NASCAR Drivers Crawl at 175 MPH to Save Fuel at Talladega as Phoenix Ratings Sink to 1.2 Million
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 26
NASCAR Drivers Crawl at 175 MPH to Save Fuel at Talladega as Phoenix Ratings Sink to 1.2 Million
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 26
Summary
Stage I at Talladega turned into a fuel-saving crawl, with most of the field backing off the pace to avoid an extra stop under a setup drivers openly mocked over team radio.
The problem stemmed from NASCAR’s Next Gen car and superspeedway stage lengths, which Denny Hamlin said make the cars ill-suited to run flat-out for the distance without running dry.
That sequence overshadowed an otherwise chaotic YellaWood 500 that ended with Kyle Larson charging from 11th to first for the win, while Joey Logano flipped and Riley Herbst took a heavy hit but was later OK.
The column argues the spectacle is part of a broader slump for NASCAR, pointing to Phoenix’s audience of 1.2 million and blaming limited network-TV exposure, a playoff calendar against the NFL, and fan frustration with the Next Gen car.