With Kyle Larson’s 39th-place finish at Kansas Speedway as well as his subsequent elimination from the NASCAR Playoffs, the stage is starting to be set for a possible underdog situation when the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami comes around.
Along with Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch, Larson and his No. 42 Chip Ganassi crew were dominantly consistent, winning four regular-season races and hanging near the front almost every race. This includes Kansas as well, prior to his engine failure at the end of Stage One.
Underdogs in the Championship Round have become commonplace since 2014 when a winless Ryan Newman almost crashed the party by finishing second to eventual champion Kevin Harvick. The next year a somewhat underperforming Jeff Gordon punched his ticket into Miami with a win at Martinsville, and eventually finished the night third in the final points. Carl Edward’s rain-soaked win at Texas prior to the Homestead finale gained him a spot in the Championship round before his title hopes were dashed with a late-race crash.
Which brings us to the 2017 finale, which is looming from a month away. Title contenders are dropping like they do every year (2017 – Larson, 2016 – Truex, 2015 – Logano, 2014 – Brad Keselowski). When that happens it opens the floodgates for championship hopefuls such as Chase Elliott, who is comfortably in the Round of Eight heading into Martinsville. Despite being winless he has performed with a quiet consistency much like his father’s. He’s proven himself strong on every type of track, which goes a long way toward his chances in the final four races. Ryan Blaney has also been quietly consistent; he hasn’t been tearing up the competition but he’s put together a quiet, Kenseth-esque performance that has kept him in sight of the leaders.
Other drivers such as Keselowski and Denny Hamlin could also crash the Homestead-Miami party. Keselowski’s Talladega win recently revived his crew heading into the Round of Eight, and considering he’s versatile enough to win anywhere, he could make an appearance in the Championship Round for the first time. Hamlin could make his second appearance; two wins this season and a string of top-10s at Charlotte, Talladega, and Kansas could turn into the right kind of momentum for that Joe Gibbs Racing team.
Although Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford hasn’t shown the kind of muscle that crew has been known for since 2014, they’ve been consistent enough to run with the leaders, notably Larson and Truex. He’s won at Martinsville, has always run strongly at Texas, is the winningest driver at Phoenix, and has won Homestead-Miami. The Toyota teams have been out of reach in comparison to the rest of the Ford and Chevy teams. But as Larson’s elimination goes to show, in the NASCAR Playoffs anything can happen.
Each driver in Playoff contention has utilized consistency to be in the right place at the right time to become championship threats. Truex and his No. 78 Toyota team have run away with the competition this year, but that’s not to say the championship is his already. If he keeps up with his winning ways he could very well be hoisting that championship trophy at season’s end, otherwise, Larson’s failure should serve to keep everyone else on their feet. The 2017 champion could truly be anybody’s title.
At the start of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Playoffs, three drivers stood out as the top title contenders come the finale at Homestead-Miami: Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, and Kyle Busch, who had been turning his season around at the right time.
The Ford teams seemed to be a step behind, with six drivers winning eight races in the regular season and the last coming at Daytona in July. Stewart-Haas Racing Fords didn’t have the power that was expected of them, Roush-Fenway Racing Fords seemed to still have issues during their rebirth period, and Team Penske Fords had their hands full with Joey Logano’s uncharacteristic struggles and Brad Keselowski’s lone two victories at Atlanta and Martinsville.
After winning at Talladega for the fifth time Sunday, Keselowski has provided the wake-up call his team needed to get their Ford to the top of the standings as they now sit second in points behind the Toyota team of Truex, who has dominated in 2017. With five races left in the season, things are looking up for the No. 2 crew as they look to make an appearance at Homestead for the first time since the induction of the elimination format in 2014.
He’s won at two of the next five tracks (Kansas, 2011 and Martinsville, Spring 2017) and where he hasn’t won, he’s performed well, with a best finish of second at Fort Worth in 2015, a best finish of third at Phoenix in 2014, and a best finish of third at Homestead twice, in 2014 and 2015. He knows how to get around these tracks and considering the Fords showing their strength at the 1.5-mile speedways it’s just a matter of both driver and team hitting their marks at each track. He’s the reigning Martinsville champion as well, solidifying his domination of NASCAR’s major short tracks.
Following his win Sunday, Keselowski pointed out that Martinsville is a must-win race for him and his crew.
