After years of bickering, will this be the year NASCAR changes the narrative?

Perhaps the biggest success NASCAR will have this season won't be seen, but heard.

Or, maybe not heard.

NASCAR has had a narrative problem for the last few years. It came through a split in the garage, where different islands had formed. The team owners were on one, unhappy about the business side of the industry. The drivers were on other, unhappy about the playoff format. And both parties made their complaints known loud and clear whenever a microphone was available (or with a push of a button on a social media app).

NASCAR, meanwhile, was on an island of its own. A far lonelier one, as the bad guys who could not do or say anything that pleased the masses.

So it’s been hard not to feel like everything was doom and gloom. It’s been nothing but negativity. The sky is falling. Everything sucks. No one is happy.

But there is a chance NASCAR could see that change in 2026.

NASCAR settling the antitrust lawsuit brought against it by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, which resulted in permanent charters and a new agreement. It’s addresses the financial partnership between the teams and NASCAR, which had previously led to the aforementioned unhappiness and years of criticism of NASCAR leadership and its business model.

They seem to have gotten what they wanted. So, how long will the team owners be happy with the new agreement? Will those previous comments and criticisms go away?

Then comes the championship format. NASCAR has brought back the Chase and done away with the one-race elimination format that was criticized as gimmicky, goofy, convoluted, illegitimate and everything in between.

Thus far, the drivers seem to be buying into the change. And they, more than anyone, need to buy in – and be vocal about it. Having competitors badmouth the way in which the sport crowns its champion is the absolute worst thing that can happen.

So, those are the two biggest narrative pieces. Denny Hamlin, who has been one of NASCAR's biggest adversaries over the last few seasons as both an owner against the business model and a driver against the championship format, said a week ago at Bowman Gray Stadium that he left the most recent team member council meeting feeling the direction and vision for the season is good, and that the team owners are in a better position for the long-term than they've ever been.

Later, when Hamlin was later directly asked about whether he believes the overall narrative around the can change or be different, he said:

"Yeah, hopefully. That's the goal. Hopefully, we all use it as a reset, right? We need to think of the sport holistically when we're trying to figure out how to make it better, or maybe we're criticizing this or that. Holistically, are we heading in the right direction? One moment might not be exactly the way we all want it, but is it generally heading in the right direction? So, I think that's the way we need to look at it. Like I said, I've looked at the inner strategy of NASCAR, what they put out for us of, ‘here's our strategy to get back to where we were’, and I think it's the right strategy. So, again, this is not going to be something we're going to see right away. It's something that could take time within the garage. The proof will be in the pudding.

“Being more collaborative is something the sport and teams have said they wanted to do for the last decade, and while it was more collaborative than it was probably in the 1990s, it is still nowhere near as collaborative as what other sports have.

“When I talk to Curtis Polk and many others who have been in other sports, and even other owners who have had an interest in other sports, their ownership meetings are totally different. They're all figuring out. ‘how we’re going to create more revenue. Here's what we're thinking about doing.’ Where us, we're just so cutthroat on what's best for our team, and this team doesn't like this splitter or this team doesn't like this transaxle. It's all just dumb stuff that gets talked about that doesn't push the sport forward. We have to talk about things that are going to grow the sport collectively, and everyone has to get on the same page. Hopefully that (started) January 1 this past year."

It won't all be rainbows and butterflies, and it should we expect it to be. There will still be disagreements about race officiating and the race car, and the latter is a work in progress. It's part of the change for this year, as NASCAR has conceded to trying higher horsepower. It may not be enough, it likely won't be enough, but hopefully it's a start.

San Diego is new. North Wilkesboro has a points race. Chicagoland Speedway is back. The Roval is gone. Homestead-Miami has its rightful place as the finale.

A season of change, a chance for a new narrative with plenty of positive momentum in front of NASCAR as Daytona looms to kick things off officially. And make no mistake, the narrative is important because if NASCAR wants its fans, the paying customer, to buy (figuratively and literally) into the sport, then its garage needs to come first in that regard. The fan sentiment follows the garage sentiment.

So, is the sport about to hear a change after the last few years of living in negativity? Only time will tell, but there is no denying that one of the biggest opportunities for that to happen is in the palm of NASCAR's hands.