Geoff Bodine breaks down the Cup series ‘overkill’ that RUINED racing

Geoff Bodine claims NASCAR has now become more of a business that fun sports.

Geoff Bodine breaks down the Cup series ‘overkill’ that RUINED racing

Geoff Bodine (Via IMAGO)

The Next-Gen car was introduced into NASCAR in 2022 with the objectives of reducing costs and bringing in more parity to the premier stock car racing division. But the changes meant the teams had very limited stock car parts in the car they could work on and make it better to field faster-racing cars.

Ex-driver and team owner Geoff Bodine, believes these changes have ruined what made NASCAR fun for the old guards of the sport. He pointed out that he has always tried to re-design parts in the past despite knowing that NASCAR would outlaw it for the very next race. But now the situation is different and there isn’t an opportunity for such trial and error practices.

YouTube video
You can change a little bit (on today’s NASCAR Cup cars) but not much, and to us older guys, that’s ruined racing. We always liked to be innovative. I always tried to design something better. Now, NASCAR might outlaw it, which they did a lot, but that was the fun part of racing back then. You could try to make something better. You can’t do it today.
Bodine said, as reported by Autoweek.

Bodine, who was born into a racing family knows how much building cars and racing them mattered in the old days. Innovation was the base from which NASCAR grew and now seeing teams having the limited potential to do the same made him justifiably frustrated.

FS Video

In case you missed it: Denny Hamlin claims his ‘NASCAR heel-turn’ brought in more sponsorship attention [/related_content]

Geoff Bodine explains how the package-car system is an overkill

The 18 times Cup race winner went on to detail why he feels the Next-Gen car’s package system is an issue. He pointed out that teams are now getting fined for a simple mistake of misplacing a nut. Bodine feels NASCAR has turned to just business from a fun sport.

Geoff Bodine
Geoff Bodine (Via IMAGO)
If you don’t put the right bolt in the right place, they have them numbered, you get fined. They tear your car apart and see that you got a nut and a bolt in the wrong place, you’re in trouble. That just sounds overkill. We’d look at a pile of nuts and bolts, pick one out, and put it where it needed to go. They’ve taken a lot of fun out of it, but it’s big business. It’s more business than fun.

Parity in NASCAR is a double-edged sword. Having them allows drivers to have competitive races which the fans could enjoy at the same time cars being too close and not being able to pass each other kills the entertainment. While rules reduce the scope of cheating, it also reduces a possible underdog story with genius innovation.

Discover: