NASCAR has been more popular than ever, especially after the next-gen cars. Moreover, the final race of the round of 16 might be one of the most eventful races in a while, completely shaking the playoff picture. However, stats seem to contradict the beliefs.

The sport took a huge hit, and the fans are quite angry.

If you are unfamiliar with NHRA, it stands for the National Hot Rod Association. As the name suggests, it’s a drag racing series based in the United States. Although its popularity and recognition don’t quite match that of NASCAR. There might be a bit of a stir in the viewership.

Read More: “Does he think he’s gonna replace somebody at Hendrick in the next three years?” – Dale Earnhardt Jr’s New NASCAR Driver Questioned Over Career Path

According to recent statistics, the last NHRA race had a clash with the Cup Series race at Bristol in terms of viewership. Obviously, for a playoff race, you would expect fans to be quite keen viewers. But that was clearly not the case, as the number of people who came to see 4 drivers get eliminated was 19.3% less than last year.

Surprisingly, NHRA, which was aired on FOX saw 1.678 million people watching the race. This comes extremely close to NASCAR’s viewership of a measly 1.776 million. Clearly, a big hit for the sport and the fans are quite surprised too.

But many fans seem to point the finger at NASCAR, apparently alienating its core fanbase.

However, some fans think the reason is completely different.

This sure is pretty interesting. What do you think caused the Bristol race to take such a big hit? Either way, it was pretty eventful, the result at least completely flipped the playoff picture.

Bristol might have completely changed the NASCAR playoff picture

Of course, every year 16 drivers qualify to compete in the playoffs. And slowly they all get eliminated till 4 are left. But first we start at the round of 16, which had 3 races and after those are over, the bottom 4 drivers get eliminated. Yeah, nothing new there. But the way the round of 16 ended was quite shocking for a lot of people.

Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick, both the Richard Childress Racing drivers are out. But the other two are already playoff winners, of course, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Shockingly, Harvick and Busch were both very fast and very strong in the entire season, but their chance at playoffs ended only because of mechanical issues. Clearly, none of what happened was entirely their fault, yet they lost a chance.

On the other hand, Chase Elliott is back to being the points leader after finishing second at Bristol.

WATCH THIS STORY: “Each Time, It Gets Tougher” – Dale Earnhardt Jr Hints at Stopping His Fan-Favorite NASCAR Tradition

But the issues with the next-gen car are already being put to question by drivers and fans alike. But do you think Harvick and Busch should get a second chance? And how do you think the playoffs will shape? Let us know in the comments.