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Any longtime NASCAR fan will tell you that Bristol Motor Speedway is one of the sport’s most iconic tracks. But following a reconfiguration in 2007, the track has failed to produce the incredible racing it was once known for.
So when superstar driver Kyle Larson led 462 of the 500 laps en route to victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol, fans expressed their displeasure. Only 27.2 percent of voters in a poll conducted by Jeff Gluck of The Athletic said that Saturday’s race was a good race.
That seemingly angered Larson, who took to Twitter and called out fans on Monday.
Lead 450 laps but have 2 overtime restarts and lose and I guarantee the percentage is flip flopped. That’s our fan base. https://t.co/mQ1OvdpDjc
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) September 23, 2024
“Lead 450 laps but have 2 overtime restarts and lose and I guarantee the percentage is flip-flopped. That’s our fan base,” he said in a tweet insinuating that fans were ill-informed.
Unsurprisingly, this did not go over well with those fans.
“The race sucked regardless who won, but the guy that hated the spring race (arguably one of the most fun races I’ve witnessed in a VERY long time) and was very vocal about it definitely benefited from a boring race with zero tire falloff. Cool,” one fan said in a quote tweet to Larson.
“The most popular driver is venting online about the fan base. He’s right, I should apologize to him for wanting to see competitive racing with lots of passing. This is a new low for Kyle Larson…oh wait,” said another.
It’s an odd complaint from Larson, who is one of the series’ most-revered drivers. Especially when you dive into the numbers.
Gluck shared that the 27.2 percent result ranked “last out of Kyle Larson’s 31 career wins (28 points, three All-Star). The previous low in a Larson victory was 33 percent when he won at Dover Motor Speedway in 2019.
Fans just want good racing. And it’s not a good look for one of the sport’s biggest stars to get mad about that.