A lot has changed in the world of motorsports and how the race fans interact with it. NASCAR was once a household name as one of the best sporting series across the nation. But the stock car racing series is past its heydays and is now picking up on the new trends that could strike a chord with the younger generations.

Talk about bridging this gap and rising back to one of the premier sporting series; Formula 1 is one of the prime examples. And under the new ownership of Liberty Media, they have been able to put out the stories of the drivers and their sport to an audience via Netflix. Drive to Survive has been a great success, and according to Tony Stewart, the docuseries played a vital role in establishing a fanbase for F1 in the United States.

Tony Stewart isn’t sold on the NASCAR versus F1 debate

Currently, Formula 1 has three races on the schedule in the US. The Miami Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, and the Las Vegas Grand Prix. However, they did hit a slump after the 2007 Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But they were able to bounce back with a new racing venue in Austin, Texas, and since then they have surged as a popular motorsport series in the US market.

Although F1 has only three events on their mainland in terms of viewerships, they have become a dominant force. Which does bring NASCAR into the picture as they are still trying to play catch up to F1 and the modern trends of auto racing. “We are not anymore believing to be competing with other sports with four wheels.” F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said this to the BBC. But Tony Stewart feels there’s room for all the racing series, and NASCAR, with its Full Speed docuseries could see a rise in popularity like Formula 1.

“I mean, there’s room for all of it still. I think that push started during COVID, and having that Netflix special that highlighted the F1 side was something that really brought the popularity back to the US a little more and really started getting people excited about Formula 1 in the US.” Tony Stewart said this on the Adam Carolla Show on YouTube.

The first season of Full-Speed on Netflix was received well by the racing community. It left the viewers wanting for more as the first edition only covered the playoffs portion of the 2023 season. Which was bundled into just five episodes. Now compare that to Drive to Survive’s 10-episode season-wide storyline; it isn’t a wholesome effort. That is why they are currently working on season 2, which is expected to shed more light on drivers and the race teams.

However, the Stewart Haas Racing co-owner has one grievance about how NASCAR racing is changing. And his arguments were aimed at the spec car, the idea of parity racing. Along with how racecraft is becoming a slowly diminishing trait among the racers.

Smoke isn’t a fan of spec racing at the Cup level

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You would’ve heard Denny Hamlin in his rant on his podcast suggesting, “We all drive the same.” His criticism isn’t aimed at NASCAR, but the product or the trend of racing that the premier stock car racing is headed towards. It’s become an execution race with multiple scenarios laid out in front of the drivers, and this does take out the element of the driver having a real say in the races. Moreover, the live SMT data sharing takes away the advantage one team finds on the racetrack.

Concerned by the way on how technology is taking over Cup Series racing, Stewart opined, “So literally your driver can be out running and you’re crew chief looking at what three other drivers are doing and telling the drivers this is what they are doing differently. Where does the craft come back into it? Versus somebody saying this is what he’s doing, and you should try this. That doesn’t separate Jeff Gordons, the Jimmy Johnson’s, and Dale Earnhardt’s.”

Unfortunately, 2024 will be Tony Stewart’s last year as a team owner in NASCAR. His team, Stewart Haas Racing, will shut down at the end of this year as the two co-owners will be partying ways. Gene Haas will remain in NASCAR with his new team Haas Factory Team, whereas Stewart will focus on his racing in the NHRA Top Fuel.