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NASCAR star delivers a brutal reality check after fans turned off the championship race

HOW KYLE LARSON TURNED A WRITE-OFF SEASON INTO HIS THIRD NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP IN MIAMI Don't forget, all we talked about last offseason was how horrible the old playoff format was.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 1 source•2 min read•Updated November 13, 2026, 2:10 PM UTC
Key points
  • "We have got to find a way to grow this thing and make it more relevant in the sports landscape, because it's just falling behind others in my opinion," Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast on the heels of Sunday's anticlimactic championship race.
  • It's too slow, it doesn't look like a stock car, and it doesn't race well." The car and Leigh Diffey — two things fans don't love.
  • Everyone freaked out because Joey Logano won a championship two years ago, so NASCAR decided to blow it all up and start over.

I'm not saying going back to the old Chase format was the wrong call, but the fans begged for it and then didn't show up to watch a championship race on Sunday that was already decided.

I'm not going to sit here and call it the least watched championship race ever, because, frankly, I don't feel like getting a call from NASCAR today.

Additional details
  • The NASCAR season is officially over, which means it's time to dust off the 'ol mirror and do some good, hard looking in it.
  • Sunday's race at Homestead got a 1.37 rating and averaged 2.471 million viewers, which was a nearly 11% drop from last year's title race at Phoenix.
  • NASCAR, and the fans, are stuck with both right now.
  • I've been saying NASCAR has a relevancy problem all season long, and the latest batch of TV ratings don't do it any favors.
  • we have got to make our sport relevant again when it comes to the general sports landscape." HAS NASCAR LOST THE SOUTH?

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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Fox NewsNovember 13, 2026, 2:10 PM UTC →

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