“Yeah, Martinsville at this moment as it stands I would say is a must-win for us, and we know that going in,” said Keselowski. “We tested there, and we feel like that’s the type of track that we have a lot of strength for. At this point, yes, but you know what, that could change. You hate to say that; it’s still three weeks away, right?”
Every year since 2014, when one championship favorite slips, another unexpected entry joins the midst of the championship few. In ’14 it was Ryan Newman, who came up one spot short from stealing the championship. In ’15, it was Jeff Gordon, whose surprise win at Martinsville guaranteed him a Championship Round appearance. In ’16, it was Carl Edwards. Keselowski hasn’t had that strong of a playoff run, as Toyotas have managed to win four of the first five races. But as a former Cup champion he has the championship experience that neither Truex nor Larson have held, and in a way he can use that as an advantage heading into Homestead.
He’s already had the lone mulligan he’s allowed to have and still remain in contention (a 15th-place at Charlotte offset three previous finishes of sixth, fourth, and 10th). However, as a win can prove to revitalize a team and their goals, it’s looking likely that Keselowski and his crew could be the biggest sleeper of the ’17 Playoffs.
While the Round of 12 of this year’s NASCAR Playoffs is in full effect, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch are currently at the top of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series headlines as usual. However, sitting in fourth in the playoff standings is Chase Elliott, who reeled off yet another runner-up finish at Charlotte on Sunday to score his sixth-career runner-up finish and 19th top-five finish in 71 Cup Series starts.
“It’s been a solid start,” said Elliott. “Obviously we’d like to pick up one spot, but overall just the way we’ve been running since the playoffs started has been refreshing, and definitely makes it a lot of fun to come to the track and know that our car is going to drive pretty good, our pit stops have been really nice, and now is definitely the time of year to do that. So hopefully we can carry it forward, what, five or six more weeks and see what it’s got to offer.”
Elliott’s runner-up finish in the Bank of America 500 was his ninth top-five and 17th top-10 of 2017, a performance that should have resulted in a win by now; surely a team this strong has what it takes to win, right?
Well, he isn’t entirely at fault for his lack of Cup victories at this point. If anything, he’s got his father’s laid-back demeanor, and although it’s pleasant to see such a young and laid-back driver he ultimately needs to bring some of the aggressiveness that he showed during his 2014 XFINITY Championship campaign. He’s had opportunities come his way only for them to slip past. That’s not to say that he’s not one of the hardest working, strongest drivers on track right now.
As a matter of fact, he has the capability to share the spotlight with Kyle Larson as the top Chevy drivers in the Monster Energy Cup Series, if only he would take the aggression to another level. Still, that very well may be the case during the Playoffs; four races in and he has finished second, 11th, second, and second. He’s been down a similar road before as a rookie and it would be all too easy to become too hyped. But he’s no longer a rookie. He’s got 71 starts on his belt, and he’s properly educated in what it would take to score a win.
He’s got all the right equipment. He’s got the talent and it has shown. He can win and if he keeps up this string of strong runs he will win. It would help if it happens while he’s a Playoff contender. He needs this win to alleviate the pressure he currently has himself under. It’s a conundrum: In order to get rid of the pressure to win, he needs to put the pressure on winning.
Once he does that, one can only wonder how he’ll feel for his crew.
With the announcement being made official on October 6 that Tony Kanaan was heading over to AJ Foyt Enterprises, it was also made official that the 2018 season would ultimately define their relationship. None of Foyt’s cars have won since 2013 when Takuma Sato won at Long Beach, and Kanaan has also had a similar streak: His last win was at Fontana in 2014; his only win during his tenure for Chip Ganassi Racing after replacing Dario Franchitti in the No.10.
So the pairing of two of the sport’s greats in order to rediscover success in the Verizon IndyCar Series is only natural. Kanaan is no stranger to winning and being at the front of the sport while Foyt is widely regarded as one of the greatest motorsports names to ever exist. So when the green flag drops on Kanaan’s No. 14 Chevy next season, it’ll be quick to show whether or not Foyt or Kanaan made the right move.
It’s a tossup in motorsports when it comes to a long-suffering team looking to revitalize itself by bringing in a driver with a pedigree of success like Kanaan’s. He has won in everything he’s driven in, both in open wheel and in sports cars, the pinnacle of which being the 2004 IndyCar championship as well as the 2013 Indy 500 (an accolade that makes him only the second Indy 500 winner to drive full-time for AJ Foyt Enterprises – behind Foyt himself). With Kanaan’s prowess behind the wheel the organization can build itself up around him to become a contending team once again.
