Rising NASCAR star Jesse Love believes stock car racing may have a superstar problem, amid growing concerns about the sport’s popularity. The 2025 season was difficult for NASCAR on the airwaves, with audiences in constant decline throughout the year, particularly since the return of college football and the NFL.
During this season’s 35 races – since Charlotte’s Roval – the Cup Series has attracted more viewers than in 2024 on just nine occasions, averaging 2.441 million viewers, a significant drop from last year’s 2.878 million, according to Daily support.
What exactly needs to be done to rectify this worrying trend has been a hot topic lately, with figures like Dennis Hamlin, Kyle BuschAnd Dale Earnhardt Jr. having all weighed in. Today, 20-year-old Xfinity Series championship hopeful Love gave his perspective.
The Richard Childress Racing star believes there are areas where improvements can be made, the most notable being the approach and towards the star power on offer.
Talk with AthleticsLove explained: “On one hand, drivers have to be superstars. If an NFL athlete walks into a room, you know it. If a stock car driver walks in, you don’t know it.
“I don’t know the exact formula for creating that, but it starts with drivers putting in the effort – and I would say most drivers aren’t. And I think our superstars right now aren’t always putting in the effort that’s needed.”
Love later added: “Nobody watches RC (remote control car) races and everyone watches NASCAR races because they listen to the people who drive them. It’s about the person behind the wheel. Making drivers superstars again is the best way to do that.”
It’s perhaps undeniable that NASCAR’s current stars don’t have the same draw as Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson during the sport’s heyday in the 1990s and 2000s. In fact, 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace has already hinted at it in a separate interview with Athleticscommenting: “You drop me, Chase Elliott or Ryan Blaney in London and no one knows who we are. You drop us off new York City and maybe we’ll get one or two people, right?
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Besides concerns about the sports stars, Love also cited cultural changes as a reason for NASCAR’s popularity struggles – something Busch has also discussed previously.
“It’s become fashionable to talk about anything related to motorsports, especially NASCAR,” Love said. “There’s a large group out there, and (social media) has enabled this, who are not going to be happy no matter what. I don’t know why, and it’s a problem I don’t have a solution for.”
Despite such changes and the need for its stars to step up, Love doesn’t believe sweeping changes are necessary and that NASCAR should stay in its own lane and avoid imitating other sports, although he noted it could do a better job listening “more to the (hardcore) fans and drivers than the (casual fans).”
Given Love’s obvious talent and success in the
