Is there a legal pathway to fisticuffs in NASCAR?
This week has been full of controversy in the NASCAR landscape, and part of that controversy has centered around former teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, who came nose-to-nose after last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Suarez further fueled that discourse in the middle of the week as he took to the airwaves, saying that Chastain “wouldn’t last five seconds” if it ever became an issue of throwing hands between them.
Chiefly, though, Suarez said he didn’t fight Chastain because of his sponsors and the almighty dollar. For instance, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fined $75,000 for punching Kyle Busch during an All-Star Race. That’s no small amount, and in all the fines have cut down on fights over the years.
But is that a good thing? Feelings in the garage appear to be mixed.
Is there a path forward to letting drivers duke it out? And if so, what does that look like? Luckily, we don’t have to look terribly far for the answer.
The NHL has been letting its players fight each other for years and has even litigated how the fights must take place. If you’re curious about rule 46, which the league uses to govern fights, I encourage you to do your own research, because instead of running that down, I have my own propositions for NASCAR’s very own rendition. These are not all the rules that NASCAR would need, but it would be a start.
- Rule 1: Helmets must be off
- The NHL requires helmets to be left on, but they’re not exactly rated for 200 mph impacts. Any driver who attempts to fight another driver without first removing their helmet will face a $50,000 fine, and if that driver is the aggressor, they must also allow the other driver to remove their helmet.
- Rule 2: Fight Location
- All official fights must take place after the race on the track apron in front of the start/finish line. This allows for the fight to be public record and judged accordingly, as opposed to in the garage or pit area.
- Rule 3: Rules of Engagement
- If two drivers agree to a fight, they must each grab the other’s firesuit in one hand and swing at each other with the other. The moment one driver falls to a knee or is incapacitated in any way, the fight is over. Any driver who continues as the aggressor in this instance will receive a $100,000 fine.
- Rule 4: Punishment
- Similar to the NHL, both participants still need to receive some form of punishment. For instance, both drivers could forfeit 20 points for fighting, as both would have to agree to the fight for it to take place.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If fixing the sport was up to me, we’d be back to 2003 in a week or two.
All jokes aside, as much as NASCAR likes to use fights or (allegedly) intentional wrecks as promotional content, you would think this is a rule they would be interested in supporting, if for no other reason than to throw the hypocrisy of marketing it out the window.
Will Daniel Suarez vs. Trackhouse Reach a Boiling Point?
Is FOX’s use of AI in promotional material fair play, or is it hurting its reputation with fans?
While FOX typically sees some of the best ratings on the NASCAR calendar and has been a longtime partner of the sport, the company sure can do some head-scratching stuff from time to time. Its latest installment of head-scratchery, though, has to do with something I didn’t ever think we’d talk about in this particular column: generative AI.
The advertisement has since been deleted, but all throughout its broadcasts this year, instances of FOX using generative AI for certain low-stakes assets have seen a generous uptick. None more so, though, than these hype videos, where two different instances (the first commercial used Tyler Reddick’s car) now have some fans upset.
As a writer, you can imagine where my feelings lie on the use of generative AI. But from a corporate perspective, even I have to admit that it makes sense. AI doesn’t take sick days or 15-minute breaks between its edits. It just churns them out, and at a much cheaper rate than most creatives would rightfully charge.
There is a price to that tradeoff, though, and it’s in terms of sharpness. For instance, Autotrader probably isn’t upset that FOX used its logo here, as it’s clearly visible and looks like the company’s actual logo. However, I would bet that another major supporter, Discount Tire, isn’t nearly as thrilled, seeing as it paid good money for logo placement on the car’s pillar.
There’s merit to the claim that most fans either don’t care or can’t tell and that the majority of fans upset by this type of content are younger. However, one day that generation will be the only fans that NASCAR has left to market to, and what happens if they refuse to support AI-created products or imagery? That remains to be seen.
Is the O’Reilly Series proving that consistency is key with its ratings numbers?
For weeks now, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has continued to see year-over-year viewership gains, while the Cup Series continues to decline despite an improved on-track product.
One of the main reasons for this is that O’Reilly Racing can be found on the same network every single weekend, while the Cup Series rotates broadcast partners so often throughout a season that many fans refuse to switch providers multiple times.
NASCAR has touted its current TV deal as a predictive one, citing the opinion that before it ends, concerns about the sport having one or two central home networks will be eliminated. It’s safe to say that we aren’t at that juncture just yet, but will we ever be?
