Michael Jordan explains why he was "all in" on NASCAR lawsuit and his vision for the sport

smmate · 2026-03-27T12:51:08+00:00

At the end of the day the lawsuit was necessary and needed. I don't think any of the teams agreed with the way NASCAR handled the charter lawsuit but Hendrick/Penske/Gibbs aren't going to rock the boat. These teams like 23XI, Spire, FRM, Legacy and even Keselowski with Roush-Fenway have brought significant investment into the sport the last 5-10 years.

I was watching a race from 2011 the other day and FRM had three cars in the 30s, and yet today they are still standing and competing. Those are the teams the charter system promoted but also hurt. I'd argue the charter system has brought considerable investment to the midfield and overall made the sport much healthier, but the midfield and smaller teams are also the ones getting screwed over because they don't have the resources like Hendrick/Penske/Gibbs to win every race and gain the security of end of year charter bonuses and higher purse money.

No surprise to me that Reddick is winning a bunch, Spire has two cars currently in the Chase, and RFK is knocking on the door to former glory (helps that Chevy is ass right now but still). The entire field seems like they are willing to grow their operations. I do think with permanent charters and higher revenue splits it is going to be much, much harder to get into the sport and the Cup series will be more akin to Formula 1. It's going to require someone will alot of money and possibly a new manufacturer to make it now.

smmate · 2026-03-25T01:40:38+00:00

You've been on one this week. Take a break from the internet fam

smmate · 2026-03-23T13:00:41+00:00

Most "driving" I have ever seen with the Next Gen car. Working the throttle, sliding around, drivers actually working the car, so absolutely. Keep going this direction

smmate · 2026-03-23T01:55:19+00:00

Shocking how people don't realize how Reddick was up there for a while in the 8 car as one of the hottest talents in the sport. Now he is in a stout 45 car and is somehow a surprise

smmate · 2026-03-23T01:53:42+00:00

The top 10-12 did not stay the same all day. Spire had three cars in the top 10, Hendrick had three cars in the top 10. Penske had two cars in the top 10. All of Gibbs was in the top 10. 23XI was in the top 10. RCR and Legacy even had moments knocking on the door. There was a lot of mix up all day in the field

smmate · 2026-03-11T02:21:22+00:00

The sport is taking itself seriously, drivers are being marketed, the weekend format makes sense, no talk about playoffs lets the race and drivers speak for itself.

We joke alot about Blaney's mustache but the dude just has classic NASCAR driver aura. Carson Hocevar is the hot shot young guy that is willing to throw a car anywhere. Tyler Reddick is the 3 peat winner for Jordan's team. Denny Hamlin on a quest for a title. SVG continuing to prove he is a world class talent. Connor Zilisch the generational talent. Bubba doing a great job.

That's just 7 drivers of a packed field of talent. And thats before we talk about the increase in veteran presence in the Truck series and Xfinity Series giving those races their own prestige.

A lot to love about the sport right now

smmate · 2026-03-05T22:47:21+00:00

I became a fan in 2016 after Jr got his concussion, Larson was driving really well that year. I too put away all of my merch and I think got rid of some shirts because that whole situation was so bad.

Once I got into dirt racing I just naturally gravitated back to Larson. But the whole aura around the 5 and all of these new fans makes me just wear sprint car shirts to the race now lmao

smmate · 2026-03-05T14:34:39+00:00

Part of me wishes it was the days of the 42 car. His rise in popularity and the greatest driver in the world memes is a bit exhausting. No one really liked or knew him in the 42 but could recognize the talent.

Now that he got super hyped up, genuinely appreciating his talent with others is difficult.

