Is the Daytona 500 becoming just another NASCAR race? A decade or so ago, this question might have been unfathomable, but shortened speed weeks, technological changes, and lack of extensive coverage have hurt its prestige. The most worrying sign is the drivers placing other races on a higher pedestal than the Great American Race. In 2018, we had Kyle Larson openly saying that for him the Chili Bowl is a bigger event than the Daytona 500 and the noise has only grown since then.

There was a time when drivers wore Daytona wins as badges of honor. Names like Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jeff Gordon etched their name in NASCAR annals by triumphing at the event, setting a standard for others. However, drastic changes over the years have changed the perception of drivers. This concern was highlighted by Eric Estepp in his latest video.

Is the Daytona 500 losing its prestige among the current generation?

Gone are the days when drivers had a practice week before they would jump into qualifying and then the main event. Heck, the Clash, which once used to be a regular feature at the high banks of Daytona, has now been moved to short ovals. The current superspeedway package has altered how drivers approach the race.

Drafting was considered a skill, and drivers banked on these tactics to get the desired results at the speedways. But ever since the Next Gen cars have taken over Cup racing, all we see is pack racing, fuel-saving strategies, boring stage racing, and a lack of passing opportunities. A pack of 20-odd cars running side by side on a racetrack looks good on TV, but there’s very little drivers can do to advance up the track.

Talking on his YouTube channel on January 22, Estepp said, “NASCAR broadly is not the juggernaut it was 15 years ago. Like many sports NASCAR has lost nearly 50% of its TV audience in the past decade and the Daytona 500 has not been immune to these struggles. Over 16 million viewers tuned in in 2013 compared to only 8 million viewers in 2023. That is a similar 50% % drop off in viewership. Fans often say that Daytona 500 is the one part of NASCAR that isn’t broken, but the data would suggest there is still room to improve. NASCAR and its partners cannot allow the Daytona 500 to feel like just another race.”

With this year’s Daytona 500 only a few weeks away, FOX Sports hasn’t really been going all in its promotion. In fact, Roger Penske’s IndyCar has been receiving major attention. High-quality commercials featuring drivers like Josef Newgarden, Pato O’Ward, and Alex Palou have already been aired. Meanwhile, NASCAR’s promotional efforts for its season opener feel like an afterthought.

Back in 2018, NASCAR’s current superstar, Kyle Larson, made a huge claim regarding the Great American race. “Everybody knows that I love dirt-track racing—for me, the Chili Bowl is bigger than the Daytona 500.” Now we all know how passionate Larson is about his dirt racing; for him, the Chili Bowl meant more. This doesn’t mean the Great American Race isn’t a huge event. It still has the biggest purse, attracts a record number of crowds, and attracts multiple racers. However, winning this particular race just doesn’t feel special like it used to.

Top Comment by Fireball101

Restricted horse power, running all day bumper to bumper, kinda boring, also you have Toyota cars,, use to be American...more

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During this off-season, Noah Gragson also clarified that the Snowball Derby holds way more importance for him as compared to the Daytona 500. “I want to win a second one (Snowball Debry) just because this is the biggest race I run every year. This is bigger than the Daytona 500 to me. That’s just how much this race means to me,” he said.

Meanwhile, veteran journalist and NASCAR insider, Jeff Gluck highlighted another key issue with the upcoming Daytona 500.

Gluck criticized the introduction of the Open Exemption Provisional rule for the upcoming race on February 16. The rule will allow a high-profile driver from another motorsport series to be granted a 41st starting position if they don’t qualify through performance alone. Helio Castroneves, known for winning the Indianapolis 500 four times, joined the race under the new OEP rule as part of Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91.

Talking about the rule in his column, Gluck said, “Yes, you read that correctly. NASCAR’s new rule states if a ‘significant contributor’ from another series shows up and doesn’t earn a starting spot on their own merits, one will simply be created for them; a failure would trigger a bonus 41st starting position just for that driver… If you were hoping to tune into the traditional Duel races to see if Castroneves could make the field, that drama is already gone.”

The first three Daytona 500 races in the Next Gen cars have given us winners like Michael McDowell, Austin Cindric, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Interestingly, this win was their only win of an entire season, which highlights how unpredictable and out of reach the crown jewel NASCAR race has become.

It’s not that the NASCAR cannot celebrate an underdog victory. The likes of Ryan Newman and Ward Burton have won the biggest NASCAR race of this century. But the only difference was that Hall of Fame drivers followed through with their  Daytona 500 wins. Take the last decade, for example; although Trevor Bane pulled off a surprise win in 2011, drivers like Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jr., Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin won the Harley J. Earl Trophy in the coming years.

For many fans and drivers, the thrill of strategy and raw talent has been replaced by sheer luck and survival. The fuel-saving strategy for a historically significant race like Daytona has diminished its charm among drivers.

“I felt disgraceful myself as a race car driver- wanting to go fast and lead laps and win the Daytona 500, and that was our strategy that we had to employ at the start of the race because everybody was doing it.” 2-time Cup Series champ Kyle Busch said after the conclusion of the 2024 Daytona 500 race.

He went on to add how it takes away from the excitement for the fans, “I felt bad for the fans. This is not good for them. It’s not what I want to be doing. But when you kind of get in that situation, I don’t know what you do.”

It is as if the drivers feel that speedway racing is a matter of luck these days; we saw what happened during the fall race at Talladega last year. A total of 28 cars were collected in what became the biggest ‘Big One’ in NASCAR’s history. Surely, this trend of superspeedway racing cannot continue as we have seen the sanctioning body make changes to the racing package.

But 3-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin came up with a drastic solution that could curb the ongoing issues.

Denny Hamlin might have a fix for the broken superspeedway package

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Apart from Kyle Busch, Hamlin is the driver who doesn’t shy away from sharing his bold takes and opinions on racing, even if they are controversial. A majority of NASCAR fans do not like him, and they might have their reasons. But he shares similar concerns about the superspeedway package. It’s not like drivers do not want to make the bold moves to make a pass, but the amount of drag the Next Gen car generates kills any momentum. Thus drivers prefer to stay in line and not be catapulted to the back of the field.

Hamlin made some observations about the design aspect of the race car and identified what causes so much drag. “A lot of it is poo poo because we’re running too much horsepower at the plate tracks. The car makes too much drag; it has way too big of a spoiler.” Hamlin said on Action’s Detrimental in October last year.

It has to be noted that the Cup car uses 510 horsepower with a 7-inch spoiler. The JGR driver didn’t stop there as he suggested a major change to the aerodynamic design of the car that could result in better racing. “If I’m going to fix NextGen superspeedway racing, I’m going down 150 horsepower or whatever it might be with the Cup cars on the speedways and taking a ton of drag out of the car… Go back down to a smaller tapered spacer for superspeedways, and that will allow us to make more aggressive, three or four-wide moves. When we get a run, we will take it versus staying in line.”

Well, so far NASCAR hasn’t announced any changes to the superspeedway package. They are more invested in trying to solve the short-track issues with a new Goodyear tire compound. But it seems like NASCAR is opting for band-aids when the root cause of the issue could be the car itself.