Predictive market bets usually prove correct. However, the timing of this one felt early when the deal was announced, and it still feels early now. Even if everyone has cut the physical cables, their network patterns still exist, and as such, their viewing habits haven’t necessarily changed, just moved locations.
It’s worth pointing out here, then, that we’re currently in the part of the year when NASCAR and FOX receive their best numbers of the season, with a significant mid-year drop-off a near constant in recent memory. The keen-eyed fan should watch for two things: how much closer the NOAPS gets to the Cup Series in terms of viewership, and how much growth The CW sees year-over-year in its own share of the professional auto racing market.
Top NASCAR Storylines Entering 2026: Will the New Horsepower Package Make a Difference?
Could the Darlington hype prove correct this year?
When the announcement was made that Darlington Raceway would put the new 750-horsepower package to use, my eyes grew to the size of saucers. Everyone loves a good old-school track that chews through tires, and nothing fits that description quite like The Lady in Black.
There were two reasons why the new package has seen exponential success in its first oval iteration. First, the extra horsepower forces drivers to focus on saving tires throughout the race and makes that specific skill loom larger as long runs play out. And then Goodyear’s transparency meant everyone watching knew that if tires were blowing, it was on the teams’ shoulders, not theirs.
Goodyear has been a punching bag of sorts for the Next Gen car. In any race where tires prove to be an issue, fans and teams alike have been quick to blame Goodyear for the tires it brought to the track. However, every driver uses the same tires, and a tire issue rarely affects the entire field.
Now, with added horsepower and Goodyear being vocal about its product and its limitations/recommendations, teams have far fewer excuses than they did previously, and it’s changed the postrace messaging entirely. Strategies now play out differently, and very few cars operate on the same pit cycle, which to many means better racing.
If that trend continues into this weekend where Goodyear says that teams will be allotted 10 sets of in-race tires, we could be in for an all-time treat at Darlington, and a race that certainly would be the best of the decade for this venue in particular. We just have to get there.
The fighting question is an fun one to consider, and I don’t really know the answer to it. If someone ever truly gets injured, we could see legal proceedings, akin to what has happened a couple times in hockey. But, I completely understand seeing the red mist in that moment. There’s a very real danger in dumping someone on track, and fight or flight inevitably kicks in.
Hockey differs in that rarely do you see a major mismatch of size or fighting skill in a fight. If a big guy cheap shots a little guy, the “goon” from the opposing team will look for a fight to ensure a message is sent. The rare time you’d see the size mismatch is when you’d have someone like Daniel Carcillo aka Car Bomb, who would fight anyone, no matter their size.
Just for fun, let’s have designated Goons on NASCAR pit crews. I have no interest in seeing Kyle Larson fight SVG or Carson Hocevar, as the latter two have enough size advantage they’d just pick Larson up and punt him like a football into the stands. But, seeing one of the beasts on a pit crew walk down a few stalls and get some satisfaction for his team would be enjoyable.
AI is such a strange obsession with companies right now. I think they’ve all invested so heavily, they feel the need to try and make it fit places where it’s not yet ready (and may never be ready) for prime time. Need a customer service chat bot? Annoying, but mostly usable. Need to find info on a random item or text? Also fine, but make sure the AI didn’t just randomly make something up, as AI is wont to do. Beyond that and funny pictures/videos between friends, I just can’t see the appeal.
Teams having to choose a representative in a fight would also work in the proposed format, I think. Say a driver initiates, but knows they can’t win or can’t fight. They can choose a representative. I think it’d offer some great careers post-UFC for some people, too.**
Seeing as how NA$CAR has the WWE connection, why not set up a squared circle where drivers can have a real match? Maybe it could be PPV so NA$CAR can make a few dollars from it?
This would be hilarious. All races have a ring set up in the infield. Added bonus of going in person, you get a front row seat for the infield fights that night lol
its the product of the racing on saturday vs sunday that O’Reilly sees ratings increases not that it is on different networks. The cup product is subpar compared to O’Reilly.
Not only does the Cup TV expect fans to put reminders on the calendar of when to switch networks to watch the races, then that Prime shows qualifying now…but no the races yet, so don’t forget to pay for that premium channel. The CW shows O’reilly qualifying on the ‘home’ network, but the races are on a local affiliate. So you have to find out what that channel is, and if you get it on your streaming service. I get the CW, but have to try using an antenna to get the actual race, because they only have ‘battle cams’, or the race with no announcers on the home channel. I used to watch F1, but refuse to pay for yet another streamer to watch, so that’s off my list. With the economy getting tighter, goo luck to keeping fans being expected to keep paying to watch.