Motorsports fans love the drama, but only when it’s genuine and actually relevant to the sport. Kaulig Racing and RAM’s “Race for the Seat” TV show sounded good on paper until it wasn’t. In the end, it just became a plain old reality TV show for entertainment. And when it comes to motorsports, the audience hates nothing more than fake drama.

Kaulig Racing CEO and show host earns criticism from disappointed fans

The Kaulig Racing “Race for the Seat” TV show is only three episodes in, but the pushback it has received is already too grave. A major gripe that the fans have with the show organizers and Kaulig Racing CEO is the fact that they choose to omit the inspiring backstories of the drivers who are participating in the show. Each participant is a winner and a champion in some category, but they are being treated like random celebrities on a game show.

23XI Racing and TRICON Garage spotter Nick Payne highlighted the problems with the show.

“These aren’t random kids/guys off the street. These are legitimate and accomplished race car drivers.. ARCA winners, CARS Tour champs, Martinsville LMSC winners, multi-generation families, etc. And yet almost none of that story gets told. Not even a mention. They don’t even call the drivers by their last names at times, and you have a Huffman, Fryar, Christopher, etc in the field.”

The argument behind this opinion is that they missed the opportunity to highlight the successes and struggles of these drivers. For these drivers, funding is a huge issue that often stops their motorsports careers from progressing. Payne believes that Kaulig Racing could’ve helped them massively with the reality show, but instead, they chose to hide it.

“It feels like a huge missed opportunity to highlight short-track racing and parts of its history, but also the chance to market drivers who are stuck there because of funding, not talent. From what I’ve seen, I’m not sure it helps their future opportunities at all, either. They aren’t selling the driver at all; they are simply selling the brand. There’s no emotional aspect to any of it.”

By focusing more on the brand, the show doesn’t humanize or emotionally invest in the participants for the viewers to feel a genuine connection with them. So, while it is a reality show, instead of elevating those underfunded drivers, the show is coming across more as a marketing tool for Kaulig Racing. And fans won’t stand that.

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Fans mention the problems

Payne’s opinions were immediately echoed by the fans on the chat forums and other communities. The NASCAR and stock car racing audience immediately brought forward the major blunders committed by the organizers.

“⁠For me (and a lot of other people) my issue was Chris Rice in the first episode telling off Tanner Reif for correctly pointing out that the cars were super imbalanced.” Chris Rice was trying to appeal to the fans with Kaulig Racing’s new ideas. But instead, he ended up becoming a target of their dislike and annoyance.

One fan went as far as calling him out for trying to steal the spotlight. He even compared him to Formula 1’s Zak Brown. “Chris Rice gives me huge Zak Brown vibes. Just always feels like they’re trying to be the spotlight.” Chris Rice’s efforts are backfiring as of now. Instead of earning their backing, his TV show is giving them a reason to go against Kaulig Racing’s ideas.

Some other fans theorized that his attitude against the drivers is just a fake lure to attract the attention of viewers and increase engagement.”I actually appreciated Chris giving some life to the episode. Yeah he looked like a jerk but it gave it a story. (Assuming of course this is all scripted and he wasn’t just being a jerk in a real contest.)”

Eventually, the conversation in the community shifted towards the past issues that Kaulig Racing has faced. In 2025, the team had a major fallout with AJ Allmendinger due to engine problems. He bombarded the team radio with f-bombs. It seems that fans now realize his frustrations on a better level, as he was a driver trying to get his career started in a series full of superstar families.

“I understand why AJ is so angry now. Probably gets ignored when he tells them the car is shit. Probably why it took SVG so long to get in the groove as well.” This is not the reaction Chris Rice or Kaulig Racing would want. They are creating a negative image for themselves on track and off-track too with their latest TV show.

To create hype and bring the fans together in support is another thing. But Kaulig Racing created so much hype only to go back on its promises with the initial episodes of their reality show. The fact that they choose not to mention the legacy of these underrated drivers is disrespectful to their careers, too. Maybe the show has plans for revealing them in the future. Until then, we can only wonder and speculate about the next episodes.

What about you? Have you seen the show yet? If yes, how do you feel about it?