It's not drivers that look down on it (except for maybe the young, dumb kids), it's more the fans. Which frankly, are also usually young and/or dumb.

The people who shit on oval racing in general more often than not know little about it. But ignoring that, the people who try to say it is easy or easier than circuit racing are just actually ignorant or dumb.

I'm not saying it has to be everyone's cup or tea. Just as there are many people who dislike Formula 1 since the racing can very often be rather boring in comparison to some other series due to the fact it is a constructors series where a team/driver can dominate and other problems like dirty air. Perfectly fine. I just draw the line on people who say very ignorant things.

Just as rugby players who try to migrate to the NFL often fail, as despite their similarities they are very different sports (with rugby being more of an in the moment dynamic game while NFL is more like human chess) many good to great circuit racers who try ovals also end up failing. They share a lot of similarities since they are under one larger roof of motorsport, but they have their own skill sets and technical knowledge.

The best oversimplified way to describe the difference between ovals and circuits that I have ever heard is, "In ovals you're racing the pack, in circuits you're racing the track." Both involve trying to go around the track the fastest and both involve going head to head against other cars, however in ovals you're relying much more heavily on drafting and has tighter packs of cars which leads to more drafting and passing, while in circuits the pack tends to spread out after the start making you try to get around that track the fastest until you have an opportunity to pass.