NASCAR, Elton Sawyer Owe Fans Integrity at Martinsville

Sawyer, you used to be one of the racers, right? Now you’re the corporate suit sitting in the tower, polishing your tie and handing down rulings like you’re scheduling board meetings instead of a high-stakes sprint race where steel hits steel. Four seasons into the Next Gen car era and the product looks stale. Low passing? Too much aero? Short‐track thrill gone? Yep. When drivers and analysis start complaining and fans start tuning out, what do you do? You pat yourselves on the back and issue PR quotes. “We’re always looking to make the product better.” Thanks, Elton. Meanwhile, the ratings drop, the fanbase grows suspicious and the sport’s integrity takes yet another hit.

This week at Martinsville, NASCAR (and Sawyer) have the chance to hit reset. Trucks, Xfinity, Cup — stacked short‐track weekend — in theory: perfect for chaos, adrenaline, redemption. But watching the safety delays and “let’s review this later” bit from Thursday? That’s a bad omen. If Sawyer tries to orchestrate another manufactured playoff drama — or worse, lets the finish hinge on open radio comms, team orders, or “who got favored by the tower” — fans are gone. The integrity of playoff racing is already on life support.

It’s time for a normal weekend. No games. No “we’ll announce later” limbo. No favoring this manufacturer or that team. No refereeing from the tower after the race is over. NASCAR needs to give the fans real racing — not a scripted soap opera with tire smoke and checkpoints. Sawyer might think he’s the show. But really? It’s the fans. The people still camping, still showing up despite everything. They’re the ones keeping this sport alive. Sawyer could’ve been a hero: “We fixed it. We delivered pure short‐track Mayhem.” Instead he looks like the guy who keeps pressing “rematch” in a video game no one asked for.

So here it is: NASCAR and Elton Sawyer — get out of the way. Let the drivers race. Let the fans cheer. Give us clean finishes, not tower-driven outcomes. Heroes will emerge, wrecks will happen, leads will change. Great. That’s what we signed up for. But if this weekend ends in another post-race “we’re reviewing that” memo handed down from the race control suite, we’ll know Sawyer’s still running the show instead of the race. And if he thinks that’s okay — if he thinks fans will accept it — he’s mistaken. Because the fans aren’t buying it anymore. They want racing. Let’s give it to them.