"Jeff Gordon broke through; Is there that guy today?": Kenny Wallace podcasters make opinion clear on NASCAR's casual fans strategy

NASCAR viewership has been declining for more than a decade and the sanctioning body has made some changes to attract more casual fans. It made a seven-year deal with TNT and Amazon to move the Cup Series races to streaming starting in 2025.

During the latest podcast on Kenny Wallace's YouTube, Charlie Marlow and sports reporter, Eric Messersmith discussed the need for personalities like Jeff Gordon, who gained popularity outside the sport.

"I always liked Jeff Gordon because everybody else hated him, and I thought it was cool. Like, here's this guy who's not one of the good old boys, he's kind of the pretty boy. So, the drama, the tension, the personalities, who are the really, really big dynamic ones? Jeff Gordon broke through; people knew who he was outside of NASCAR. Same thing with Dale Earnhardt, obviously, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Is there that guy today?" Messersmith said (05:05 onwards).

Marlow agreed that the sport needs big, dynamic personalities to attract casual fans and mentioned JR Motorsports owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. as one of NASCAR's most popular.

"The biggest superstar in NASCAR is still Dale Earnhardt Jr and he's about 49 or 50 years old. He hasn't really run a Cup race in however many years. He'll run about one Xinity race every year," Marlow said (06:26).

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"Whatever they can do to speed up the pace" - Sports reporter on making NASCAR races interesting

Radio show host and reporter, Eric Messersmith suggested that NASCAR could make races more exciting by shortening them. During the same video, he pointed out that the 'casual' fans want more action and less waiting, like avoiding long delays during NASCAR races.

"There is good action in NASCAR. I've seen some exciting finishes, but there's also a lot of, 'Okay, we're on lap 186 of, you know, 250, and here comes another caution. Now we'll drive around the track for 25 minutes till everybody gets good and they clean up,'" Messersmith said (14:41 onwards).

"I'm just saying, whatever they can do to speed up the pace and bring the action, I think would make it more interesting," he added.

NASCAR's TV ratings and attendance dropped in the late 2000s and big sponsors pulled back or left in the 2010s. The sanctioning body's efforts to attract casual fans upset loyal fans after the playoff format was introduced in 2014 and stage racing in 2017.

NASCAR shifted the exhibition to the Los Angeles Coliseum for three years. The Cook Out Clash will move to the oval short track in Bowman-Gray Stadium this weekend.