However, at the same time the inverse could happen – the team could still fall short when it counts the most. Races where the driver normally performs well could become nothing more than a struggle. Although the phrase “A driver is only as good as their equipment” has been proven true time and time again, it isn’t entirely true; racing is an unpredictable business and IndyCar is no exception.
Everything is in place for the team to compete properly in 2018. There’s the new aero kit coming out for all chassis that the team will have to learn to work with. There’s the sponsorship firmly in place. There’s the owner committed to his team, which has found success before and will again. Then there’s the driver, who has only one concern: To perform.
Of the organization, Kanaan’s strengths will prove educational to his teammates and will also make the job easier for the team to get him to Victory Lane. The pressure, although still there, is lighter for both Foyt and Kanaan to perform, and there is no reason to believe that they will not compete.
The following is something I’ve been reflecting on for a little over a week. I usually make it a point to keep both my articles and my Twitter feed relatively free of political matters, but with the atmosphere of the American athletic world being in its current state, this is something I feel needs to be said.
When I was little, my father was in the United States Army. He, like his brother, his father, and even his grandfather, felt that it was imperative that he served his country. It wasn’t a matter of life choices; rather, he felt that it was his duty as an American. Serve your country. Defend our nation. So when I was little, he taught me to love words like “honor,” “duty,” and “freedom.” To this day those words never fail to give me a certain sense of awe because of what they entail. So in terms of the National Anthem, I will stand at attention.
But.
As an American, I’m aware that we’ve been bestowed rights that cannot be found anywhere else, such as the right to peaceful protest. It is an unalienable right, a right that many of our servicemen fought for and many of them died for. They died for the right for us to disagree, to demonstrate peacefully, and to essentially have different viewpoints without fear of reprimand. Nothing can or will change that, including whoever holds the seat in the Oval Office.
That said, comments from President Trump as well as longtime NASCAR owners, Richard Childress and Richard Petty, in regards to reprimanding those who do not stand for the anthem served to throw the sport into turmoil. Many in the NASCAR community agree with the comments made by Trump, Childress, and Petty, that whoever refuses to stand for the anthem should be fired. It has made a volatile situation, first started in the NFL, worse. Many in the NASCAR community also believe that these comments did more harm than good for the sport’s image, an image it has tried to shed and has only marginally succeeded.
We are a house divided, and that includes the sports world, and that includes NASCAR. We are willfully divided, and it also seems we are also willingly overlooking our responsibilities as Americans. Let me ask this: What’s the percentage of being this divided? What’s to be gained? It isn’t about “political correctness,” as this is too defined an issue for such a vague and small term. This isn’t about Liberalism/Conservatism, as (like it or not) we all sleep under the same American flag and sit or park next to each other at the track.
This isn’t about disrespecting the American flag, either. Believe it or not, we disrespect the flag in our everyday life quite frequently. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the below regarding the U.S. Flag Code (4 U.S. Code § 8 – Respect for flag) and see if you don’t recognize a thing or two.
The flag should never be used for any advertising purpose. It should not be embroidered, printed, or otherwise impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after temporary use. Advertising signs should not be attached to the staff or halyard.
The flag should not be used as part of a costume or athletic uniform, except that a flag patch may be used on the uniform of military personnel, firefighters, police officers, and members of patriotic organizations.
The flag should never have any mark, insignia, letter, word, number, figure, or drawing of any kind placed on it or attached to it.
The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.
The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.
Look, I’m a white, working-class American. I’m probably the least-qualified individual when it comes to talking about issues of race or racial inequality, but I’m not so ignorant as to call a minority’s issues baseless or nonexistent. I’m not so ignorant as to disbelieve there are some seriously wrong things going on in this country regarding minorities. I’m not one to assume the mind of someone of a different ethnicity and have the temerity to dismiss their claims.
So with that said, if they believe something is seriously wrong, why shouldn’t they peacefully protest? This isn’t like the Ferguson, Missouri riots. No structures are being demolished in Colin Kaepernick’s name or Steph Curry’s refusal to visit the White House. Instead, NFL teams are linking arms and taking knees during the anthem, showing both respect and unity, or some of them are even just sitting in the locker room during the anthem, which also happened to be a common practice as early as 2008.