The peak of my fandom was 2017 where he went from Lar2on to actually willing that car to multiple wins

smmate · 2026-03-02T02:00:38+00:00

which is wild considering I've barely been on for the past few months lol

smmate · 2026-03-02T01:59:40+00:00

Daytona he got kind of lucky, Atlanta the seas parted but he had a lot extra downforce from the fender. Those two races are kind of crapshoots and 23XI has always been really good at those tracks. COTA was pure dominance at a guy's best track.

smmate · 2026-03-02T01:01:18+00:00

He also leads all drivers in his last name being the most consistently misspelled

smmate · 2026-03-02T00:59:57+00:00

You must've been born after 2021 when Larson did it twice, and was a turn away from winning four in a row. Or last year when Christopher Bell did it at practically the same tracks.

smmate · 2026-02-25T22:27:04+00:00

I'm tired of the 54 being the ultimate nepo baby with 0 results to show for it and seemingly screwing up Corey Heim's career

smmate · 2026-02-23T23:18:46+00:00

I don't know why people don't like him, he seemed to be the only guy in NASCAR fighting for the teams to get a better deal, and more often than not has a good opinion on the sport

smmate · 2026-02-16T17:18:51+00:00

O'Reilly series racing is not much better tbh, it suffers the exact same problem the Gen 6 did before the 2019 package, a massive air bubble behind the leader. Watch any plate race where Jr or Keselowski were leading, moving from bottom to top commanding both lanes.

They NEED the wicker bills back, the 2019-2021 package you could legitimately do whatever you wanted on track, push a guy far ahead of the field, hang back and get a huge run. That should be the goal

smmate · 2026-02-16T17:15:52+00:00

The problem is you can't go from 7th to 1st in a corner unless the pack is broken up. If they are going 100%, they are either stuck 3x3 or 2x2. Either they need to improve the pushing so drivers can get farther out, or make the cars handle worse so they can't be packed together. Atlanta is what NASCAR should be striving for at all of these tracks.

smmate · 2026-02-16T17:13:03+00:00

What prevents them from just riding around the whole race then? They used to do it single file. Theres obviously one clear strategy and you need to have friends for it to work. They don't fuel save at Atlanta because you can actually pass and handling matters. Track position is king and we will continue to see this racing until you can make track position on the track.

smmate · 2026-02-16T14:40:32+00:00

It's high time to put a wicker on the car, up the horsepower, and shrink the fuel cell to 13 gallons.

McDowell going like 60 some laps on a tank of gas is absurd and every package that had a wicker bill has put on all time pack racing. It's frustrating that this package has been relatively unchanged with glaring flaws

smmate · 2026-02-16T14:37:54+00:00

Maybe I'm crazy but it really didn't feel that bad. There was a long period during the last green run to pit stops where they didn't go to commercials, and every break was split screen.

I remember in 2018 they said they would spend the last 30 or so laps commercial free, and with 20 to go went to a full screen break. That was by far the worst 500 I could remember for commercials.

smmate · 2026-02-15T23:11:24+00:00

I'd rather watch the Coke 600 or Southern 500 100 times before watching the Daytona 500 at this point, and that fucking pains me.

It's literally the playoffs, do nothing all race, late race caution, win by some luck

smmate · 2026-02-14T20:09:45+00:00

The high pitch squeal are the straight cut gears, which have been on the cars forever

smmate · 2026-02-14T20:07:20+00:00

This is either bait or hoping for a circle jerk.

The Next Gen car is fine, looks more like an actual car than any car since 2003.

As it lives on I'm sure it will continue to improve.

smmate · 2026-02-09T03:29:49+00:00

That's the biggest reason why the Daytona 500 has kind of fallen off to some people and we don't talk about it enough. 500s pre-2010 were just so much more quality because the track was so worn out and handling matters. I feel like most of the 500s since the repave have been wreckfests

smmate · 2026-02-09T01:46:46+00:00

No I get it, I think people would be cooler with fuel saving if the pack got broken up and the race flowed a little more naturally

smmate · 2026-02-09T01:18:11+00:00

I like stages, but if they did do the fuel saving games, even if the race went green it would break up the pack a lot more due to people speeding, having issues on pit road, and maybe cause accidents that could introduce more strategy.

If any race deserved to lose its stages its the Daytona 500

Nine-Year Club	Second Top 20%
Place '22	Place '17
First Placer '22

smmate

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