“We were running 49.80 seconds, almost 50-second lap times,” Kyle Busch lamented after the Daytona 500 race. The 2024 season opener set the tone for the other superspeedway races, as drivers fell upon fuel-saving tactics to gain track position. A similar story unfolded on Sunday’s YellaWood 500—but it also resulted in disaster on lap 183. And Kenny Wallace is scolding NASCAR for trumpeting that spectacle.

With packs of drivers trying to use their gas tanks optimally, they could not see the crash forthcoming. Talladega bared its teeth and engulfed 28 cars in the largest “Big One” shortly after cars bunched together four-wide. Wallace cited his days when drivers used to automatically fear such a phenomenon.

Here’s Kenny Wallace’s version of reality

Gone are the days when a driver could slice his way from the back of the field to the front on superspeedways. The Next-Gen car has made this a stark reality, as drivers cannot pass easily while wheeling it. This makes track position ultra crucial—shaving those extra seconds off pit stops and fuel breaks helps drivers stay on the field. So they go as slow as possible to save gas—the 2023 Talladega Fall Race had an average speed of 160.097 mph, while in April it dropped to 155.977 mph.

So this running in formation rivals the basic objective of NASCAR, as Kenny Wallace argued. The veteran appeared on the Dale Jr. Download and reflected on his racing days at the 2.66-mile drafting track. “When I raced in Talladega, our cars were a little more unsettled than they are nowadays. So nowadays…they must have been glued to the track because in my day if my spotter said four-wide, I’m like, ‘Oh no! Get me out of this!’ And they’re just running around there like that’s what we’re gonna do.” Despite this, NASCAR proudly trumpeted the four-wide phenomenon at Talladega recently.

Drivers sometimes rode around six seconds slower per lap in fuel conservation mode. Kyle Petty bashed them for abandoning their racing roots while citing this as the main reason the enormous wreck occurred.

Similarly, Kenny Wallace placed his verdict, “(They weren’t) racing.” He continued: “When there’s bicycle racing in Europe and it’s a 10-lap race, they go very slowly. They all bunch up and they’re like barely going…They were just moseying along as we say down South. It’s definitely not the best thing.” But Wallace admitted how NASCAR’s PR campaign was good. “However, it looked good. You go on social media right now, and that’s what NASCAR’s showing.” 

This fuel-saving story kicked off right at the season’s start, during the Daytona 500.

“Disgraceful” racing riled up drivers

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During the YellaWood 500 race, Kyle Busch attempted to detach himself from the pack. On the last lap, the No. 8 Chevrolet moved away and formed a different line—but nobody came to give him an aerodynamic push. So Busch ultimately dropped like a rock to the back of the field. He had reason to detest the fuel-saving tactic earlier this season as well, although he had to employ it as everybody else was using it. The Daytona 500 was slower than usual. Busch said he “felt disgraceful as a race car driver wanting to go fast and lead laps and win the Daytona 500.”

Chase Elliott, who got caught in the “Big One” on Sunday, harped on the Next-Gen car. The excessive parity on the race field has resulted in people employing similar strategies. Elliott said earlier in February: “Everybody is so much the same, it’s hard to be different. That’s the product you get when we are all buying the same parts and pieces and doing the same stuff. You put the teams in a tough position to be race teams because it’s their job to try to find an advantage somewhere, some way, somehow. You’re just so limited with the car; you’re reaching and grasping for any little advantage you can get. I’m not surprised it got to the point it did, but limiting time on pit road is a premium.”

Evidently, Kenny Wallace’s opinion echoes loudly in the Cup Series garage. However, the Next-Gen car makes it difficult for drivers to ditch fuel-saving. Let us hope NASCAR does something to allow drivers to actually ‘race’.