The rights of your fellow Americans transcend anything some media outlet could ever say or anything the Oval Office could ever assert. Why not acknowledge that? You may disagree, you may disregard, or you may not even understand. But shouldn’t everyone here in America know their rights and all fellow Americans’ rights be paramount? Remember, many men and women both fought and died for us to have these rights…what is more American than exercising these rights, with the help of an experienced lawyer here if necessary? What would make more sense, for that matter, to widen this divide, or to honor those rights bestowed upon us the day we were born as Americans?
We’re a different world now than we were in the post-9/11 days when every American everywhere stood side-by-side with their neighbors and embraced their differences. We were united and we were strong. Now we’re angry, quick to judge and condemn, and horrifically divided. That’s not of our ilk. That’s not our fabric. We’re better than this.
Sponsors can talk of pulling out because of the protests in the NFL. Childress, Petty, and others can condemn protesting employees and fire them until they’re blue in the face. President Trump will continue to call protesting athletes SOBs’. But ask this: As an American, will you let their words affect how you conduct yourself against your neighbor’s difference of opinion? The answer is yours and yours alone. But as for me, as an American, I will continue to stand during the National Anthem and salute the troops. As an American, I will also defend to the death my neighbor’s right to freely and peacefully protest.
As a rookie, Alexander Rossi’s 2016 season wouldn’t classify as “memorable.” Granted, there was the surprise win in the Indianapolis 500 in May (a fuel-mileage win, but a win nonetheless), but otherwise, his rookie season with Andretti-Honda Autosport in the Verizon IndyCar Series typified an average rookie campaign: Consistent, but middle of the road. He finished all but one race (a crash DNF at Pocono), got as high as fifth in the points, and only finished off the lead lap in five of the 16 races. However, Indianapolis was his only podium finish and he placed 11th in the final points.
In 2017, though, Rossi was the perfect example of how a sophomore should perform, scoring a win from the pole in the penultimate race at Watkins Glen and three podium finishes to finish seventh in the final season tally. Although he faced three DNFs during the season, he made up for it with several aggressive runs including a fifth in the first Belle Isle race, a third at Pocono, and a second-place run at Toronto. His average finish in 2017 improved from 11.8 to 9.5 at season’s end.
Alexander Rossi in Victory Circle after winning the INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen — Photo by Chris Owens/IndyCar
It may seem like an average improvement, nothing too noteworthy at first, but at the same time Rossi is one of the most analytical drivers out there and it is a safe bet he’ll continue to improve with age. For example, while Rossi’s strong points are the road courses, he still needs work on his oval runs. But his oval results in 2017 were improved, with three finishes in the top-10 including his third at Pocono. Still, he improved at almost every event and considering he’s this early into his career, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t continue to improve especially considering the top-notch equipment he pilots.
With the championship pedigree that Andretti-Honda Autosport possesses Rossi in the best position he could be in his young career. He’s a proven, multiple-time winner with a championship organization that happens to be the flagship Honda organization in the sport. He’s constantly learning and utilizing that knowledge into results. He has the potential to become the new face of AHA, and in time could be the perfect foil to Josef Newgarden over at Team Penske. Of course, that may seem lofty but at the same time, Rossi’s star is rising much in the way Ryan Blaney’s is in NASCAR; slowly, surely, and noticeably.
Rossi’s 2017 season is the perfect indicator of how a race driver is supposed to perform at the beginning of their career. Their rookie year is all about learning and earning the respect of their peers, and Rossi has proven to be a clean competitor. As previously mentioned, he’s able to analyze his performance and use that knowledge to improve himself as a driver. Soon, he’ll be at the next plane of his career: Championship contender.
The Johnsonville 180 at Road America will go down as the best XFINITY Series race of 2017, if not one of the best races of the NASCAR season, period. There was plenty of on-track action, drama, spinouts, a first-time winner, and nine of the top-15 drivers scoring their season-best finishes.
One thing that was noticeably absent on a day that saw Jeremy Clements drive a nine-year-old chassis to Victory Lane were Monster Energy Cup drivers, a group that has won more races in the XFINITY Series in 2017 than XFINITY Series regulars. For that matter, it was a rare setting Sunday in which the field actually consisted more of XFINITY teams than Cup teams.
NASCAR has taken steps to try to remedy this situation for the regulars by limiting the number of XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series races in which Cup drivers can compete. For the 2018 NASCAR season, that number looks to go even lower, a move which frustrated some of the Cup contingent who regularly compete in those divisions such as Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.
Early in August Harvick spoke on the matter on his SiriusXM NASCAR show Happy Hours.
“Just let them race,” he said. “Who cares? Why not just let them race. I don’t understand it. That’s what we do. We race cars, we race trucks, we race late models. That’s what we did all our life, we raced. I don’t know why all of a sudden it’s become a problem.’’
Harvick’s argument centered around the idea that up-and-coming drivers could learn a lot from the Cup drivers moonlighting in the lower divisions. This is an age-old argument used since the early days of “Buschwhacking,” when the series was the Busch Grand National Series, but it’s also an idea that some of the lower division regulars have taken issue with.
“The way you make it to the bigs in every other sport is to consistently beat everyone else at lower levels,” explained Tommy Joe Martins, Owner/Driver of the No. 44 Martins Motorsports NASCAR Camping World Truck Series entry. “Cup drivers aren’t helping XFINITY/Truck Series drivers develop. At all. They’re hurting them. They’re taking the spotlight off of them in a sport where your ability to compete comes down to your ability to draw fans and sponsors to you.”
XFINITY Series regular Joey Gase, driver of the No. 52 Jimmy Means Racing entry, is a little more generous regarding learning from the Cup drivers in the lower divisions.
“We do learn from the Cup drivers when they come down and do the lower series,” Gase said, “although, the drivers that are in equal equipment will learn more from them than the drivers who are not. I think NASCAR limiting [Cup drivers] to seven races is good because that will still mean there is at least one cup driver in majority of the races.”
However, there are drivers like Truck Series competitor John Hunter Nemechek who do believe in the education value of racing against Cup drivers in the lower divisions.
Photo by: Simon Scoggins
“Any time you’re able to race against the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup guys, or even the XFINITY Series guys, they can help you as a driver learning how to race, some of their techniques, what they’re doing better than you, where they’re faster,” said Nemechek. “It definitely helps you overall to be able to race against them and beat them and kind of show your talent.”
“I definitely think that racing against them every time that you’re on the track, whether it’s practice, qualifying, or the race, you’re always learning and as a driver you want to learn as much as you can to be able to beat them one day.”
Cup drivers racing in the lower series isn’t a new dilemma that the sport is facing, and granted, it does have its merits for Cup drivers looking for an edge on the weekend. Dale Earnhardt Sr. made 136 starts in the XFINITY Series between 1982 and 1994, winning 21 times. In that same span of years, Harry Gant made 128 starts and also earned 21 wins. Mark Martin made 25 starts in the NCWTS starts between 1996 and 2011, scoring seven wins.
Although drivers like Busch, Harvick, and Brad Keselowski have all voiced displeasure at being limited in the lower divisions, XFINITY and Truck Series regulars do seem to be happy with the new rule.
“The way I look at it is, of course, the Cup regulars and drivers that are already in top rides are against it because it will limit them from driving or they are already in top equipment so it doesn’t matter to them,” Gase continued. “If you ask a full-time driver in the XFINITY or Truck Series I’m sure at least 80 percent are happy for the rule. Brad [Keselowski] tweeted he thinks if a Cup driver wants to drive in XFINITY or Truck Series they should be in equipment they own and I love that idea. Brad is all about giving back to the sport and helping up and coming drivers and I think that is awesome. I do think Cup drivers should be able to race in the XFINITY and Truck Series but on a limited basis like we are starting to see now.”
Martins took it one step further saying NASCAR’s theory that letting top tier talent play in the lower division is good for the sport, is, at it’s core, flawed.
“[You’re] never going to hear that in any other sport,” he said. “Then be audacious enough to defend it by saying they just love to play – and then that it’s good for the whole sport for them to be down there? It’s inconceivable to me.”
This isn’t to say that Cup drivers should be banned completely from racing in the lower tier divisions. But their dominance isn’t as beneficial to the XFINITY and NCWTS divisions as one would like to believe. In 2017 only four XFINITY regulars have gone to Victory Lane for a total of six wins in 23 events, while in the Truck Series there has been more parity; five regulars have gone to Victory Lane in 14 events and have won nine times.
