“The car behind me was saving gas,” Joey Logano said in Talladega. His teammate, Ryan Blaney, fumed, “We had the control of this f—ing race and somehow gave it away.” Yet neither of them directly blamed Brad Keselowski, a fellow Ford driver who did not give the required push to the NASCAR playoff drivers. Even Denny Hamlin, a Toyota rival, empathized with Logano. However, the lack of confrontation may be a sign of the times, according to Jimmy Spencer.

It has been a long time since the former NASCAR driver sat behind the wheel. Over 30 years, Jimmy Spencer collected 2 wins and 80 top tens in the Cup Series, and 12 wins and 93 top tens in the Xfinity Series. During that time, Spencer interacted with Bill France Jr. – whose absence is a factor in NASCAR’s changed landscape.

Jimmy Spencer reminisces about an ‘exciting’ past

In his heyday, Jimmy Spencer was nicknamed ‘Mr. Excitment.’ When his trophies were piping hot in the Busch Series, Spencer “made some comments to the media about some officiating.” Former NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. called him to his hauler. And he uniquely chided him. On a piece of paper, he sketched Stafford Speedway, a track where Spencer raced in his early days. And France told him, “You keep (expletive) around with me and you’ll be back there racing.’” 

That is why Jimmy Spencer remembered Bill France the most in a recent ‘Door, Bumper, Clear’ episode. He recalled another incident during a 2012 Bristol night race, where Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth wrecked. “Tony stood at the end of pit road with his helmet and he threw it at Matt. The fans went freaking crazy. They fined him like 50 grand.” But the way Bill France handled it was again unique: “He said, “Tony, how much was that helmet?” ‘Two grand.’ ‘Here’s the two grand. Do that again next week.'”

Jimmy Spencer continued that this allowance of racetrack rivalry is missing today. He continued, “That’s the difference between how the old man ran the sport and how politically correct they trying to make the sport today…I think that they really did a lot to subdue the drivers. And in turn, I think that the last few years, the drivers have become so freaking boring. My buddy Kenny Wallace used to say it best. We are not the water cooler talk anymore. Monday morning, we’re not the water cooler talk. And I think that the drivers need to learn a lot.”

Besides the strict supervision of authorities, the nature of NASCAR racing has also affected the drama. Since winning the title is a game of points rather than driving fast, drivers avoid conflicts. They instead focus on collecting stage points and on advancing in the playoffs. Even Humpy Wheeler, the promoter of Charlotte Motor Speedway, had a similar opinion as Jimmy Spencer. He said in a 2012 interview, “The problem we have right now, and every circuit has it, is that we’re trying to get people to pay to watch a points race. And there’s nothing more boring than a points race.”

Clearly, the old guard are not satisfied with today’s NASCAR racing. Yet while there is a lack of negative drama, there was recently an upswell of positivity.

The heartwarming reception of NASCAR fans 

It is a spectacle to see NASCAR fans cheering for their favorite driver. However, when they cheer for a driver widely known as the sport’s villain, the feeling is something else. Denny Hamlin punched his ticket to the Championship 4 for the first time since 2021, winning in Las Vegas. The final 10 laps of the South Point 400 were jaw-dropping; Hamlin climbed from the 10th spot and was running first with 4 laps to go. After watching his seamless passing of Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson, fans could not help but hail him.

When Denny Hamlin stepped outside his car, instead of the usual boos, the grandstands rang out with cheers and applause. This dramatic positive reception may be something to Jimmy Spencer’s liking, as it was far from boring. Hamlin, who won his 60th Cup race trophy, also saluted the fans. “What I loved about the Las Vegas fans is, I certainly got a lot of boos pre-race, but when I got out of the car and it was all cheers, I’m like, ‘Wow, they’re giving me my moment.’ Like they understand the significance of it for me and I just was very grateful for that.”

So maybe all is not boring in today’s NASCAR. Yet we are far off from Jimmy Spencer’s heyday when rivalries burst out fiercely. As the playoffs draw to a close, let’s see if we can see a few sparks in the final two races.