Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Did 90's NASCAR Fans Leave & Never Come Back?

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Did 90's NASCAR Fans Leave & Never Come Back? · Kenny Wallace Media

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  Kyle, how important is it for NASCAR to have a superstar,
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  somebody who transcends the sport, like Richard Petty or
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  Dale Earnhardt or Jeff Gordon, and and do we have one now?
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  And what would it take to get there if we don't?
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  You're looking at him. No, I'm kidding.
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  I think his name's Chase. He's he's the man.
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  So ask him, but yeah, I mean we we don't have for whatever
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  reason, I I'm not sure what it is but you have the diehard fans
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  of NASCAR, of the Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace,
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  Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Harry Gant, you name it, guys
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  from the 90s, mid 90s, late 90s, all of that and our world now
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  today of the 2024 is a lot different fan base of following
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  along. We, I don't feel like we were
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  able to transition a lot of the fans that were fans of those
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  drivers of the names that I just mentioned into a William Byron
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  fan or into a Kyle fan or into whoever.
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  You know they kind of probably went away and just stopped
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  following as much Which is hard to say because honestly like
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  when you look at NASCAR the fans love the drivers like the driver
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  star power. That's what brings people to the
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  racetrack is the drivers. When you look at the NFL for
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  instance those players on that team change so often.
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  You guys think my pit crew names changing every week is is a lot
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  look at the roster changes of of NFL teams and what they do with
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  it, what they go through with their 53 man roster.
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  But fans are are fans of the teams.
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  And a lot of times, you know, I'll throw a name, Jacksonville,
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  for instance, the last few years, like they're coming back
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  because of a Trevor Lawrence, right?
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  They've got somebody back that has brought the team back into
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  the forefront. But before that, their stadiums
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  were empty, you know what I mean?
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  So you can find the same struggles across different
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  sports as what we see sometimes. Kelly Crandall racer.com Kyle, I
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  just want to go back to what you were telling Matt.
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  About how it's. Been here for.
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  You in the. Next Gen. car.
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  How much of that is? The.
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  Feeling of the car being so different from what you were
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  used to here and how much of it is rhythm when it?
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  Comes to to this racetrack and just knowing how you what you
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  want to feel and how you want to be able to run this racetrack.
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  Well, Bristol is a lot of rhythm, but it takes a feel of
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  what you're looking for here as well too.
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  So this car just drives a lot different and the and it drives
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  a lot different because of the limitations in which it's built.
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  You know It just has a different way of of you needing to go
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  about it. And I've learned some of that.
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  But I'm I guess I'm not the best at figuring out how to be better
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  than some of the other drivers or maybe their cars are better
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  than my car. I don't know.
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  It's not like we can swap seats. So you know I I'd always run
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  this place more round. Like I'd always try to make it
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  as much of a circle as I possibly could.
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  And now you kind of run this place in a diamond.
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  You go up to the wall, you try to come off the wall, you go up
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  to the wall in the corner, you come off the wall, you go up to,
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  you know what I mean? So it's, it's more diamond
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  shaped. So it's definitely a different
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  way of running it that seems to be a little bit more of the
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  faster way this day and age. So it's a different technique to
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  get used to. But that's not to say that I I
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  can't do it. It's just a matter of sometimes
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  you can't outrace your own equipment and you've got to go
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  and get what you can get out of it, but nothing more.
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  Jacob Zuman, Race Face Digital. Kyle, I know it's the first time
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  we've been on the concrete here in the spring in a couple years.
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  But with it being a concrete surface at Bristol, do you
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  notice as much of A change compared to other tracks that we
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  visit twice where you've got a daytime race versus the night
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  race when we come back in September?
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  Probably not as much here at Bristol as normal.
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  So I would say that both races here tend to act very much more
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  similar than other places we go to.
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  It's like even Martinsville, the way the gaps are between the
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  asphalt and the concrete, they change from spring to fall.
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  But here, being all concrete and not much temperature variation
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  in the concrete surface itself compared to asphalt, you don't
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  notice as much we'll. Go next to Bob.
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  Bob Parker's Fox Sports had a couple of the first.
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  Have you seen where they've kind of repaved and patched at Coda,
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  and if so, how will that impact the race?
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  I don't think it's going to impact the race any I have seen,
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  yeah, I think they got rid of a bump on the exit of one.
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  I think they did a little bit into the back stretch straight
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  away through is that 12 or 13 and then out of the carousel and
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  into 19. So I don't foresee it changing a
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  whole lot. Like you'll be lack of grip
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  probably through the carousel and then you'll pick up grip on
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  the exit and be able to go much faster through 19.
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  But then out of 19 it's back to the old asphalt and turn 20 is
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  very slow with old asphalt being as slick as it is.
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  So I don't know that it really opens up any more opportunities
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  of passing or anything like that, just smoother surface I'd
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  imagine. And well, we're not expecting
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  any change in horsepower, let's say if NASCAR would were to
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  change the spacer and give you more horsepower, like what else
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  would you need to know? Like would you need to check
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  gearing? Check tires, check the transaxle
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  Like from your kind of mechanical knowledge of the car,
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  like what? What else would need to happen
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  before you could actually go out on the track?
