The NBA has LeBron James, MLB has Shohei Ohtani, the NFL has Patrick Mahomes, and NASCAR? That’s where the shoe pinches. Unlike the sport’s golden era, when Dale Earnhardt ruled the track with an iron fist, NASCAR today lacks personalities who can captivate the masses and transcend the sport.
While controversial figures like Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain certainly help, according to veteran racer Kenny Wallace, NASCAR needs more magnetic personalities like Kevin “Happy” Harvick to bridge the gap between the old guard and the new generation of fans. In a recent message, the dirt racing fanatic delivered a reality check about the sport’s character conundrum.
Kenny Wallace Weighs In on NASCAR’s Star Power Problem
Numbers don’t lie, and let’s face it. NASCAR is facing a personality crisis like never before. While declining viewership and fan dissatisfaction can largely be attributed to the organization’s new policies, highly controversial playoff structure, and Next-Gen hardware, the sport today lacks icons like “The Intimidator,” Jeff Gordon, Tony “Smoke” Stewart, or the ever-charming Dale Earnhardt Jr. to draw fans back into the stands.
Imagine where NASCAR would be without “The Intimidator.” Or, for a more recent example, consider the UFC without Conor McGregor. Both names brought in fans from near and far, cementing their promotions on the global stage. And Wallace, for one, clearly recognizes NASCAR’s missing spark, for a sport known for its hard racing and rowdyism on the track.
Reflecting on the glaring issue, the 62-year-old left no punches pulled, noting, “You gotta point. I’ve always said. @NASCAR drivers are not exciting. We need @KevinHarvick jumping on the hood of Greg Biffles car again. Kevin Harvick in Ricky Rudds face again.”
Responding to a fan tweet, Wallace opined that for NASCAR to navigate the tough times, the sport needs wild personalities like Harvick and more confrontations reminiscent of the 2002 Harvick–Biffle clash.
Earlier last month, Bubba Wallace echoed similar sentiments. During an exclusive interview with Jeff Gluck, the 2025 Brickyard 400 winner gave a real-world scenario, “We are very inside of our own four walls, and that’s it.”
Taking the case of Formula One, he continued, “I’m not sure on that, because you can take (Formula One drivers) Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen and drop them anywhere in the world and people go crazy, right? You drop myself or Chase Elliott or Ryan Blaney in London and no one knows who we are. You drop us in New York City and maybe we get one or two people, right?”
While Netflix’s feature “NASCAR: Full Speed” is a step in the right direction, bringing more eyes to the sport, NASCAR’s popularity still lags behind giants like F1. And like the experts opine, magnetic personalities may be the key to bridging that gap.