NASCAR has a big problem on it’s hands.

You want a little inside baseball? No? Well, too bad! You’re getting it.

I don’t know that I watched five full minutes of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. The second I saw it was A) a road course, and B) Shane Van Gisbergen was still, in fact, participating, I decided to sit it out. I wanted to see how much I would truly miss.

This new car STINKS on road course. It’s awful. SVG has won all the road races but one this year. And by “won,” I mean took a giant, Aussie dump on the rest of the field. It’s been F1-levels of boring. No offense to the F1 crowd, of course.

Just kidding! Loads of offense!

So, what did I miss by skipping yesterday’s race completely?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The five minutes I did see? Some of the most painful five minutes of my day, and I also had to sit through the Dolphins’ first preseason game.

NASCAR is in trouble, especially on road courses. It doesn’t work. It’s not working. It’s tough to watch. When the Sunday Cup race is easily the worst of the three races in a weekend, you’ve got a problem on your hands. That was the case again this weekend. It’s been the case almost all summer.

Speaking of those other races, we’re obviously going to check in with Connor Zilisch and Austin Hill today. One nearly died in the most embarrassing way possible. The other tried to murder Michael McDowell. So, you know, the usual.

What else? I’ve got Brad Keselowski trying to crack some skulls on pit road, a terrible end to Saturday’s weirdly terrible day of racing, and did TNT pipe crowd noise in during an SVG pass for the lead? I’m going with yes. Others say no. You’ll see here in a bit.

Four tires, enough fuel to get me as far away from a road course as possible, and maybe some balls for NASCAR so they can admit this new car is ASS … Monday Morning Pit-Stop – the ‘Was That The Most Boring Race Of The Season?’ edition – is LIVE!

NASCAR needs to wake up, so they stop putting us to sleep

You know how I judge a good race from a bad one? I check my email around 8 p.m. on race days. If it was a good race, it’s usually pretty quiet. Nothing to see in there. If it was a bad one? My God. Hold on for dear life.

I got FOUR angry emails before bedtime last night! Four.

From John in Kentucky:

SVG and Leigh Diffey – what’s not to like? Everything. Another boring Sunday afternoon. Zilisch forgetting how to exit a car on Saturday killed any chance of a decent race on Sunday. That’s sad.

And, from Mikey (not Waltrip, unfortunately):

After another riveting SVG road course win, I’m sure you have tons to write about. 

First off, LOVE the Leigh Diffey tie-in. You have to walk on EGGSHELLS right now when talking about Leigh, because all the Big J NASCAR journalists are pissed at the internet for hating on him. It’s amazing. The things that trigger the Big Js never cease to amaze me. So soft.

Anyway, both John and Mikey are right. Yesterday’s race stunk. It was awful. SVG at one point led by nearly 20 seconds. Yes, I know it was during a weird round of pit stops, but it was still bad.

Take out the Atlanta race, and I’d wager to say this has been maybe the worst summer stretch I can remember for NASCAR. The car sucks. It goes one speed. That’s it. Nobody can pass.

And we’ve also had wayyyyyyyyyy too many road courses. Enough already. Everyone wants to bitch and moan about the playoff system. Bullshit. Forget that. That’s fine. If NASCAR doesn’t fix this car – quickly – it won’t matter.

Saturday was a tough day for racing, no running from it

Angry Ryan Blaney! Welcome back! Been a while. Yes, it is. You are correct. Again, the whole world wants to complain about the playoff format right now. That’s fine. Go for it. It ain’t changing.

WHAT absolutely can change – and needs to change – is this stupid Next Gen car. Fix that, and everything else will work itself out.

Now, let’s get to Saturday, because it was one of the most bizarre days of racing in recent memory. We’ll go in chronological order.

First? The good! And by good, I mean … entertaining, at least?

I mean, come on! That’s objectively hilarious. Austin Hill comes back, fresh off a one-race timeout for wrecking people, and immediately makes the Xfinity race look like I-4 between Orlando and Tampa. I know I defended Austin a few weeks ago, but I’m not sure how I can do that here.

Yes, he needed to cut hard to the right because, you know, the wall. But, I feel like he didn’t sell it well here. It just doesn’t look great, especially given who’s behind the wheel.

Tough spot for NASCAR, too. What’s the precedent here? I’m not sure if there is one. Good thing they’re good at making shit up on the fly?