What does that tell the other teams looking to grow and earn their place in the sport? What kind of growth does that encourage? NASCAR is a performance-driven sport, where the better a driver is the more guaranteed their growth and longevity is. Yet there are several XFINITY-only and NCWTS-only teams who may have a dream-driver – accessible, charming, a draw for the fans, and extremely talented, only to be hindered by a Cup team stealing the show in a lower-division race.
When NASCAR announced the further limitations to Cup drivers attempting to partake in racing in the lower divisions, Busch was open in his disdain for the new limitations during an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR.
“But if we keep continuing to put the limits on it, I’m going to tell you right now, if the limits to the Truck Series go to zero, I’m done,” Keselowski stated. “So you wouldn’t see Kyle Busch Motorsports teams out on the race track. That’s just the way I’m going to make it and we’ll see how that progresses as the years go along. You know, the XFINITY Series side, I’m sure Joe’s [Gibbs] frustrated. I know I’m frustrated. We’ll just continue to race the races we’re allowed to run with the sponsorship that we have. We got great partners.”
Another popular claim used frequently in this argument is that top-tier drivers like Busch, Harvick, Keselowski, and Larson racing in the lower divisions is that their participation brings funds, sponsorship, and attention to the divisions. However, according to regulars partaking in those divisions, that’s not entirely the case.
“They do bring funds to the top teams that they are racing for but that is not the case for the smaller teams,” said Gase. “A few of the top drivers say if they couldn’t race in the lower series it would risk the [Cup affiliated teams] and they would have to shut down, but I think that would be okay. That would help equal out the rest of the field and would let smaller teams come into the sport and fill in the gaps.”
Nemechek echoed Gase’s sentiments, saying, “I think when the Cup stars come down to run Trucks or XFINITY, it does bring funds and sponsorships, but to their own teams. It doesn’t necessarily help out other teams that they don’t own or drive for. I really don’t see those funds or sponsorships from where I’m in the Truck Series, maybe if I was driving for one of them or their teams you would see those funds trickling down to help out the program, help out the team, just to be able to use more resources and funding to make your equipment better.”
Martins offered a similar, more pointed, take.
“Funds to where?” he asked. “To their teams? That’s not helping Martins Motorsports. That’s not helping me. Their teams making more money isn’t helping the NASCAR economy. If anything it’s hurting it. They use the money to further develop the trucks and drive the price up for other teams in the series.”
Considering that the involvement of Cup drivers in lower divisions piloting Cup-funded equipment affects the respective regulars more than NASCAR realizes, they should take them into account more than anything. If a Cup driver threatens to fold their lower division efforts, the sanctioning body should take into consideration that it won’t mean a loss to the sport.
Instead, all they have to do is just check social media following a race at Iowa, Gateway, Road America, or even Mosport. When a XFINITY or Truck Series event has more regulars than outsiders and has regulars running at the front and winning, it’s a plus for that division. On top of that, it encourages growth in the sport. Any fan or competitor could tell you that that is a good thing.
So the next time a rule change affects lower divisions, instead of leaning on what a Cup regular has to say, what the division regulars have to say may have more gravity in regards to competition.
NASCAR recently announced that they will be further limiting the number of races in the XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series that Cup drivers can attempt. This will go a long way toward helping the regulars in those divisions stand out and ultimately decide the championship properly amongst themselves. This is good news for the regulars, as many who have been deprived of succeeding on track will now have a chance to shine, with drivers like Brennan Poole, Blake Koch, and Brandon Jones all finally able to show the rest of the NASCAR world what they can do.
However, in the events where Cup drivers such as Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Joey Logano compete, it’s always noticeable that they’re the ones who immediately run to the front and dominate, leaving the regulars behind. At one point during Saturday’s XFINITY event at Watkins Glen, the top-six were all Cup drivers (Busch, Larson, Logano, Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones, and Paul Menard). In the end, Busch took yet another checkered. Meanwhile, the highest finishing regular was Justin Allgaier in fourth. The next regular was Brendan Gaughan, who finished ninth.
This isn’t a respectable statistic for a division that boasts how “Names Are Made Here.” How does one “make a name” by running fourth, ninth, and 12th on a weekly basis? Ticket sales and attendance are down and have been declining since the other two national touring divisions in NASCAR became feeder series instead of having their own identity. This is why that, along with limiting Cup attempts in the XFINITY/CWTS, the number of Cup drivers who do compete should also be limited as well.
