Senior NASCAR official believes Next Gen short track package not as bad as people make it out to be

A lot has been said about NASCAR's short track package with the new Next Gen Cup car. Many fans, as well as key members of the fraternity such as analysts and broadcasters, have been critical of how the seventh generation Cup Series car has performed on the sport's short tracks.

With superspeedways consisting of wide-open throttle for the entirety of the lap, as well as intermediate tracks, NASCAR's heritage harps back to short 0.5-mile-long tracks such as Martinsville Speedway years back. With the governing body forming an opinion contrary to what several fans have in the sport currently, it was only a matter of time before a senior official had to come out with an announcement.

NASCAR’s Managing Director of Racing Communications, Mike Forde has done just that on the latest episode of the NASCAR on NBC Podcast. Speaking about how people have been critical of the Next Gen car on tracks such as Martinsville, Forde elaborated:

"We think that there can be improvement. We think that it’s not as bad and the sky’s not falling as hard and as quickly as some of the commentary has been. The Richmond race was probably the best Richmond race we have seen in years. Martinsville left a little bit to be desired, but we’ve all seen that type of Martinsville race. I don’t think that was nearly as bad as some have suggested."

Speaking on the contrary to what popular belief is within the sports' followers, Mike Forde elaborated on how one can get caught up with unrealistic expectations in motorsports. Forde's views on the short track package, however, is sure to leave fans divided.

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What do prominent personalities in the media world think of NASCAR's short track package?

Motorsports writer at The Athletic and a prominant media personality in the world of stock car racing, Jeff Gluck seemed to disagree with Mike Forde's analysis of the sport's current short track package.

Speaking for a large fanbase, Gluck could not highlight what exactly was the cause of the problem.

He elaborated:

"I think the short tracks have definitely been lacking. I don’t know how to quantify it, but I’m not getting what I want to see out of them to the point where it feels like a big step backwards and it hurts because that’s what should be NASCAR’s bread and butter."

While there seem to be no reports on any changes to the short track package, the sport is returning from a week-long break this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway.