NASCAR Mulling Major Changes, Sydney Sweeney Gets Racy In A Car & Rare Earnhardt Video Surfaces 24 Years Later

What a race! I mean, I didn't think anything could top last week, but we finally got a good automobile race yesterday out of the NASCAR fellas. 

They did it. They finally did it. All the naysayers can piss right off. You're done. We don't wanna hear it anymore. If you didn't like that, then I don't know what to tell ya. Go watch those pansies in F1 at 4:30 in the morning on ESPN 2. Enjoy!

No, wait. That's not right. Well, the part of F1 being a bunch of pansies was, but everything else? Not so much. I may have gotten ahead of myself there. 

Welcome to an … offseason Monday Morning Pit-Stop! Oh, you thought we waved the white flag when NASCAR waved the checkered flag on the 2024 season. Think again! 

We're not the AP. Or ESPN. Or any of those other disgusting, boring, WOKE columns on the internet. We're MMPS. When they hit the brakes, we FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOR it straight into the winter. This is where we make our money. Right here. Right now. 

I love the NASCAR offseason. It's what separates the pretenders from the contenders in the world of blogging. This is my Super Bowl. My Daytona 500. Let's roll. 

I've got Sydney Sweeney turning on every single NASCAR fan on the planet over the weekend. That tickle your pickle? Thought so. Let's see the wokes over at ESPN cover this!

What else? I've got Denny Hamlin going after a NASCAR legend, the sport mulling some major changes heading into next year, some rare Dale Earnhardt footage from 2000, and, of course, Hooters Gianna. Duh. 

Four tires ONLY because this is the offseason and we need to pace ourselves, and maybe a signed Sydney Sweeney firesuit for one lucky NASCAR fan … Monday Morning Pit-Stop – the ‘Sid The Kid Fires Up The Horses’ edition – is LIVE!

No reason to beat around the bush, let's get right to it

Look, these offseason columns are usually a real knock-out, drag-out fight to write. I talk a big game, but you try coming up with clickable NASCAR #content in mid-November. 

Ain't easy. It's why they pay me the … medium-to-fair … bucks here at OutKick. Not everyone is built for this. 

So when I popped open my laptop this morning and saw this little number from Sydney Sweeney, I took a swig of Maxwell House, popped in a nicotine pouch, and said a little prayer, thanking the Man Above. 

Because he delivered for us this morning. Nobody in this country turns on the masses more than Sydney Sweeney right now. Nobody. She's this generation's Vanna White. Nobody on the planet has had a bigger year in the #content game than Sid the Kid, for (two) obvious reasons. 

So when she throws on a firesuit and hops in a stock car, it's a big deal. And, for some reason, she did just that over the weekend. 

Check and mate:

Meanwhile back at corporate, change is coming … maybe 

Sid the Kid … AND Hooters Gianna! What a crossover. Like when Full House and Family Matters did that one mash-up episode. Or Scooby-Doo and Batman. Hell, it's sort of like Biden and Trump in today's world, except I promise you both these chicks voted Trump. Trust me. 

Anyway, what an edition to our little Monday water-cooler talk, huh? Never thought we'd get Sydney Sweeney to class, but boy, am I glad she decided to give it a go! Welcome to the world of NASCAR, Sid. Everyone is generally pretty angry around here and the series is run by a bunch of progressive virtue-signalers. It's great!

Speaking of everyone being pissed … it appears maybe – just maybe – all the backlash (not from me) from Joey Logano winning the championship may have been enough to force major changes moving forward. 

Denny, Joey & Dale, oh my!

From Adam, who gets literally every single NASCAR scoop known to man:

Now, two people familiar with the matter confirmed to SBJ that NASCAR planned to review the format this offseason, with one saying any changes for 2025 would be more likely to be small tweaks given that the season is only a few months away. 

Any change would have an impact on not only teams but also broadcasters, tracks and sponsors. A more complete overhaul would thus likely need to wait until 2026 if one is warranted, the person said. 

The second person cautioned against assuming that a bigger overhaul will be deemed necessary but confirmed that the playoff format would be reviewed in the coming weeks.

Some senior team executives contacted on Tuesday said they’d be open to forming an industry-wide group to examine the topic. One of the people said that topics that should be examined include whether a win should automatically qualify a driver for the playoffs, as is the case now, and possible changes like whether the regular-season champion should get locked into one of the latter rounds of the playoffs, whether the final round should have more than four drivers, and whether the final round should be contested over multiple races instead of just one. 

The person noted that the current system brings excitement but may have swung the pendulum of NASCAR slightly too far toward entertainment and away from the sporting side.

Sorry, I know it's a lot of word-salad. But hey! At least I was nice enough to put the important parts in big, bold font!

I was one of the few humans on earth last week not critical of the NASCAR playoff format, and I still stand by that. Get over it. Oh no, Joey Logano won a championship even though he only won one race this season and generally sucked otherwise. Boo-hoo. Get over it. Stop the bitching. 

That being said, I do like the last point up there about the final round being contested over multiple rounds. That's interesting. Everything else is stupid. 

What do YOU think? Zach.Dean@OutKick.com!

Denny Hamlin … thoughts?

Denny Hamlin vs. Larry Mac to start the offseason? Did NOT have that one on my Bingo card. Don't hate it, though. Solid battle. Poor Larry getting community-noted was a tough watch, though. That feels mean. 

Sad. 

Next? Joey Logano … thoughts?

Seems harmless enough … until you realize NASCAR is currently in an antitrust lawsuit against two of its teams, who say the sport is a monopoly. ZERO shot the intern who tweeted this knew any of that, though, so he/she (them/they!) gets a pass. 

Finally … let's head back to the summer of 2000, when NASCAR was a proper sport and nobody bitched about playoff formats:

Take us home, Hooters Gianna!

I mean, what a time that was for NASCAR. Just the best. Nothing comes even kind of close. Dale Earnhardt. The black No. 3. Jeff Gordon and the Rainbow Warrior. Tony's Home Depot machine. 

God, this used to be such a proper country. Remember NASCAR back then? It was on top of the world. It was a ratings monster, and we'll never, ever come close to it again. 

Oh well. At least we have Hooters Gianna. She takes us into a big week – along with Larry Mac. 

Offseason No. 1 in the books! Take that, wokes.