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  I would say the only thing that would be a limiting factor might
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  be the transaxle, but honestly I've never really looked inside
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  one or seen the components of one to see how sturdy the gears
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  are. That would about be the only
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  thing in my book of just knowing whether or not it would
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  withstand the horsepower gain. I would imagine that it would
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  that it wouldn't be that big of a deal because I think extract
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  builds transmissions and such for like off road racing and and
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  things like that where they're over 1000 horsepower.
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  So I'm sure they're used to or at least have experience in that
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  realm of the higher horsepower brakes are fine, we don't blow
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  the tires off enough. I think that's what we're all
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  kind of talking about. We need these things to be
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  faster, going into the corner, utilizing the brakes more,
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  utilizing the tires more, having an opportunity to to OverDrive
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  the cars more, to to burn the tires up and then see guys, you
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  know struggle over a run. Let's go to Matt Weaver and then
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  to Mark Garrow. Matt Weaver Sports not you've
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  had various runs here over the years to where you've been
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  really, really good and this place has changed a ton, whether
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  it's been the the surface or the way the track was cut up on the
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  top or whatever. What are the things that make
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  you good at Bristol And it does. This car and this current
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  version of the track and the resin, Does that give you
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  confidence here given what you've had before?
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  Is it just a completely different place?
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  The car really changes a lot for it for me.
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  You know we won here with this car on the dirt surface, but I
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  would say that since we've been bringing the new next Gen. to
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  the concrete surface, I have not found my way with it yet.
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  You know, So had definitely had a a way with understanding this
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  place and and having a a sense of setup and how to drive it and
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  whatnot with the old stuff but not with the new stuff.
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  So we'll see what what happens here this weekend with with our
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  #8 fico Chevrolet. Looking forward to the truck
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  race. It's been a long time since I've
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  been in a truck here. I think the last time was 17
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  when I won. So certainly be nice to to come
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  out here and you know, go back to Victory Lane with one of
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  those. And I know you have a lot of
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  affinity and respect for Bubba Pollard and he's going to make
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  his Xfinity debut here in a couple of weeks.
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  What does that mean to NASCAR, the short track industry, To
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  have him get a chance and tell his story to this crowd and
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  audience? Yeah, no, I love it.
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  I I, you know, a guy that works as hard as he does and and does
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  as much on his own as he does. I mean he's he's a really smooth
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  guy. I've raced against him a lot and
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  we've had some really good battles.
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  We've always been cordial with one another.
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  I think the only time was one of the younger kids that was racing
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  for me he punted him out of the way at I think it was Alabama
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  one time at a race down there and he said, well that's what
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  Kyle would do and I called him and I'm like bro, when have I
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  ever done that to you? Like come on man.
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  And so you know we we've always had a a good relationship.
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  So I respect the hell out of him for what what he does and he's
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  honestly one of the best, definitely one of the best from
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  the South in the Super late model ranks.
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  I've raced against a lot of greats, you know, out on the
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  West Coast, up in the Northeast, Midwest.
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  A lot of different names that that always come come to mind
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  all. Right.
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  We'll go to Mark Lee Spencer and then Dustin Long.
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  Mark, Arrow, PRN, Kyle, good afternoon.
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  Last year you seemed to get off to such a quick start.
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  How would you categorize what's happened this year in the
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  opening part of the year? Yeah, I would say, I mean the
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  clash was great. We ran really well there.
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  Daytona, we were fast. If I would have chose a
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  different line on a restart, we probably would have had a a top
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  four at Daytona for sure. Atlanta coming oh so close there
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  with you know just need a couple inches to win that thing And
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  then you know Vegas we're really fast.
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  We're probably one of the only guys that could keep up with
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  Kyle tiny Kyle and you know we had a a great shot there and
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  then just you know pit Rd. was our demise and then last week
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  obviously just not very good in general with the short track
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  stuff still we've we've I I didn't we've tried everything so
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  I don't even know where to go next with with what we do next
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  but we'll see with some new ideas if anything works here at
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  Bristol being as though it's it's a short track race but it's
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  definitely still the different aero package but yeah I mean
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  we've we've come to find what our strengths are and what our
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  middle ground is and where our weaknesses are for sure.
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  So we we keep trying to improve on all of them.
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  Is the pit crew still an unsettled situation or do you
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  think you've got the pieces now going to let them kind of work
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  their way through it and smooth everything out?
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  I would say it's still unsettled.
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  Obviously. You know the the proof is in
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  your results, right? You're only as good as your last
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  race, as our US drivers tend to say.
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  So you're only as good as your last stop I guess as a pit crew
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  guy should say. But I know everybody at the shop
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  and and all of our CR is working hard on trying to figure
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  something out and and get through it with the resources
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  that we have. And you know each week we'll
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  we'll keep trying to fine tune the the personnel and and make
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  the best that we can out of the situation.
