NASCAR has faced sustained criticism from fans in recent years, with frustrations ranging from the Next Gen car’s struggles on short tracks to a playoff format many feel places too much emphasis on luck. Last week, however, the sanctioning body took what some view as a step in the right direction by agreeing to settle its antitrust lawsuit with 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. And former driver Kenny Wallace believes it’s time for fans to ease up.
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Wallace shared his thoughts during a casual, fan-driven discussion on his YouTube channel, where he touched on the growing negativity surrounding the sport. In his view, NASCAR’s recent moves, especially The NASCAR Channel, show an effort to listen and adapt, and he suggested the organization deserves some credit rather than continued backlash.
Wallace said, “NASCAR is really pushing that and I thought, ‘Why are they pushing that so hard?’ So, then as I dove into it, now I see. Classic races. Like Mark Martin said, go look at those YouTube races back from the day. Why do they get so many views? So, now NASCAR is pushing their own channel, The NASCAR channel, because they got some content they’re building up.”
NASCAR introduced this channel on January 29, 2025, with Tubi and has since extended its service to other platforms such as Xumo Play, Amazon Prime, Amazon Fire TV, The Roku Channel, and Samsung TV Plus. According to the official website, The NASCAR Channel will feature live events, full race replays, classic races, and more. It will also air original programming, along with documentaries and a lot more.
The NASCAR Channel will also contain classic races that Wallace thinks fans will find interesting to watch. For now, the channel is free of cost, free of commercials, and doesn’t require registration. But this could change in the future. The underline-worthy point that Wallace made came after.
He continued, “We have got to forgive NASCAR. We’re moving forward. Like I told you, I love NASCAR.”
However, many long-standing fan concerns remain unaddressed, and critics argue NASCAR continues to turn a blind eye to several key issues. That raises the question: Is settling the lawsuit and the channel enough for the sport to suddenly be cut some slack?
While the NASCAR Channel was officially launched in January, it’s only in recent weeks that the promotion around it has noticeably ramped up. And regardless of whether fans are ready to forgive NASCAR just yet, the channel could still emerge as an intriguing platform. For Wallace, initiatives like this signal that NASCAR is at least attempting to move forward, and he believes that effort should not be ignored by an increasingly skeptical fan base.
