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"Iconic", "Snoozefest", "Boring", "Historic"  A general view of NASCAR Cup Series drivers (Back Row L-R) Ryan Blaney, Josh Bilicki, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson, Aric Almirola, Corey LaJoie, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace, Ty Dillon, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Martin Truex Jr., (Front Row L-R) Chandler Smith, Harrison Burton, Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, William Byron, Justin Haley, AJ Allmendinger, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Todd Gilliland, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece, JJ Yeley, and Tyler Reddick pose on track for a photo at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 19, 2023 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) Via Media.NASCAR NASCAR's return to the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway was without a doubt one of the most hyped-up events in the recent history of the sport. Right up there with the Daytona 500 & the Chicago Street Race, NASCAR, the media, and Speedway Motorsports Inc pushed the "Racetrack Revival" to the masses and with a 30,000-fan capacity it was clear that, at least at the track it worked. Fans packed the stands for Sunday's All-Star Event at what appeared to be just under capacity. There was a fantastic showing for the Open, the Heat races as well as the Tyson 250 Craftsman Truck race as well.
Fan reactions after Sunday however were less than favorable however. With terms and words like "snoozefest, Boring, Waste of 2 hours of my life" and sooooo much more. being seen all across social media, it's hard to think that many fans enjoyed the race. With Kyle Larson at one point running nearly 16 seconds over Bubba Wallace in second, I get it, I really do. But this race at this track was never meant to bring in newer, younger fans. This event was targeted directly at NASCAR's legacy fanbase. I was only about 5 the last time we raced at Wilkesboro, so I cannot quite call myself a Legacy fan. I think of myself as a "Core" fan, No driver allegiance since Gordon retired, I attend 3-4 or more races a year and I haven't missed a single National Series race since halfway through 2020. This event was targeted at fans like myself and those who came before. But it was even fans in my group of the Core fanbase who absolutely hated what they saw on track. It's no secret our current short track program sucks for those watching. The speedway was never known for its exciting 2 or 3 wide action, But some fans held it on such a pedestal that it was just never going to climb to. Which was beyond unfortunate. On the TV side, the race scored a Nielsen rating of 1.28 and 2.203 million viewers while the 2022 All-Star Race scored 1.38 and 2.481 million viewers. So a drop. But why? Well, It did start just before 8pm on Sunday night. I'm sure that didn't help, but it is a TV spot that does work very well for other sports such as the NFL. The event did not sell out the 30,000 seats, meanwhile the following week's Coke 600 at Charlotte sold out a much larger capacity in it's grandstands as well as infield earlier in the week. So why did they not sell out the most hyped up event in the last couple decades? Why were the TV numbers lower?
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