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  We got to have at least decent stops.
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  You know, my thing is it's like they're either the defense or
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  the special teams unit, whatever.
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  However you want to look at that right when you come down Pit Rd.
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  I've been saying it the last couple years since we've been
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  racing this car. The easiest time to pass people
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  is when they're sitting still. It's when they're in their pit
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  box. And so we can't be the ones that
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  were that are always getting past, you know, we need to hold
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  our own. Right.
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  We're going to try to get in four more questions for Kyle
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  here. So we're going to go to Lee,
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  we're going to go to Dustin, Chris and finish with Kelly.
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  Lee Spencer SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and Catch fence.com Your
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  teammate Austin Dillon was talking last week about making
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  the tire tread or the, you know, the width of the tire smaller.
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  He said it would make you guys feel like you have more speed
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  with the new short track package.
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  And I'm kind of curious whether or not you follow that
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  philosophy and how do you think that that package will react at
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  Richmond. Yeah, I mean I can see where
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  he's coming from. I think we've all kind of said
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  that when the tire got wider, we all knew it was going to produce
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  more grip. We all expected it to be softer.
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  So it would wear and it would wear out and then you would
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  have, you know, less grip over the course of a run and have
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  some fall off. But unfortunately we we haven't
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  seen that. You know, we haven't seen that
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  softer compound yet. We saw last year here at this
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  race in particular where guys stayed out on 60-70 lap tires,
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  went to the rest of the way on the first stage and and won the
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  stage. You know, guys were finishing in
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  the top ten by staying out. So you don't want to have tire
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  blowouts. I I get that.
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  I I understand Goodyear's sake on that on that part.
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  But you know, I think when we have had softer tires in the
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  past and we had had blowouts, that's because they were softer
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  because they wore out because we punished them.
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  You know, so like you're you're kind of to your own demise in a
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  sense, but I guess tires not holding air probably don't sell
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  well on Monday. So and how you think at having
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  driven this package at Phoenix? Do you think that it'll help the
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  racing at Richmond? No, no, no.
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  The the problem starts at the front of the car.
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  The the, the splitter and the way the air is and everything
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  that we all do for for set up stuff to make these things rely
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  on the air as much as they do. That's the problem.
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  They they, I think they went about it.
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  It's a funny way to say it backwards.
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  There's another way of saying that I'll leave it for another
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  day, but they start at the back of the car, That's not the
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  problem. It's at the front of the car.
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  So that's it. Thank.
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  You, Dustin Long NBC Sports with with all the talk about this
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  could be changed or this could be changed or this could be
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  changed. I'm curious what are today's
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  fans not able to see you do that you could have done with your
• 13:37
  with you what? How you could have displayed
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  your talents 10 years ago and 15 years ago in the car.
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  What? How?
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  I mean, what is this Kyle Busch that that fans are seeing now
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  and how much is this not the 100% Kyle Busch that that we
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  could have seen 10 years ago? Is it that much difference or or
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  no? No, I get what you're saying.
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  I feel as though that when the teams were able to build the
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  cars with the manufacturers and they were able to design them
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  the way they wanted to design them, you had particular teams
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  that would really focus on chassis build.
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  They would work on their front clips, they'd work on their rear
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  clips, they'd work on their bodies, they'd work on their
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  engines. You had a lot more feasibility
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  and where you wanted to dump your resources.
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  Did you want super Speedway cars?
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  Did you want intermediate cars? Did you want short track cars?
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  Rd. course cars? You get it right.
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  So now we all have the same Legos and it's just about how
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  you assemble the Legos, which apparently we're not smart
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  enough yet at the short track Legos to have that program
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  science doubt. But you know, you you also, for
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  me Anyways, I feel like the practice limitations that have
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  been set forth, I don't have time to work through and dissect
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  the car as much as I once did of being able to go through
• 14:47
  practices, look at the data, go through another practice, you
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  know, go through qualifying, go through weeks of being able to
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  do that to build on your program and to and to give that feedback
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  to the team and the engineers and everybody back in the shop
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  to make your stuff better. So I I would say that that's
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  probably a a a big part of it. And forgive me, but I'll just
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  talk about simulation and how far it's come and how you've
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  seen it come through your years with what you talked about not
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  being able to get that feel and in practice and so forth.
• 15:16
  Why can't that be done in simulation?
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  Or where is simulation falls short that it prevents you from
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  getting that or helping make you even better in a practice
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  situation. I would say that there's there's
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  nothing like the real thing. There's nothing like the Asphalt
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  Dino, as my dad would always say, and going to the racetrack
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  with your stuff and competing against the rest of the
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  competitors to see where your shortcomings are.
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  So, I mean, this is a dumb analogy, but the the smartest
• 15:45
  robot in the world will never be what a human is, You know what I
• 15:49
  mean? Like it takes a human to build
• 15:51
  that robot. So there's going to be way too
• 15:52
  many circumstances that would come about to make SIM life what
• 15:58
  real life is.