“I didn’t mean to turn him around; I meant to rattle his cage, though,” said Dale Earnhardt Sr., addressing his crash with Terry Labonte during the 1999 Cup Series at Bristol. That’s how unfiltered NASCAR was! Back in 2011, in the Truck Series, Kyle Busch intentionally wrecked Ron Hornaday Jr. at Texas. The result? He was black-flagged and parked, but the fans sure had a field day. These acts that once defined intensity and bravado barely unfold in the present-day NASCAR, and it has caused much worry.

Speaking on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Kenny Wallace called out NASCAR’s preference for controlled races over unpredictable ones: “All our heroes in NASCAR are gone. And we love these racers today, but they’re scared to death. Yeah, I love Jeff Gordon. He’s a good friend of ours. But Jeff is scared to death… I mean, all his drivers are not allowed to speak, and if they do, they’re just toting the company line.”

“Nobody can relate. You know, they miss you. They miss Kevin Harvick jumping across the hood of that car, and you getting ready to beat Greg Biffle’s a*s. That was showmanship, man. They miss that. They can relate to that. NASCAR is so clean right now because these young kids have been taught, you know, and they’ve been taught, don’t say nothing wrong, you’ll be fine.”

Nowadays, the fans don’t get to see Kevin Harvick’s 2002 WWE-style dust-up. During the Channellock 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick, known for his fiery temperament, found himself on the receiving end of a late-race incident with Biffle, making contact and sending the 2014 champion hard into the wall.

Kevin Harvick decided to take matters into his own hands. After the race ended, he waited for Biffle to finish and park his car. As the 55-year-old made his way down pit road, Harvick launched himself over Biffle’s car in a move reminiscent of a WWE stunt, landing directly in front of his rival.

The confrontation was intense, with Harvick grabbing Biffle by the collar and delivering a very pointed message. This act of retaliation was not just about getting a score. It was a statement that NASCAR was a sport of passion, while drivers wore their hearts on their sleeves. While that’s that,

Harvick was fined ($15,000) and placed on probation for the remainder of the season, underscoring NASCAR’s commitment to maintaining order while acknowledging the sport’s fiery roots.

When Harvick asked why NASCAR’s once loyal fan base is drifting away, Wallace kept it simple: ” For some reason, the NASCAR fans feel like they were done wrong. Give them a free hat. Yeah. Give them something to engage to love NASCAR. There are some mistakes, and you know, NASCAR has admitted it before. You listen to, you know, Steve O’Donnell on some podcast, and Steve’s like, ‘You know, we’ve done some things wrong. We’re trying to make it right…’ This is cliché, what I’m saying. You don’t really give them a free hat. Yeah. Maybe, but they want to feel loved again. Their heart is broke.” 

More than the reliability factor, it is also the Next-Gen cars and the current playoff formats that are upsetting fans. With Dale Jr. pushing for a return to the Golden Era, it is no secret that the NASCAR Cup Series racing is in a major TV rating slump this postseason. None of the past six playoff races has cracked 2 million viewers, sparking questions about whether NASCAR’s current broadcast strategy and win-and-you’re-in playoff format are losing their punch.

With Harvick getting nostalgic about the good old days and revealing how he escaped a permanent ban, the veterans have shifted focus to the newer fans and the generation at hand. Additionally, the TV numbers recently have not helped NASCAR’s case of losing its fans. With numbers and analysis in place, Kevin Harvick’s Mamba Smith puts things into perspective.

Kevin Harvick and Co. appreciate Xfinity numbers amid the Cup Series’ devastating TV numbers

Ironically, while the Cup Series struggles, the NASCAR Xfinity Series is quietly building momentum. During the same Charlotte weekend, Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal shared the numbers: NASCAR Cup (USA Network) drew 1.45 million viewers, Formula 1 (ESPN) 931,000, and NASCAR Xfinity (The CW) 808,000. And Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast’s co-host, Smith, can see it.

Mamba Smith couldn’t help but express his views. Putting it bluntly, he said, “Why isn’t this getting talked about more?? The Xfinity Series is almost doing the same numbers on the CW as F1 is doing on ESPN.”

It is definitely a striking contrast. The Xfinity Series, often seen as NASCAR’s minor league, is pulling nearly equal viewership to the global F1 broadcast, largely because of consistency. The CW has offered fans a stable home for Xfinity races, while the Cup Series has scattered across six different platforms this season—FOX, USA Network, Prime Video, TNT, and more—with only nine races on major networks.

From Darlington to Charlotte, the trend has been unmistakable. The Roval race pulled just 1.54 million viewers, down sharply from 2.42 million last year when NBC added it to its main channel. The shift to cable and streaming has clearly hurt reach, and many believe the highest-stakes playoff system no longer carries the same thrill it once did.

This sort of fragmentation matters. FOX Sports 1 reaches 73% of FOX’s main audience, USA Network 79% of NBC’s, and TNT 78%. With NBCUniversal reportedly rethinking NASCAR commitments, USA Network could soon exit the picture altogether. Meanwhile, the CW’s steady nationwide coverage has made it an unlikely hero, giving fans easy access and making NASCAR one of the network’s prime attractions alongside college football.

So now, with the reason from Wallace and the numbers on screen, NASCAR can aim to get back its fans. Increasing horsepower is a start, as is making changes to the playoff format. But only time and patience can win back the fans NASCAR once lost.