By limiting the amount of Cup drivers in a XFINITY/CWTS race, other drivers on the rise can have a chance to shine as well. Ryan Preece, the winner at the standalone Iowa XFINITY event in July, wouldn’t have had to wait as long as he did to show how capable he was behind the wheel if Joe Gibbs Racing was forced to take a look at him earlier. Drivers, in general, wouldn’t have had to wait so long and languish in the dark before eventually giving up. NASCAR would be seeing new faces and sponsors and wouldn’t have to worry about diminishing field numbers and trying to drag fans to the track.
This is an old argument, but remember the Busch Series (now XFINITY) of the 90s’? Take 20 years ago, in 1997, for example. In 30 races, five Cup drivers won 13 races. In 1996, in 26 races, four Cup drivers won 11 races. Moving forward to 1998, in 31 events, five Cup drivers won nine races. Although the numbers in ’96 and ’97 seem like a lot, truth be told they weren’t winning over half of the races. In the 2017 XFINITY Series meanwhile, three regulars have won five races in 20 races. That number will change once the playoffs kick off next month, but it’s still a glaring thing to see.
It’s not that the Cup drivers should get out and stay out of the XFINITY Series and CWTS. Instead, it’s that they’re playing in the minor leagues and stealing the show. MLB players don’t drop to the MiLB to play for fun. NFL players don’t go to indoor football games and try to steal the show or look to play in the NCAA again just for kicks. So why is it okay for Cup drivers to take over XFINITY and Truck Series events?
It isn’t. Competing in them is one thing, but taking over the whole show is another thing entirely and should be dealt with. Say, limit the amount of Cup drivers per race to four. Details such as equipment can be discussed later, although it is prudent to bring up the brief period in the late 00s’ when drivers such as Jamie McMurray and Greg Biffle were racing for Brewco Motorsports in the Busch Series, Brewco being an organization that was primarily a Busch Series staple.
Earlier this season the argument was made that Cup drivers in the XFINITY Series and Truck Series “brought sponsorship and funds” to those divisions. One has to wonder where those efforts really show, or if they even really benefit the series. Therefore, stating the obvious, why should that be an excuse for them? The funds and sponsorship excuse isn’t a valid claim, especially when other drivers are left in the dust. So why should the division(s) still cater to the Cup stars?
When in doubt, look at both standalone Iowa events in the XFINITY Series this year. Names that don’t normally run up front were stealing the show. No Cup drivers to pollute the ranks. That said, we need more races like that in the XFINITY Series if we want to make the XFINITY Series/CWTS great again.
According to Sports Business Journal, Hendrick Motorsports is expected to replace Kasey Kahne with William Byron as the driver of the No. 5 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team in 2018. On the surface, this seems the logical next step for Byron’s meteoric rise up the NASCAR ranks. He currently sits second in the XFINITY Series regular season points, leads their playoff standings with three wins in 20 starts, and set a rookie record in the Camping World Truck Series in 2016 by winning seven races. Not only is he consistent, he is strong and is almost always at or near the front.
However, it is too soon to be promoting Byron to the Cup Series. He just hasn’t been established enough to make a successful jump. Granted, he’s no stranger to Victory Lane, but as has been proven time and again, Cup cars are entirely different animals from XFINITY, Trucks, and so forth.
Take at look at Joey Logano, for example. In the years leading up to his June 2008 XFINITY Series debut at Dover, he was hyped as the literal second coming of Jeff Gordon. He backed that up with a sixth-place run in his first race, won the pole the next week at Nashville, then won his first career race at Kentucky the week after that. In 19 starts, he won once, earned five top-fives, and 14 top-10s. He was promoted to Cup the next season in 2009.
Although he earned a win (a rain-shortened event at Loudon in July), three top-fives, and seven top-10s, he finished 20th in points. The next season improve to 16th in points, but in 2011 he fell back to 24th in points. In 2012 he scored his second career win, but finished 17th in points. It wasn’t until his 2013 move to Team Penske that his Cup career finally started to rise.
Another example would be a former Hendrick Motorsports driver of the No. 5, Kyle Busch. In his rookie XFINITY campaign in 2004, he won five times and finished second in points with 16 top-fives and 22 top-10s. With the sort of numbers he put on the board he was immediately moved to the Cup Series, where he took over the No. 5 from Terry Labonte. He won twice, but finished a dismal 20th in points. He won twice more over the next two seasons, but he didn’t start becoming a serious contender until his move to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008.
