"That is a b*tch" - NASCAR veteran blasts NBC Sports over blackout during Indy Cup race

NASCAR veteran Kenny Wallace recently criticized NBC Sports for blacking out during the Brickyard 400. NASCAR returned to the historic oval for a Cup race after three years of racing at the road course.

Kenny Wallace's NASCAR career spanned 25 years, during which he raced in all three divisions. Although the 60-year-old remained winless in his time racing in the Truck and Cup Series, his stint in the Xfinity Series brought him 9 race wins, with his first win coming at the Volusia Speedway Park in 1991.

NASCAR's return to the Indianapolis Oval for the first Brickyard 400 since 2020 was marked by two coverage blackouts during the race. The first blackout occurred early in the race. Joe Biden, the President, declared he would not be seeking the presidency in the upcoming term. As a result, NBC decided to cover Biden's breaking news instead of the Brickyard 400.

The second blackout occurred in the race's final stages, right before double overtime, with Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney battling to win the crown jewel event, as a result of the race hitting its time limit on NBC Sports coverage. The viewers were updated about this development via a post on NASCAR on NBC's X handle.

Kenny Wallace offered his thoughts on the outage, pointing out that the network change might have caused issues for viewers at home. He said:

"It is unfair of the people that are sitting with normal TV and they go, 'Oh sorry we're going to go over to the USA Network', that is a b*tch, and I don't like that. So there needs to be a rule made about that." [00:56]

"If you start the race on NBC, it's gotta finish on NBC. Moving over to these other networks, not everybody got the same. Not everybody got what they need to have," Wallace added. [01:25]

Hendrick Motorsports #5 driver Kyle Larson, who led 167 laps, drove down victory lane at the Indianapolis Oval. 23XI driver Tyler Reddick came in at P2, followed by Ryan Blaney, the winner of last Sunday's Ponoco race.

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"He was going to win anyway" - Kenny Wallace believes Kyle Busch could have won NASCAR's return to Indy Oval

Richard Childress Racing's driver, Kyle Busch, has had a season full of troubles. He retired from the cup race at Pocono last weekend, following contact with Corey LaJoie. Unfortunately, Busch met with a similar fate at IMS.

The 39-year-old was running P6 when he tried to make a pass on Denny Hamlin. However, he went on to make contact with the #11, which spun him out into the wall with three laps to go. This incident sent the Brickyard 400 into overtime.

Kenny Wallace felt that, had it not been for the incident, Busch, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, would have emerged victorious. Here's what he said:

"Kyle Busch bus was the fastest car. He was going to come winning anyway. Those boys were out there on fuel miles, they was up front on fuel miles. Kyle pitted, and he was the fastest car." [03:57]

Kyle Busch ended the Brickyard 400 in P25, making his path to the playoffs even more difficult.