NASCAR’s television ratings have experienced a notable decline in the 2025 season, with viewership dropping by 13% compared to the previous year. This downturn is attributed to several factors, including fewer races airing on major networks and increased competition from other motorsports. For instance, the New Hampshire race garnered only 1.29 million viewers, marking one of the lowest viewerships for a non-weather-delayed Cup Series race in recent memory.

The shift in broadcasting strategy, moving a significant number of races from network television to cable and streaming platforms, has also impacted accessibility for viewers. The rise of other motorsports like Formula 1 has attracted a younger audience. Despite efforts to engage new audiences through digital initiatives, NASCAR faces ongoing challenges in reversing the downward viewership trend. Now, even legends like Kenny Wallace are pointing it out, and he’s putting reason behind it.

Wallace’s wake-up call

On his recent Coffee with Kenny on X, Wallace cut straight to it: “NHRA got a little lucky and we all know it. So let’s be serious here, okay. Yeah, can all be big, mature people, and then we can run race tracks and go look at NHRA out in NASCAR. Well, first of all, we got good views this week. It was 1.7 million people who watched NASCAR. So the question is this: What the hell did the NHRA do to get so many views? That’s the question.”

Wallace’s no-nonsense take hit during a rare ratings flip: NHRA’s drag racing pulled 1.872 million viewers, edging NASCAR’s 1.717 million at Kansas. For a cable staple like NASCAR, that’s a wake-up call, and Wallace’s “what the hell” captures the shock of drag outdrawing stock cars.

“Why was NHRA so popular this weekend? Well, first of all, it was one of the first times in ages they were on prime time. And there was a football game going on, and the football game got over, or it was leading into it, but it was covered up. You know, on both sides? In other words, when the NHRA race was coming on, I think there was an NFL game getting ready to start, and it got like freaking 7.9 million views,” Wallace said.

The NHRA surge owed to a prime-time slot and NFL lead-in that spiked to 7.9 million, carrying over viewers to drag racing. NASCAR’s cable slot clashed with late NFL coverage, but Wallace’s point is clear: placement matters, and NASCAR is missing the window.

“Speaking of a great sport, you all like some NFL, don’t you, but I don’t watch because I’m bitter. Bitter or better, which will it be? The rest is up to me. I’m just mad that the St. Louis Rams and the Phoenix Cardinals, Arizona Cardinals are gone. We couldn’t keep a football team in St. Louis. I’d like to run the city of St. Louis. I’d run it. I would run it and I’d tell you the first thing I do, but I can’t tell you cause it’d p-ss everybody off,” Wallace quipped.

As a St. Louis native, his NFL bitterness is personal — the Cardinals bolted to Arizona in 1988, and the Rams to L.A. in 2016. It’s a fun detour, but it underscores how football’s grip leaves little room for NASCAR, fueling the ratings battle.

“So congratulations to everybody in NHRA and to everybody mad at me because I like NASCAR. Here’s the other thing. People are mad at me cause I like NASCAR. Oh, he always talks good about NASCAR. NASCAR is falling mightily; they failed. They’re falling mightily. There were only 1.7 million people watching the race back in my day,” Wallace added.

He’s defending NASCAR’s 1.7 million at Kansas, but owning the slide from his ‘90s heyday, when 3-4 million was normal. Fans tag him as biased, but Wallace’s point is that NHRA’s spike was scheduling magic, not a death knell for stock cars.

“There used to be 4 million, so to everybody that’s just all excited that NHRA outran us, there’s a reason, it was on primetime. It was covered up by football, and first of all, you know it really… It’s not even that the NHRA people did it,” Wallace wrapped.

The prime-time NFL boost made NHRA’s numbers pop, a reminder that slots trump substance in TV wars. NASCAR’s cable grind against football’s peak hours is a tough gig, but Wallace is keeping it light while calling for the sport to fight back.

Wallace’s ratings reality check connects to the mental grit it takes to weather NASCAR’s storms, a trait he crowns Denny Hamlin with, ranking him tops alongside Tony Stewart.

Hamlin’s mental toughness shines

Hamlin’s 60th win at Las Vegas was a tearjerker for fans who’ve booed him for years, cheered him on, a rare ovation that had him emotional in victory lane.  “It’s Denny Hamlin. Denny thrives on sh*t talk… Denny Hamlin has taken enormous abuse because he is an entertainer. Whenever you entertain, whenever the masses lay their eyes on you, they’re going to find everything they can wrong with you because it will make them feel powerful,” Wallace said.

He compared Hamlin to Waltrip’s parking-lot taunts and Stewart’s media room brawls with Edwards — legends who fed off hate. “I’m going to have to put Denny Hamlin right up there… Do you all realize the abuse that you’ve given Denny Hamlin? And all he does is win… Denny Hamlin cries because he says his dad is ailing. This 60 wins means a lot because his father is ailing. His father is not good,” Wallace said.

Hamlin’s tears weren’t for the tie or the Championship 4 spot — it was for his ill dad and the weight of 21 years chasing a title. Wallace sees that vulnerability as strength, the emotional fuel that crowns Hamlin the most mentally tough.

Hamlin’s plate is full — weekly playoff grind, antitrust lawsuit, family health woes — but he’s surging, locked into Phoenix with his fifth final-four shot. Wallace’s nod to Hamlin’s endurance ties to the ratings mess: a sport with fading eyes needs stars like him to shine through the noise, turning boos to cheers and keeping fans hooked.