Photo Courtesy: Simon Scoggins
Byron has the talent and wherewithal to become a Cup champion, but he needs more time to hone those skills before he shows up on the big stage. Chase Elliott, another Hendrick driver, spent two full seasons in the XFINITY Series and although he has yet to win a race, his quiet consistency and ability to stay out of trouble has kept him in Playoff consistency two years in a row.
That said, although wins are a plus and a must in the current points system, Byron is still young and impressionable. He doesn’t need to be rush like Logano or Busch. He’s such a talent, easily a championship-caliber XFINITY driver, it would benefit both Hendrick and Byron if they waited at least a year.
That does leave Hendrick in a tight spot, though. Who will drive the No. 5? Well, there will be some free agents out and about for 2018. Give the ride to Matt Kenseth, at least for a year. Reasonable agreement with a strong, established driver. Nothing would be lost on the arrangement and Byron would also have the benefit of learning from a Cup champion.
Or just make the No. 5 a part-time ride, much like the No. 25 is for up-and-coming drivers linked up with Hendrick. Let Byron learn about Cup the way Elliott did with his brief (albeit rough) tenure in a limited Cup run. That would be better than thrusting him front and center when he isn’t ready. Give him time to work with a Crew Chief that isn’t Keith Rodden (who hasn’t done the No. 5 any favors besides winning Indy with Kahne) and actually learn the proper nature and communication with his Cup crew.
He’ll bring the Liberty University sponsorship. He’ll bring his otherworldly talent behind the wheel. He’s a well-spoken, ideal face of NASCAR’s next generation of drivers. But pushing him into the No. 5 Cup team, essentially putting him in the spotlight at this point, would only serve to do more harm than good. Give Byron a chance to learn and grow before he graduates to the big leagues.
It’s easy to believe with Christopher Bell’s dominance in the Camping World Truck Series this season that he’s a lock for the 2017 championship. He leads the series with four wins, has eight top-fives and 11 top-10s, three poles, and currently leads the regular season points. He’s a Kyle Busch Motorsports pilot right now, and with backing from Toyota Racing Development, it’s tempting to just call off the competition now and hand him the championship trophy.
But the season isn’t over, and if anyone has any doubts, they can look at the saga of Bell’s former KBM teammate William Byron a year ago. At this point in the 2016 truck season, Byron was only a rookie but had five wins including Pocono and was the season points leader. When he wasn’t winning poles and races, he was scoring top-fives and top-10s, keeping up with the consistency and making sure he was in championship shape as Homestead loomed larger.
After opening up the playoffs with a win at Loudon, Byron rattled off four-straight top-10s, three of which were top-fives, and kept padding onto his points lead. But after winning the pole and leading 112 of the 150 scheduled laps at Phoenix (the elimination race before Homestead), he dropped an engine on lap 141 and finished 27th. That finish ultimately killed his title hopes. Adding insult to injury, Byron could have won the title as he won the season finale at Homestead.
The target is currently on Bell’s back as he is looking to be the man to beat in 2017. He’s regularly outperformed 2016 champion Johnny Sauter, has twice as many wins as John Hunter Nemechek and team owner and part-time driver Kyle Busch, and despite not having as many stage wins as Sauter he does happen to have more playoff points (24) than Sauter (10), which is important considering this new format.
On top of that, the list of tracks coming up could help Bell further assert his dominance over the rest of the field. Proving that he’s a well-rounded driver, in the upcoming tracks he’s finished in the top-10 at every race with the exception of 24th at Michigan a year ago, although that was due to a crash after starting fifth. But while he has an affinity for the 1.5-mile tracks, he’s excelled on short tracks, 1.0-mile tracks, 2.0-mile tracks, and even road courses (he finished fifth at Mosport in 2016).
With Crew Chief Rudy Fugle in his corner (Fugle also led Byron’s seven-win rookie season in 2016), Bell has shown that he has grown immensely after playing second-fiddle to Byron for most of the 2016 season. But although he’s been at the front for most of the 2017 (1,703 laps completed out of 1,868 possible laps in 12 starts, 521 laps led) with very few mishaps (a 25th at Dover thanks to a crash), he’s shown that he’s the main threat for the championship this year. However, it’s already been proven that under this playoff system, things can change in a heartbeat.
