"It needs more prestige": Carson Hocevar makes blunt call for NASCAR's future

Carson Hocevar called on NASCAR on how to bring prestige back to the sport in a recent interview. The driver of the #77 pointed out numerous things, such as lack of driver personality, the TV product, and the playoff format, as multiple aspects NASCAR should look into changing in order to make the sport prestigious again.

The Spire Motorsports spoke to motorsports insider Jeff Gluck in a "12 questions" interview via The Athletic. When asked what would take NASCAR to the next level of popularity, the 22-year-old laid out a number of different resolutions for NASCAR to make. The Michigan native believe those within the sport try to blame society for not watching NASCAR as much, but pointed out that other sports, such as football, still have high TV ratings.

Here's what Carson Hocevar said regarding bringing prestige back to NASCAR:

"Ultimately, people just need to care. Attendance at the track has been good, but TV numbers aren’t. People blame 'society' (for less viewers), but football still gets watched. It needs more prestige. F1 racing isn’t great, but the prestige is very high, and it’s very traditional. … Drivers need to be willing to show more and be allowed to show more frustration. The TV product could be a lot better compared to how it used to be. You’ve just somehow got to get people to care all year. There shouldn’t be a format where it’s like, 'This race doesn’t matter to this guy.' NASCAR fans can figure it out, but there are so many times when I’ll bring non-NASCAR fans or old fans to the track and they’re so confused. There are people who want to become fans because they see the racing, but it’s very difficult for them. They have to try really hard to push through to (understand the formats and points), and I think that’s very difficult."

Carson Hocevar believes full-season points format could help NASCAR's popularity

Carson Hocevar pulled no punches when he called on NASCAR to make the sufficient changes needed to raise the sport's popularity. One of those things Hocevar believes they need to do is bring back the traditional 36-race points format, which would ultimately get rid of the playoffs.

In the interview with Jeff Gluck, Carson Hocevar said a 36-race points format or something similar would be a great start in getting NASCAR back on the right track. Here's what he said:

"A full-season points format would help. That’s a start. Or a lot closer to one."

NASCAR implemented a playoff format in 2004, moving away from the 36-race playoff format, which awarded the driver with the most points the championship at the end of the season. In 2014, the sport expanded from a 12-driver format to a 16-driver grid format, where the final four drivers compete for the championship in the season-finale race.