have one of these bad races. Oh! it’s the tire, and then the next week it’s a car thing. As you know, Denny (Hamlin) made the case this week on his show that it’s the car. And so no one’s wrong. But I’m gonna say this that race car is a sports car. That is a sports car running ovals.”  

According to Junior, the car is predominantly meant to be driven on a road course. “It’s got a lot of Technology from the Supercar in Australia that runs predominantly specifically road courses it’s got a lot of components similar to what you might find in a GT3 car it is a sports car it’s got these white tires on it. It’s got the diffuser, the underbody all the arrow and they’re racing it on ovals.”

NASCAR needs to act fast in making changes as the penultimate race of the season is at Martinsville and a lot will be decided there. If that too turns out to be a one-man show, it could be a disaster for NASCAR.