From rolling out next-gen cars, and featuring in Netflix documentaries, NASCAR has been pulling out all the stops to boost its popularity. And sure, these moves have worked to a certain extent, drawing in more fans and catching the eyes of new viewers. But NASCAR is all about the drivers. Usually, fans latch onto their favorite drivers, not the teams, which isn’t really how it goes in other sports. Recently, the defending champion, Ryan Blaney, broke this down in a media chat at Talladega, diving deeper into why there are no superstars in the sport anymore.

While the ‘driver focus’ has its perks, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword for NASCAR. When a beloved driver hangs up their helmet or ditches NASCAR, fans often struggle to warm up to the new faces filling those big shoes and might just walk away from the sport. However, according to Ryan Blaney, the sport has not been able to push fans enough to become die-hard fans of the drivers.

Ryan Blaney’s “superstar” concept in NASCAR

Back in the late ’80s and ’90s, NASCAR was so huge, that you’d literally find people listening to races on the radio if they couldn’t watch on TV. Did things change after Dale Earnhardt passed away? Absolutely—his massive fan base would have pretty much vanished from NASCAR viewership. Even though drivers like Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson have had their moments of glory, they couldn’t quite capture the legendary status of Dale Earnhardt or Richard Petty back in the day.

Ryan Blaney has a pretty interesting take on this. He thinks today’s NASCAR has plenty of superstars too; they just need better hype. For Blaney, every one of the 36 drivers hitting the track each week has the potential to be a superstar. The magic formula boils down to the right kind of push. Drivers, teams, and especially sponsors need to step up with the cash and the effort to make it happen.

Blaney said, “We’re all superstars… Yes, Jeff Gordon through the ‘90s was the biggest star in anything, but times change. You don’t have guys winning 10 races anymore. This car doesn’t allow that, so how do you separate yourself to make yourself stand out?… It starts with success on the racetrack and then the organizations marketing these drivers with how great they are at what they do, and then the drivers have to be willing to do it and be in that role. You don’t need to pluck out one person. There are a lot of us here and you can push it, you can make 36 superstars. I think that’s definitely possible.” 

However, on the contrary, Kyle Busch, who’s now with RCR, believes fans miss having a dominant driver to root for. As per the Kansas City Star report, Kyle Busch said, “I’m not sure what it is, but you have the die-hard fans of NASCAR, of Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Harry Gant … you name it — guys from the ‘90s, mid-90s, late-90s, all of that,” most likely indicating that recently, eight different drivers have snagged the last 10 championships.

Out of the current bunch, only he, in 2015 and 2019, and Joey Logano, in 2018 and 2022, have clinched more than one title. Maybe the lack of repeat champs is one reason why it feels like NASCAR doesn’t have any big superstars anymore. Rowdy added, “…I don’t feel like we were able to transition a lot of the fans that were fans of those drivers into a William Byron fan, into a Kyle [Larson] fan, or whoever. They kind of all probably went away, just stopped following as much, which is hard to say because honestly, when you look at NASCAR, the fans love the drivers. The driver star power, that’s what brings people to the racetrack, is the drivers.” 

But what’s really behind the scenes in fan frenzy for NASCAR drivers these days?

Why do so many folks think NASCAR just hasn’t bounced back since the early 2000s?

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• Well, for starters, the key age group of 18–49 isn’t growing fast enough to make a dent in the aging fan base. About 7-8 years ago, the average fan was between 55 and 60. Now, that’s shot up to 60–65+. If things don’t change, in 10–15 years, NASCAR could lose a huge chunk of its audience—over 60% could be gone. That has got to have NASCAR bigwigs sweating bullets.
• Also, sponsors are heading for the hills, which means less advertising and less buzz in places like hardware stores, restaurants, and on TV. One team owner even blurted out that big brands don’t see the value in NASCAR anymore. So, yeah, sponsorship headaches are real. Additionally, there are a bunch of issues with the business model that make life tough for teams.
• The big-name stars have retired, and nobody’s really filled their shoes. NASCAR’s missing those household names that used to draw crowds.
• While TV ratings have started to creep up from rock bottom, where they’ve been stuck for ages, there’s still a mountain to climb. Merchandise sales are way down from their heyday in the 2000s. Stuff like toys and NASCAR-themed goodies that used to be everywhere? They pretty much vanished around 2012.
• And let’s talk about video games—there hasn’t been a hit NASCAR game in over a decade, and that’s probably cost them a whole generation of potential fans.
• The sport’s also dropping the ball on marketing, especially digital. Compared to other sports, NASCAR’s digital presence is pretty weak. Remember those creative, funny commercials from the early 2000s? We need more of that vibe. Even now, most casual NASCAR fans can’t name all the drivers, which isn’t the case with sports like football or basketball, where fans can reel off player stats and trivia like it’s nothing.
• NASCAR also hasn’t done much to shake off its stale image. You know, the whole “Who watches NASCAR?” and “It’s just boring running in circles“ vibe. There has not been much effort from NASCAR’s end to change that narrative.
• Additionally, it’s rare to see American drivers racing on other international circuits. Just a few do, which means NASCAR’s probably never going to be a big deal globally, so the fan base is in a way capped.

Clearly, NASCAR has been trying to shift away from its old-school image without throwing everything out overnight.