“Negativity sells—people like negativity,” Kenny Wallace firmly declared after Saturday. A lot of anticipation gathered pace as NASCAR headed to its final Round of 16 race. Fans were hyped up to watch a repetition of the thrilling tire management race from Spring. However, NASCAR’s efforts to tame the Thunder Valley and mold it to suit fans’ entertainment failed. Kyle Larson swept all stages and won.

That spun off a series of critical comments from fans on social media, who bashed Goodyear for its failure. All this negativity riled up the victor himself, as Larson engaged in some brutally honest conversations. Although his approach was bold, it earned the approval of a popular NASCAR veteran.

Kyle Larson gains Wallace’s support 

Granted, the difference between the two races was huge. Despite NASCAR injecting resin into Bristol Motor Speedway in both instances, the racing products were worlds apart. While drivers blew out their tires 40-50 laps into the race and saw 54 lead changes in the spring, the fall was an entirely different story. Tires persisted for more than 100-150 laps, and there were hardly 8 lead changes as nobody could challenge Kyle Larson. He won by a margin of 7.088 seconds, the most at the short track since Dale Earnhardt Sr. won by 7.63 seconds in 1994.

This sent off ripples of boos among fans, 27.7% of whom voted in favor of Bristol. However, Kyle Larson stormed back, saying, “I don’t have the answer to fix what we currently have and neither do you but please stop blaming Goodyear. It’s not a tire problem.” 

It did not end there as NASCAR’s arguably best racer at present engaged in a slugfest with doubtful fans. This led Kenny Wallace to take a stand. Wallace declared, “When race fans start arguing with @KyleLarsonRacin here on X that he is wrong 😳IS WHEN PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR MINDS 🥴 We are and have been in a “changed society” (for the worse) over the last 15 years or so.”

Indeed, fans seem to be overlooking the real problem here. Goodyear has been persistently trying to save NASCAR from its defect, as some experts pointed out. Boring races emerged after the Next Gen car debuted in 2022—with reduced horsepower and universal parts, drivers could not mold cars according to their talents.

So once again, Kyle Larson plainly shut down the doubtful fans, as he said, “Temper your expectations. We’re driving spec race cars.” Even his Cup Series rival Denny Hamlin also took a similar approach to this debacle.

The problem is visible to the Cup drivers

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Just like the spring race, officials admitted to feeling “baffled” after the fall race. It seems that the Bristol phenomenon slips out of their control every time. Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior VP of competition, blurted out his confession after the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.

“We felt like that we had a recipe there from the spring that gave us what we’re looking for in our short track racing, putting kind of the tire management back in the driver’s hands.” Although this recipe worked to an extent at Richmond and Watkins Glen, the All-Star Race was a similar snoozer.

Kyle Larson said it has “ALWAYS been tough to pass” in Bristol “with 900 hp all the way down to 650 hp or less.” But his Cup rival, Denny Hamlin, is not letting off NASCAR so leniently. He pointed fingers at the Next Gen car and its mechanical shortcomings. “It is a car problem,” Hamlin said.

“We are trying to fix it with tires, because that’s the most economical way for us to fix it. Me as a car owner, I don’t want to buy any more parts or pieces for this Next Gen car. We already have a tough enough time keeping up with all the changes.”

Evidently, the Cup Series drivers are frustrated with how the Next Gen car has been treating them so far. If NASCAR does not act on it, then more Bristol-like letdowns may arise in the future.