Now, to the bad from Saturday:

We can laugh about this now, right? He only broke his collarbone, so it’s fair game. The CW sounded more somber during the live broadcast of it than Fox did when Earnhardt died. I’m serious. Obviously, the concern was a head injury, so I get it. But still, it was a tad dramatic.

I can say that I’ve never seen this one before. Can’t stop watching, either. Just a tough look for Connor. But, life is about lessons, not losses. He’ll learn from this. Don’t know how, exactly, but he will.

Finally … the very bad from Saturday:

Brad, crowd noise & Natalie!

Whooooooooof. That’s just terrible. Awful way to end an awful day. Robbie was 53. He was a fixture at Bowman Gray, making over 300 career starts. He won there 11 times. He was the fifth death at Bowman Gray, oddly enough. Even weirder? He’s the third to die from a heart attack mid-race.

Billy Myers, in 1958, and, most recently, Bubba Beck in 2002. Odd. Strange. Sad.

OK, let’s get to a couple quickies on the way out. First up? Let’s head BACK to Watkins Glen, where Brad Keselowski – usually pretty reserved, mind you – tried to beat the piss out of Carson Hocevar during Saturday’s qualifying!

Love it. Love Brad. LOVE Carson. I didn’t know Brad still had that sort of speed in him at 41. Impressive. Does anyone like Carson Hocevar at this point? I think his only chance at redemption would be to run a Busch race and wreck the shit out of Austin Hill. And I’m only half-joking.

Next? I’m calling absolute bullshit on this “crowd cheer” during SVG’s late pass yesterday:

Yeah, OK. Sure! Sounds totally normal and raw! Come on. Nobody on this planet was possibly that excited for an SVG pass for the lead – on a ROAD COURSE. Get outta here, TNT.

We ain’t buying it!

OK, that’s it for today. Let’s allow NASCAR’s hottest new mom, Natalie Decker, to take us to Richmond for some Saturday night fun. Hopefully this woke car doesn’t screw that up, too. (It will).

See you there.

And we’ve also had wayyyyyyyyyy too many road courses. Enough already. Everyone wants to bitch and moan about the playoff system. Bullshit. Forget that. That’s fine. If NASCAR doesn’t fix this car – quickly – it won’t matter.

Saturday was a tough day for racing, no running from it

Angry Ryan Blaney! Welcome back! Been a while. Yes, it is. You are correct. Again, the whole world wants to complain about the playoff format right now. That’s fine. Go for it. It ain’t changing.

WHAT absolutely can change – and needs to change – is this stupid Next Gen car. Fix that, and everything else will work itself out.

Now, let’s get to Saturday, because it was one of the most bizarre days of racing in recent memory. We’ll go in chronological order.

First? The good! And by good, I mean … entertaining, at least?

And, from Mikey (not Waltrip, unfortunately):

After another riveting SVG road course win, I’m sure you have tons to write about. 

First off, LOVE the Leigh Diffey tie-in. You have to walk on EGGSHELLS right now when talking about Leigh, because all the Big J NASCAR journalists are pissed at the internet for hating on him. It’s amazing. The things that trigger the Big Js never cease to amaze me. So soft.

Anyway, both John and Mikey are right. Yesterday’s race stunk. It was awful. SVG at one point led by nearly 20 seconds. Yes, I know it was during a weird round of pit stops, but it was still bad.

Take out the Atlanta race, and I’d wager to say this has been maybe the worst summer stretch I can remember for NASCAR. The car sucks. It goes one speed. That’s it. Nobody can pass.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The five minutes I did see? Some of the most painful five minutes of my day, and I also had to sit through the Dolphins’ first preseason game.

NASCAR is in trouble, especially on road courses. It doesn’t work. It’s not working. It’s tough to watch. When the Sunday Cup race is easily the worst of the three races in a weekend, you’ve got a problem on your hands. That was the case again this weekend. It’s been the case almost all summer.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The five minutes I did see? Some of the most painful five minutes of my day, and I also had to sit through the Dolphins’ first preseason game.

NASCAR is in trouble, especially on road courses. It doesn’t work. It’s not working. It’s tough to watch. When the Sunday Cup race is easily the worst of the three races in a weekend, you’ve got a problem on your hands. That was the case again this weekend. It’s been the case almost all summer.