Kenny Wallace labels calls to scrap the Next-Gen car as 'stupid talk', citing Denny Hamlin's concerns over affordability

Kenny Wallace has weighed in on the controversial issue of race quality at Bristol. Wallace believes the call to scrap the Next-Gen cars is “stupid talk," citing Denny Hamlin’s concerns about the affordability of running a NASCAR Cup Series team at 23XI.

Wallace is a former NASCAR driver who amassed nine wins in the Xfinity Series. The 61-year-old racing driver called out critics of the Next-Gen cars following the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, where drivers struggled to make a pass. The night race was dominated by race winner Kyle Larson, who led 462 out of the 500 laps.

The Missouri native is against the idea of getting rid of the Gen 7 cars, which were just introduced two years ago. Here's what he said in a video that he posted on his YouTube channel:

“Here’s the way I look at it. We have raced all year long and the races have been fantastic. We have one bad race at Bristol and all of a sudden, ‘Let’s get rid of the car!’” (2:16)

The 61-year-old referenced Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin, who argued that modifying the Next-Gen car would be impractical for the teams.

“And like Denny Hamlin said, we cannot afford any more changes. So Denny Hamlin, who races right now, he, yesterday on Action Detrimental, he says I’m a car owner. He owns Bubba Wallace’s car and Tyler Reddick’s. ‘We don’t need any more changes. The teams can’t afford it,'" Wallace said (3:14).

Kenny Wallace had strong words against the critics, saying:

“So this thought process of ‘we just going to get rid of a billion dollars worth of race cars and start over’, that’s complete bulls**t. That ain’t never going to happen. That’s stupid talk.” (3:33)

According to NASCAR insiders TJ Majors, Freddie Kraft, and Brett Griffin, the NASCAR Next-Gen cars are “too easy” to drive. This resulted in an uneventful Round of 16 finale race as not a lot of passing and wrecks were witnessed.

The action will return at Kansas Speedway for the first race of the Round of 12 scheduled on September 29.

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Kenny Wallace won’t change his mind about the Bristol night race

Despite criticism, Kenny Wallace maintained that Bristol was a “great race.” In an episode of "Coffee with Kenny," he didn't hesitate to criticize “old and angry” fans, who slammed the race for being uneventful.

“As a racecar driver, I'm watching the art of these guys racing. Was the race boring? That's an eye-beholder. I call you all the old fans, the fans that are upset, but you call yourselves legacy fans now. Is that a clean version of fans that are old and angry?” Wallace said (3:42).

“I do not agree with you and just to irritate you a little bit, not going to change my mind. Oh! That pisses you off? Not going to change my mind.”

The Bass Pro Shops Night Race only had five cautions and eight lead changes among four drivers. This contrasts with an earlier stop at The World's Fastest Half-Mile this year, the Food City 500, which had nine cautions and 54 lead changes among 16 drivers.