It’s easy to romanticize the past. Fans love taking a trip down memory lane, reliving the nostalgia from the days gone by. Whether it’s remembering Dale Earnhardt zipping across the racetrack or watching old short track races, while wishing that the Next-Gen cars could bring back that excitement at some of the most iconic venues on the calendar. However, the sport has significantly evolved in the last few years, and some would argue that there have been improvements made from the good old days.

That’s exactly what Ricky Stenhouse Jr. feels about superspeedway racing. With the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on the horizon, the question of modern superspeedway racing is being raised again. Is the show better now that cars have different fuel strategies and aero packages?

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. weighs in on NASCAR’s controlled chaos

It’s no secret that in NASCAR, luck plays a major role in deciding the eventual winner on the racetrack. Just look at the 2025 Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300, with Austin Hill securing the win with a photo finish, even though Jeb Burton looked like he was going to get away with it. As for the Cup Series, one might argue that William Byron was ‘lucky’ to win the Daytona 500 earlier this year, which raised questions about the overall quality of superspeedway racing.

Back in the day, drivers would form a long single-file line up against the wall to save fuel and avoid wrecks. The strategy worked, as there was less side drafting, saving fuel and tires. However, it was also boring, and fans didn’t enjoy watching a long line of cars running one after another. In a tweet uploaded by Steven Taranto, the journalist paraphrased Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s words, saying, “He (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) more or less said the Superspeedway fuel-saving gridlock is an evolution of when the field used to ride in line around the top.”

Stenhouse Jr. said in the pre-race press conference, “When we were single wide around the top, you had a few guys that were impatient and wanted to go to the front, they could just drop down and really just drive to the front because we were all part-throttle around the top. So yeah, I don’t mind the side-by-side and three wide, it puts on a show. Then you always get the top lane that if they want to go to the front, they can, and they generally do. Then they will drop down and start saving fuel on the bottom and kind of stack the bottom line up. So, there are ways to get to the front, and I do find that nice.”

The 2024 fall Talladega race winner offered rare praise toward the fuel-saving nature of Next-Gen racing, a strategy that has received significant backlash from other NASCAR stars. Derek Kneeland, Kyle Busch’s spotter in the Cup Series and spotter of the recent Talladega Xfinity winner Austin Hill, is not a fan of the Gen 7 car and fuel saving. He went on a fuming rant last season when Kyle Busch was robbed of a top-half finish because of a fuel strategy blunder.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. just said something interesting: He more or less said the Superspeedway fuel-saving gridlock is an evolution of when the field used to ride in line around the top

In 2024 at Talladega, the same race that Stenhouse Jr. won, Kyle Busch was putting together a top-10 run. However, a call to move to the outside lane by Kneeland went wrong after no one joined him in the draft, as they were all on different fuel strategies. Kneeland was furious on the team radio after Busch started losing spots, saying, “I might as well just retire from Cup spotting at restrictor plate races and just stick to the Trucks and Xfinity stuff because I don’t know when we can race. I don’t know when we need to ride. I don’t. It just f—— sucks.”

With the Next-Gen car having different aero-packages as well as fuel strategies, drivers are no longer forced to run in a single lane. They can run three-wide and still save fuel by lifting early and lightly drafting. The races look more chaotic, with cars inches away from each other and running in tight packs, making it a better show for fans. However, does that really solve the problems, or just repackage them differently?

Many fans still prefer the single-file racing, as drivers could move down and make a move. Riding behind each other was more of a strategy call than the car’s limitation, which meant that the grid could reshuffle. Now, many motorsports enthusiasts feel that even though cars running three-wide looks good in promos, the race itself isn’t as much fun. Chaos on superspeedways means drivers don’t have lanes to make passes, and track position becomes key in qualifying to get a result.

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Hamlin criticizes the evolution of superspeedway racing

Outspoken as always, Denny Hamlin didn’t hold back before voicing his concerns about superspeedway racing after the Daytona 500 earlier this year. William Byron, who was running seventh at ‘The Great American Race’ during the final lap of overtime, went on to secure a triumph in the blink of an eye after a multi-car wreck was triggered when Cole Custer made contact with the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Denny Hamlin).

Infuriated at the outcome and disappointed at the state of superspeedway racing, Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast, “I feel like the Daytona 500 is a microcosm of the sport in general as to how we crown our champion now as well. It started with the competition group a decade ago when we took away horsepower because we wanted to look good on TV. We wanted you to think they can pass, but not that they can actually pass. For me, it’s gotten to the place where the entertainment of it has far taken over the sport of it. And I don’t know how to reverse things.”

That’s a sentiment that is echoed by plenty of NASCAR fans as well. While running three-wide makes for good entertainment, according to Ricky Stenhouse Jr., does it really improve the quality of racing? Plenty within the NASCAR community don’t think so. Ideally, ‘luck’ shouldn’t play such a big role in the sport, especially at an event like the Daytona 500. Perhaps it might be time for the sanctioning body to get back to the drawing board and revisit its superspeedway package as well. What do you think of the current NASCAR Cup Series superspeedway package? Let us know in the comments!