Love it or hate it, the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series could not be ignored. The season saw all kinds of drama — from the Next Gen issues to the faults in the playoff system. On the other hand, it saw some historic moments, like Bubba Wallace’s emotional Brickyard 400 win, the first one for an African-American driver at Indy.

And the drama peaked towards the end of the season, especially at the final championship race. That race saw Denny Hamlin falling prey to the much-hated playoff system, where his season-long form was whitewashed in the final seconds, and a driver who didn’t lead a single lap — let alone win — won the title. Due to all these reasons, the debate whether the Cup Series season was good or not is red-hot right now, and one poll stole all the attention, showing the split in the NASCAR community’s loyalty.

The poll that ignited the fire

A recent X poll by NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck asked a simple question: “Was the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season a good season?” The results surprised many, as they show 59.5% voted yes, while 40.5% said no, highlighting a fanbase divided between thrilling on-track action and off-track issues.

Was the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season a good season?

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) November 10, 2025

This close divide comes after a year of 14 different winners in 36 races and Kyle Larson‘s winning his second title via a bold two-tire strategy amid all-out tire issues at Phoenix. Fans who said yes pointed to races like Kansas, where Chase Elliott won the race with a three-wide pass in the last lap. Jeff Gluck’s poll also rated that Kansas race 90.7% good, crediting the Next Gen era’s parity that helped drivers like Briscoe achieve career highs with three wins.

But the “NO” votes largely came because of the current playoff format. As this playoff format resulted in a drop of 18.9% in viewership to 1.866 million per race since 2014’s debut, this playoff favors late drama over full-season consistency. Another NASCAR stat of ‘most laps completed’ exposed that only three of the top 10 drivers even entered the playoffs.

NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps acknowledged the hit, saying, “We had projected that reset and told everyone in our industry that reset would be between 14% and 15% in Cup,” tying it to fewer network broadcasts under the $7.7 billion deal. This echoes years of gripes, like the 57.5% playoff drop, pushing talks of a 2026 overhaul to a points-based chase.

But these numbers don’t tell the full story. The fans are venting louder than ever.

Echoes from the grandstands

Tuning into the backlash, one supporter captured the weariness: “It was good for what it was. I’m hoping a format change can take place. Tired of having this debate at the end of every season.” This rings true after a decade of playoff tweaks since 2014, when viewership spiked initially but dropped as fans grew bored and frustrated with eliminations. For example, Christopher Bell could not go to the round of four despite three consecutive top-three finishes in the Round of 8.

The In-Season Challenge, won by Ty Gibbs for $1 million at Indy, added something fresh but couldn’t completely mask the annual format fatigue.

“Easily the worst season in the last 10 years. Viewership is at its lowest and continues to plummet. Leadership is uncommitted to making changes. Playoff format sucks. Refuse to listen to drivers. The list goes on.” The championship drew just 2.774 million viewers, which is less compared to 2024’s 2.9 million viewership.

This 14% decline in viewership is because of viewers shifting to cable, and races that are shown on Amazon Prime require a subscription to watch, which many fans skip. And another reason for the lower viewership is also because of flaws in the pack racing environment, which were exposed in the Bristol pack racing. Drivers like Denny Hamlin have voted for softer tires, echoing Goodyear’s ongoing tests.

Amid the complaining, a balanced take emerges: “All Around Races Wise: Yes. But the gimmicks, the bullshit of the playoffs, and the issues this car still is and presents don’t make it a solid season…just a good season overall because of races.” The 59.5% average “good race” poll backs the quality of the races that happened this season, with highs like the 0.022-second Talladega photo finish victory by Austin Cindric.

Yet playoff rounds averaged below 2 million viewership because few decisions made by NASCAR to add excitement felt forced, like some overtime decisions in a race.

Shifting to brighter spots, a fan shared joy: “Except for the last 3 laps of heartbreak, I enjoyed this season more than I have in recent years. I went to more races than I ever have, got to see my current favorite driver win one. Finally did the duels through the 500 at Daytona.” Live attendance held steady, with the rain-delayed Daytona 500 drawing 6.761 million TV viewers, where Byron snagged his second consecutive win. This season finale’s last few laps also broke many viewers’ hearts because Hamlin couldn’t win his first title despite dominating the race.

Finally, exhaustion summed up the protest: “No, and here’s why. It’s exhausting. The constant bizarre calls during races, the Next Gen car obviously needing help and not getting fixed, and constant talk about tires every single week gets exhausting too. The whole lawsuit was exhausting too. I’m glad the season is over.”

Here, an additional reason surfaced to not like this season, and that is the 23XI/Front Row antitrust suit, which is set for trial on December 1. While tire issues that fans saw in Dover and Bristol added fuel to add an extra 80 hp in the Next-Gen car from next season.