Opinion: Why NASCAR is to blame for the Cookout Clash switching channels

NASCAR is receiving immense backlash this week after putting the last 40 laps of the Cookout at Bowman Grey Stadium behind a paywall. While the move didn't seem intentional, NASCAR announced around lap 160 that the rest of the race would be broadcast on Fox Sports 2 and Fox Sports Business, where Ryan Preece led the final 18 laps to snatch the victory.

Fox Sports later revealed that NASCAR used up their two-hour time slot and the broadcast company was forced to accommodate their prime-time programming. This resulted in fans receiving a message at the bottom of the screen that the Masked Singer would be taking over at 9pm.

The response from NASCAR fans have been nothing short of brutal and many already calling off the sport completely. This comes at a time when NASCAR is asking their fans for one last chance, but it doesn't seem like they really deserve one after what happened at The Clash.

Looking at this from a logical perspective, there was a lot of things NASCAR could have done differently if they knew they were up against time. For example, instead of not counting caution laps towards the total distance, they could have started to when it was clear they were getting close to the masked singer.

NASCAR should have also realized that the short track nature of Bowman Grey Stadium would lead to a lot of cautions and possibly eat up time. NASCAR might have wanted to give the fans something special with this format, but they should have realized that it would work against them.

Another example of this is their fueling rule that dictated they couldn't come in for gas until after the halfway point. This is a decision NASCAR seemingly made for no reason, and it eliminated a lot of the strategy in the race. It even created more needless cautions that also didn't count towards the total distance.

. The last nail in the coffin came when NASCAR waited around 30 minutes to decide whether to continue the race on rain tires or not. Unfortunately, mother nature wasn't cooperating at this point, leaving standing water on the upper grooves on the track.

Of course, that last part isn't NASCAR's fault, but the indecision to put the drivers on wet tires does lay with them. They were eating up critical television time while struggling to make a decision. That's not a good look for a sport that is supposed to be shifting back towards legitimacy.

And none of this would have even been a problem if NASCAR didn't decide not to count caution laps. They put themselves in this position and were forced to sweat it out as they decided between driver safety and the ratings. Something the sport should have had a contingency plan for by now.

Think about it, this race was delayed four times while being given various time slots. The sport should have known they were up against time from the beginning and needed to ditch the caution lap rule. They should have also known that fueling would be a problem with many drivers choosing to not start with a full tank.

In the end, NASCAR wants to claim that a lot of this was due to sleet conditions on the track and that's fair. The drivers should not be expected to race in dangerous on track positions. Putting the drivers in that position would have been a bad decision. The problem is that NASCAR didn't have to put themselves in that position.