The chatter around Bristol Motor Speedway felt heavy with disappointment. Fans packed the stands, hoping for the high-octane chaos that’s made the Food City 500 a NASCAR staple. Instead, they got Kyle Larson carving through the field like a hot knife, leading 411 of 500 laps in a race that left many yawning. The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy was untouchable, but for the wrong reasons.
The stats tell a grim story. The race had just five lead changes—the fewest at Bristol since 1995. Only three cautions waved, tying for the lowest in the track’s Cup Series history, as noted in their Stat Sheet. Fans were vocal about their letdown. One X post captured the mood: “Bristol used to be a war zone. Now it’s a parade for one guy.” Also, fans tore into Goodyear, blaming the tire compound for making passing nearly impossible. It felt NASCAR dropped the ball, letting a legendary venue fall flat.
Voices in the media echoed the sentiment. Bob Pockrass described, “Bristol Motor Speedway, you are so confusing. You are so infuriating in a way. And look, if you’re not a Kyle Larson fan, you’re like, what is going on? It is such an interesting, in some ways, situation there at Bristol where nobody seems to be able to get a bead on how the tire is going to react,” emphasizing how Larson’s dominance exposed deeper issues. Even NASCAR legend Mark Martin trolled the event’s lack of spark.
Then you hear from Steve Park and Freddie Kraft, and it’s like they’re living in a different world. On the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Park, a former Cup Series driver, laid it out: “I always loved to race. Cautions, brief cautions. That’s entertainment, that’s television, that’s good for the fans. Bunching the cars back up again. I see why we have these stage breaks and stuff now. I was always a true believer if you brought the best car to the racetrack, you would want it to stay green as much as possible. Especially like Larson, had the best car out there. But I was like, the less cautions, the better the race was because there was less cars crashing.”
Freddie Kraft, spotter for Bubba Wallace, backed him up with conviction: “I say on here all the time when I get f—– for it, I just want the purest form of anything. I mean, I really, really wanted a caution when we stayed out and we were running third and I’m like, we could flip the whole script right here. But at the same time, I don’t want a bull—- caution. We talk about it, a caution is a caution and if it’s not warranted, don’t throw it. I don’t want to throw a caution every hundred laps just because it may get a little boring. That was the purest b— kicking. It was good to see.”
Was it a “bad race” or just a good old-fashioned butt-whooping?
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Now, it’s not the first time fans have been upset about a boring race. The last time NASCAR visited Bristol, it was during the playoffs last year, and saying Larson dominated is an understatement. 462 laps led out of the total 500 is no laughing matter. Fans dubbed the race boring and monotonous. Instead, they preferred the 2024 Spring Bristol race. What’s the secret? Well, the race had 54 lead changes and nine cautions.
And Larson didn’t shy away from the spotlight either. In an interview, he threw down a gauntlet. “This is gonna come across like very cocky, but I want to embarrass them honestly, like, I just want to embarrass NASCAR a little bit,” Larson laughed. “Because they just don’t let Cup guys run anymore. The kids…they probably think they’re in a good spot, they don’t know where the bar is really at.”
The divide is stark. Veterans like Park and Kraft celebrate the craft of a perfect race, where preparation meets execution. Fans, though, want entertainment—a slugfest, not a clinic. As Talladega looms, promising chaos, Bristol’s woes linger. Goodyear needs to rethink tires, NASCAR needs to tweak the package, and the sport needs to find balance. Larson’s win was a triumph for purists, but if the stands start emptying, even the purists might wonder what’s left to cheer for.
Insider Jeff Gluck wants to get rid of the Next-Gen torture
Sunday’s Bristol race left an empty feeling. Kyle Larson dominated, leading 411 of 500 laps to grab his second win of 2025. He’s killing it, sitting fourth in points behind Byron, Hamlin, and Bell. But despite Larson’s brilliance, the Food City 500 was a snooze, and insider Jeff Gluck is fed up.
On “The Teardown,” Gluck didn’t hold back about the Next Gen cars, rolled out in 2022. “I don’t think you can fix it with this car. This car is not designed for short-track racing,” he said. “They’ve tried a bunch of stuff. You can say, ‘Well, if they only added more horsepower. If they only did this.’ It’s this car. It’s the car. The car sucks on short-tracks. Sorry.” His words hit hard—Bristol’s supposed to be wild, with helmet-throwing chaos, but we got nothing. “It’s that nothing happened in the race,” Gluck vented, “Especially considering it’s Bristol, where the whole reputation here is about aggressiveness and all the crazy stuff.”
He’s right—it felt lifeless. No battles, no drama. Gluck’s desperate for change: “Something’s got to change. If everybody says it’s too hard to change or whatever, then just don’t go there, because that’s what you’re doing at this point. You’re just saying, ‘I’m OK with putting out a crap product and trying to convince people to come out there and watch this.’” NASCAR can’t swap cars midseason, so everybody’s stuck for now.
The next short track test is Richmond’s Cook Out 400 in August, with Talladega’s Jack Link’s 500 up next on April 27. Here’s hoping they find a way to bring back the fire.
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