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SPARTA, KY – JUNE 29: Kenny Wallace, driver of the #99 American Ethanol\/Family Farmers Toyota, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Feed The Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway on June 29, 2012 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt\/Getty Images for NASCAR)<\/p>\n
Retired NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace added fresh context to the ongoing conversation about NASCAR\u2019s direction, pointing to clear decisions that shaped the sport over the last two decades.<\/p>\n
Speaking on a recent episode of his \u201cCoffee with Kenny<\/a>\u201d video series, Wallace said<\/a> NASCAR leadership has finally acknowledged the impact of past decisions. He described a sport that no longer avoids mistakes, but openly recognizes them.<\/p>\n Wallace focused on track development, fan access, and pricing decisions, explaining how those areas changed racing and weakened the bond with fans. His comments stayed grounded in what already happened and what NASCAR says it plans to do next as it prepares for 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n Kenny Wallace says NASCAR leadership acknowledges past mistakes<\/p>\n Wallace said NASCAR has reached a stage where it understands the consequences of earlier decisions, even if that understanding came late. He explained that those outcomes only became clear after the damage was done.<\/p>\n \u201cThey realized what happened. It took them a while, and they definitely made some decisions that were not the way to go, Wallace said.\u201d \u201cYou don\u2019t know that until you messed up, but it takes a mature businessperson to say, \u2018I\u2019ll never do that again.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n According to Kenny Wallace, NASCAR expanded quickly without fully measuring the long-term effects. Leadership focused on growth, attendance, and scale, which reshaped the schedule and the racing product. Over time, those changes altered how races played out and how fans connected with the sport.<\/p>\n Wallace framed the current moment as one of acceptance. He said NASCAR now listens more than it once did and no longer treats criticism as background noise.<\/p>\n Track expansion and the loss of short tracks<\/p>\n Kenny Wallace identified track expansion as the first major mistake. He said NASCAR leaned heavily into building mile-and-a-half tracks while stepping away from tracks that produced close racing and strong reactions from fans.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing NASCAR did badly was they built too many big mile-and-a-half racetracks, Kenny Wallace said.\u201d \u201cWe had the perfect tracks. We had Atlanta, we had Rockingham, and then all of a sudden they said, \u2018We\u2019ve got such a big crowd, we need more seats,\u2019 so they built bigger racetracks.\u201d<\/p>\n That shift came with tradeoffs.<\/p>\n \u201cThey got rid of Rockingham<\/a>. They got rid of Wilksboro, Wallace said.\u201d \u201cThey left the tracks that were exciting, where you get into each other, where the fans recognized it, and they were on their feet.\u201d<\/p>\n Wallace explained that intermediate tracks limit how drivers race.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t get into each other on those big mile-and-a-half racetracks, or else you\u2019re out,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s admit it. They\u2019re not as exciting as a Rockingham. Those finishes were awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n Ticket pricing, fan access, and plans ahead<\/p>\n Kenny Wallace said NASCAR\u2019s growth period also changed how fans accessed race weekends<\/a>. He pointed to bundled ticket pricing as a move that frustrated core supporters.<\/p>\n \u201cThey got greedy, Kenny said.\u201d \u201cYou had to buy one ticket for everything. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and the fans are like, \u2018Man, we just want to show up Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the model boosted revenue but hurt the connection.<\/p>\n \u201cThey made a lot of money, but they spent too much money, Wallace said.\u201d \u201cThere\u2019s got to be a balance.\u201d<\/p>\n Kenny Wallace said NASCAR now understands the effect of those choices and the response from fans. \u201cThey have been humbled mightily, he said, adding, NASCAR has been humbled mightily, and I know for a fact they hear y\u2019all.\u201d<\/p>\n Kenny Wallace said NASCAR plans to rebuild trust by engaging directly with fans. \u201cThey are going to go on tour in 2026, and they\u2019re gonna make it right, he said.\u201d<\/p>\n Wallace added that he would take part in that effort if asked. \u201cIf NASCAR calls me, I will help them, he said.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019ve got to repair NASCAR.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a sports writer who covers NASCAR, Formula 1 and IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. With bylines at Total Apex Sports and Last Word on Sports, Wilberforce has built a reputation for delivering timely, engaging coverage that blends sharp analysis with accessible storytelling. Wilberforce has covered everything from major football transfers to fight-night drama, bringing readers the insight and context behind the headlines. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on NASCAR\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty SPARTA, KY – JUNE 29: Kenny Wallace, driver of the #99 American Ethanol\/Family Farmers Toyota, stands in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-373013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}