Kenny Wallace raises concern about what’s really pushing kids away from NASCAR

In the latest episode of Coffee with Kenny, NASCAR veteran Kenny Wallace opened up about how kids aren’t connecting with racing like they used to. Speaking from his home, the former racer posed the question, "When was the last time you saw a teenager or a 20-year-old kid love racing?" which hits at the core of stock car grassroots.

The statement wasn’t just rhetorical. It was a challenge aimed at the evolution of racing culture, both on and off the track. Kenny Wallace started as a mechanic for his father Russell Wallace Sr. in the 1980s and has spent four decades around the sport.

In the most recent edition of his popular video series, he stated that the very fabric of racetrack culture has changed. Wallace posted the video on X, asking his followers:

"When was the last time you saw a teenager or a 20-year-old kid love racing? I go to the racetrack more than you, and you know that, and when you see a young kid working on a race car the whole..goes: What's that kid's name? Why does he like racing?...Now, you are gonna respond, you know Joe' and 'Bob' and 'Bill' has got a kid, but I am talking when was the last time you saw a kid, really enthusiastic?" [0:42 onwards]

His central argument was that today’s cars are no longer something kids can work on, break apart, or fall in love with. The days of crawling under a car with a 9/16" metric wrench and a dream are long gone, replaced by computerized diagnostics and $500,000 toolboxes. And with that, Wallace argued, a whole generation has been left out of the racing conversation.

For Kenny Wallace, it’s not just about the Cup Series. It’s the local tracks, Tri-City Speedway in Illinois and Federated Auto Parts Raceway in Pevely, Missouri, where he sees this shift most clearly. He noted that even in beginner-friendly divisions like the compact car class, the drivers are almost all grown men. The young high school gearheads and tinkerers are nearly extinct.

The former Furniture Row Racing driver went on to compare the past to the present, painting a vivid picture of when car maintenance was a family tradition.

"My friends, that was called service. You just serviced your vehicle. You did an oil change, put plugs on it. Sometimes you might put a new rotor button, rotor cap, plug wires, and you felt good about yourself. That right there, when they quit doing that, that's when we lost the kids. Nowadays, if I need anything done to my car, I can't do it," Kenny Wallace added [4:42 onwards].

This isn't a problem exclusive to Kenny Wallace's corner of the world. At entry-level divisions in short-track series, most cars are owned and driven by adults with disposable income. The affordability and simplicity that once defined local racing have been buried under rising costs and increasingly complex vehicles.

NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr looks under the hood of his car after blowing an engine at Talladega- Source: Imagn

In the past, legends like Dale Earnhardt or even Tony Stewart got their start at local dirt tracks, wrenching on their own late models. Now, even drivers in the ARCA Menards Series arrive with driver development programs and full-time engineers and data analysts.

"You just don't see kids in the pits anymore": Kenny Wallace questions the future of NASCAR fandom

Kyle Larson's #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet being prepped in the garage area. Source: Getty

Kenny Wallace suggested the disconnect is emotional as much as it is technical. He felt that the pride in tinkering, in building something yourself, is fading and so is that pride used to fuel fandom and lifelong loyalty to the sport. Without it, Wallace fears NASCAR could lose its next generation of not just drivers but fans.

"You just don't see kids in the pits anymore... If you see a 24-year-old kid that loves NASCAR, show me," he questioned in his show [9:54 onwards].

The technological progression of everyday vehicles from carburetors to computer modules has made it nearly impossible for a young person to learn basic mechanics. As Kenny Wallace pointed out, when a modern car breaks down, it often requires a specialized scan tool to even diagnose the issue. That sense of ownership and hands-on learning, he argued, is getting lost.

Even within NASCAR, the changes are evident. The Next Gen Cup cars are technological marvels, but their design has moved further away from accessibility. Blown engines aren’t pulled apart and diagnosed in the garage. They are scanned with laptops and interpreted through data logs.

Sim racing and driver development programs have their place, and they’re producing talented racers. But Wallace argued that without a mechanical relationship with cars, the pipeline is missing a vital spark. Not every kid has access to a simulator or a $200,000 karting season.

Kenny Wallace’s call to action is clear, if NASCAR wants racing to survive and grow, it’s time to bring the kids back into the garage and make it more accessible for them.