OutKick⁠97%

Has NASCAR Lost The South? Ex-Driver Unloads After Seeing "100,000 Empty Seats" ⁠81%

By Zach Dean⁠87%

4/18/2026, 11:47:03 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 33 faulty reasoning types, including Confirmation Bias, Hasty Generalization, and Ad Hominem, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 34.4% saturation with 197 hits. Analysis detected 1,116 faulty-reasoning hits from 573 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 73% and a BS Rank of ⁠81% (3,951 of 20,517 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 80.70% of the article peer group.

It hasn't been the greatest week in the world for NASCAR. 
Sure, they've had a better week than Dianna Russini, but that's a low bar. 
Other than her, though? 
Yeah, it's been a rough go of it for the folks in the big glass building across from Daytona International Speedway. 
Of course, that's because of two major headaches in the racing world: TV ratings, and attendance. 
Those two things drive folks who make a lot more money than me crazy, and both took a major hit at Bristol last weekend. 
Because I'm always ahead of the trends, I already wrote about both. 
I told you on Monday that the grandstands at Bristol were embarrassing. 
They were. 
I wrote on Wednesday that the TV ratings for Bristol were alarmingly bad. 
They were. 
And now, former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield is officially hitting the panic button after what he saw last weekend: 
Where has NASCAR jumped the shark the most? 
"Check out what the NASCAR grandstands used to look like when I raced at Bristol," Mayfield wrote in a lengthy Facebook post. 
"When the biggest story is how many people are staying home to watch a golf tournament in Georgia, the sport is in a coma. 
"Ty Gibbs gets his first win in front of 100,000 empty seats. 
It looked like a COVID era race out there. 
If the ‘World's Fastest Half Mile' can't out draw a Sunday at Augusta, then NASCAR has officially lost the south. 
"Is it the car? 
Is it the drivers? 
Or has the "Colosseum" just become a graveyard? 
Tell me I'm wrong." 
Yikes. 
Just a brutal takedown from a driver who doesn't exactly have the greatest relationship with NASCAR. 
That's fair. 
I will admit, you have to take everything Jeremy Mayfield says with a grain of salt because bridges have certainly been burned. 
I don't want to get into it here, but it all stems from a drug test back in 2009. 
You can look up the rest if you'd like. 
Anyway, back to Bristol … Mayfield is 100% right in this case. 
The stands were half-empty. 
FS1 averaged fewer than 2 million viewers for the first time in the history of that channel. 
It was bad in the stands, and it was equally awful in living rooms across America. 
For example, the grandstands certainly look … bare … when you watch this in-car camera from Kyle Busch: 
Not great! 
Has NASCAR "officially lost the south," as Mayfield said? 
Perhaps. 
I've long said that NASCAR abandoned its fanbase years ago. 
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out, though. 
They left places like Rockingham and Kentucky for Mexico and downtown Chicago. 
They spent all of 2020, and beyond, virtue-signaling their tails off. 
Nobody likes the Next Gen car. 
Steve Phelps was a disaster for the sport in terms of public image. 
Now, they've gotten better in recent years. 
I will admit that. 
The series has, somewhat, returned to Rockingham. 
Chicagoland is back on the schedule. 
The Clash at Bowman Gray is miles better than Los Angeles. 
Phelps is out, thankfully. 
The playoff format is gone. 
Again, they've taken steps to improve. 
You can't say they're not trying, because I just gave you 14 examples of how they are. 
But is it too late? 
Maybe. 
We'll see. 
Jeremy Mayfield certainly has his doubts, for whatever that's worth. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 15.4%Zach Dean: 3.9%Outkick: 8.8%Confirmation Bias15.4%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.7%Outkick: 1.9%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 9.9%Zach Dean: 4.9%Outkick: 5.3%Availability Heuristic9.9%This article: 3.5%Zach Dean: 0.9%Outkick: 2.0%Representativeness Heuristic3.5%This article: 2.1%Zach Dean: 0.7%Outkick: 1.9%Hindsight Bias2.1%This article: 7.2%Zach Dean: 2.8%Outkick: 6.1%Overconfidence Bias7.2%This article: 0.9%Zach Dean: 4.9%Outkick: 12.5%Framing Effect0.9%This article: 4.4%Zach Dean: 0.4%Outkick: 1.0%Loss Aversion4.4%This article: 2.1%Zach Dean: 1.0%Outkick: 1.3%Status Quo Bias2.1%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.4%Outkick: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 1.2%Zach Dean: 2.1%Outkick: 4.4%Optimism Bias1.2%This article: 1.9%Zach Dean: 1.9%Outkick: 2.5%Pessimism Bias1.9%This article: 34.4%Zach Dean: 11.4%Outkick: 12.8%Negativity Bias34.4%This article: 4.2%Zach Dean: 1.1%Outkick: 3.2%Self-Serving Bias4.2%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 1.8%Outkick: 3.2%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.4%Outkick: 0.6%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 2.1%Outkick: 5.1%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 1.2%Outkick: 2.8%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 2.8%Zach Dean: 4.3%Outkick: 5.2%Halo Effect2.8%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.5%Outkick: 1.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.0%Outkick: 0.1%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 10.6%Zach Dean: 2.8%Outkick: 3.4%Recency Bias10.6%This article: 3.8%Zach Dean: 0.8%Outkick: 0.5%Primacy Effect3.8%This article: 3.8%Zach Dean: 0.2%Outkick: 0.4%Blind-Spot Bias3.8%This article: 11.9%Zach Dean: 3.8%Outkick: 4.0%Ad Hominem11.9%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 1.0%Outkick: 2.0%Straw Man0.0%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 2.0%Outkick: 3.6%Appeal to Authority0.0%This article: 7.9%Zach Dean: 1.6%Outkick: 2.3%False Dilemma7.9%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.7%Outkick: 1.1%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.7%Zach Dean: 0.2%Outkick: 0.3%Circular Reasoning0.7%This article: 14.8%Zach Dean: 9.0%Outkick: 11.5%Hasty Generalization14.8%This article: 3.3%Zach Dean: 1.0%Outkick: 1.2%Red Herring3.3%This article: 1.0%Zach Dean: 1.7%Outkick: 2.4%Bandwagon1.0%This article: 3.8%Zach Dean: 7.2%Outkick: 10.0%Appeal to Emotion3.8%This article: 1.6%Zach Dean: 0.6%Outkick: 1.7%Begging the Question1.6%This article: 9.9%Zach Dean: 2.4%Outkick: 2.9%Post Hoc (False Cause)9.9%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.2%Outkick: 0.3%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 5.2%Zach Dean: 0.3%Outkick: 0.5%Burden of Proof5.2%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.1%Outkick: 0.3%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 2.8%Zach Dean: 0.1%Outkick: 0.3%Composition/Division2.8%This article: 10.6%Zach Dean: 3.5%Outkick: 4.3%Anecdotal10.6%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.2%Outkick: 0.4%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 2.1%Zach Dean: 2.2%Outkick: 1.8%Ambiguity (Equivocation)2.1%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.0%Outkick: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 1.2%Zach Dean: 0.1%Outkick: 0.2%Middle Ground1.2%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.6%Outkick: 0.7%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 2.1%Zach Dean: 0.4%Outkick: 1.0%Special Pleading2.1%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.2%Outkick: 0.7%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 2.3%Outkick: 2.1%Unattributed Quote0.0%This article: 1.2%Zach Dean: 1.1%Outkick: 0.9%Quote-first Misdirection1.2%This article: 6.3%Zach Dean: 19.6%Outkick: 18.0%Biased Writer Voice6.3%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 2.4%Outkick: 2.4%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 0.1%Outkick: 0.2%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 2.3%Outkick: 2.3%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Zach Dean: 1.9%Outkick: 0.9%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

573 words analyzed.

Speakers

1speaker19%attributed speech466writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 0.0% coverageJeremy Mayfield • 22 words • 0.0% coverageJeremy Mayfield • 24 words • 0.0% coverageJeremy Mayfield • 12 words • 0.0% coverageJeremy Mayfield • 9 words • 0.0% coverageJeremy Mayfield • 20 words • 100.0% coverageJeremy Mayfield • 4 words • 0.0% coverageJeremy Mayfield • 4 words • 0.0% coverageJeremy Mayfield • 8 words • 0.0% coverageJeremy Mayfield • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Jeremy Mayfield

72%flagged-word coverage
107 attributed words100% of attributed speech92% writer coverage
0%10.0%20.0%Biased Writer Voice+15.3 ptsWriter: 3.4%Jeremy Mayfield: 18.7%18.7%Quote-first Misdirection-1.5 ptsWriter: 1.5%Jeremy Mayfield: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.