NASCAR Teams Reportedly Shot Down Innovative Idea for All-Star Race
What’s Happening? In a recent podcast, mechanic and writer Bozi Tatarevic revealed he had heard a rumor that NASCAR Cup Series…
On the latest episode of The Teardown, NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck launched into a tirade against NASCAR’s teams. This rant followed a week in which a rumor spread that NASCAR teams turned down an unconventional idea for the All-Star race due to cost.
Following Sunday Night’s Race at Talladega, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of the Athletic sat down for their weekly episode of their podcast, The Teardown. During this episode, a conversation about a NASCAR rumor turned into perhaps the best NASCAR rant of the year.
“Teams. I think you are a bunch of assholes, honestly. You are a bunch of assholes. Seriously. Stop crying about the freaking money. Will you stop it? Will you listen to yourselves? All you do is complain, ‘they won’t let us do anything with this car. Why won’t they let us do anything with the car? It’s a spec car, it’s a Temu car. I got this car at Target. I have to do everything that they want us to do, and they won’t let me do anything.” – Jeff Gluck
Gluck is, of course, referring to NASCAR’s Next-Gen car, introduced in 2022 and often cited as the first true “Spec Car” used in NASCAR. This car allows teams little wiggle room to make changes, but that has come at the cost of certain types of racing, such as short track and road course weekends.
However, according to a rumor last week, which Gluck and 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin later confirmed, NASCAR offered teams a chance to run a “Run What Ya Brung” race during the 2025 All-Star Race.
The All-Star is an exhibition race that is often used to test changes and ideas, such as Goodyear’s Option Tire last season. Regardless, according to the source, mechanic, and writer Bozi Tatarevic, the teams shut this idea down because of the cost.
As Gluck went on to say in his rant, “They’re [the teams] like, ‘No, oh, my God, that would cost us a lot of money. We can’t do that. Are you crazy? We can’t spend the money on the All-Star Race. We’re not getting paid enough for that. Why would we do that?’ You are assholes shut up. God, [you] piss me off. That’s so stupid.”
NASCAR fans were relieved to see that Gluck agreed with their statement about this story. While it is good to see this shared sentiment, Gluck’s rant also serves as an important reminder for fans.
Often, NASCAR fans, who sometimes feel a deep connection to their teams, blame NASCAR for all the “wrong” decisions made. However, teams also have a major say in decisions such as this one.
For example, according to Tatarevic’s podcast last weekend, NASCAR would allow teams to bring whatever combination of adjustments and aero packages they wanted as long as the car passed safety inspections.
The resulting race could have shown NASCAR a change to the Next Gen Car. They had yet to think of giving the sport a fix to its often dreary short-track package while simultaneously making the All-Star race a must-watch event.
The teams did not turn down this idea entirely; Denny Hamlin even claimed that the concept was worth a try at some point. However, the teams’ decision not to take this route and Gluck’s subsequent rant remind us that NASCAR is not the only reason fans may not get what they want.
What’s Happening? In a recent podcast, mechanic and writer Bozi Tatarevic revealed he had heard a rumor that NASCAR Cup Series…
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