Fans Tune Out Mid Race as NASCAR’s Watkins Glen Turns Into “Snoozefest”

For a lot of longtime NASCAR fans, road courses used to be a special treat, a once-or-twice-a-year curveball that mixed things up from the usual ovals. Now? They’re starting to feel like a never-ending diet of the same flavor, and lately, that flavor is “Shane van Gisbergen wins again.”

It’s not that SVG isn’t talented; the guy’s a wheelman in every sense, and his road-course skills are ridiculous. But when every road race seems to follow the same script, SVG starts near the front, the car looks untouchable, and he drives off into the distance, the suspense evaporates. Old-school fans who grew up on banging doors at Bristol, pack racing at Daytona, and photo finishes at Talladega are sitting there wondering, where’s the drama? Where’s the fight?

Add in the Gen-7 car’s road-course stability, making it harder for drivers to overdrive corners or make big mistakes, and you get a string of processional, by-the-numbers races. For the purists, it’s a masterclass. For the folks who want chaos and unpredictability? It’s like watching the same rerun for the fifth week in a row, only this rerun comes with fewer crashes and more single-file parades.

By the time the green flag drops at the next road course, many OG fans are already bracing for it, and when that prediction keeps coming true, it’s no wonder some of them are begging NASCAR to bring back more short tracks or wild-card ovals, just to break the monotony.

Similar scenes erupted at the Go Bowling at The Glen, which had fans yawning instead of cheering. Shane van Gisbergen was putting on a masterclass, slicing the gap to Brad Keselowski, who hadn’t pitted, down to 5.7 seconds while holding a tidy 1.2-second lead over William Byron with 18 laps left. SVG’s road-course dominance is no surprise; he’s won four of five road-course races this season, missing only COTA with a sixth-place finish.

Fans want change and they want it now!

SVG’s Watkins Glen performance, hot off a second-place qualifying run just 0.33 seconds behind Ryan Blaney’s pole, had him poised to tie Chase Elliott’s mark for consecutive road-course wins, trailing only Jeff Gordon’s record. But while SVG’s clinic was a thing of beauty for purists, fans on X were less than thrilled, slamming the race as a predictable bore and venting about the Gen-7 car’s role in flattening the excitement.

“Snooze fest need beer to watch this s— anymore.” This fan’s quip nails the growing gripe that the Gen-7 car kills the vibe on road courses. Critics argue its design, built for stability, cuts down on driver errors, leading to processional racing that feels like a slog. When SVG pulls away by over five seconds, it’s less a nail-biter and more a monotonous march, leaving fans reaching for a drink to stay engaged.

“I’m sleeping. Jeff. No vote from me this week.” This jaded remark captures fans checking out early. SVG’s unchallenged 1.2-second lead over Byron with 18 laps to go felt too predictable, draining the race of suspense. For viewers craving chaos, his expected dominance turned the broadcast into a snooze.

“It’s unwatchable I have been on TikTok.” When the race lacks spark, fans bail. The Gen-7’s stability, while technically impressive, leaves little room for drama, pushing bored viewers to scroll TikTok instead of watching SVG cruise.

“GEN 7 is a total s—box on road courses.” This blunt jab hits at the car’s poor fit for tracks like Watkins Glen. Despite tweaks, the Gen-7’s handling on road courses draws flak for creating dull races, with SVG’s dominance highlighting the lack of competitive churn.

“This car and season sucks a–.” This sweeping vent ties the car’s issues to a broader frustration with 2025’s racing. Fans echo sentiments like Kenny Wallace’s critics, who blasted the Next Gen car for killing good racing, demanding fixes over excuses.