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  • ‘Big One’ Strikes Early in XFINITY Talladega Race

    ‘Big One’ Strikes Early in XFINITY Talladega Race

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — The field was four laps shy of the end of the first stage of the Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway when the Big One was triggered.

    Riding down the backstretch on the 21st lap, Brennan Poole attempted to thread the needle between Kasey Kahne to his low-side and Matt Tifft and Daniel Suarez to his high-side. Poole made contact with Tifft, leading to Tifft’s loose car turning down and hooking the 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet up the track and into the left-rear corner panel of Suarez.

    This triggered a nine-car wreck, brought out the second caution of the race and cleanup necessitated a nine-minute and 28-second red flag.

    Despite being at the eye of the wreck, Suarez and Tifft both drove to a top-10 finish.

    “That’s the big thing here, surviving,” Tifft said. “This stage racing deal sure makes for a lot of intensity and wrecks at that to. We just got caught up in the first stage crash, hurt the nose of the Camry and got to a point where if we didn’t have a good pusher out back it was going to be hard to move around and get a lane going.”

    Among those collected were William Byron, who t-boned Suarez as Suarez slid down the track. Daniel Hemric was barely clipped by Suarez, spun up the track and his right-rear corner slammed into the wall in Turn 3. Darrell Wallace Jr. was turned down the track, following a shunt from the 13 car of Mark Thompson, and clipped the 24 car of Scott Lagasse Jr. Brandon Jones was turned down into the inside wall by Spencer Gallagher as both drove onto the apron to avoid the spinning cars ahead.

  • Almirola Wins Competitive XFINITY Race at Talladega

    Almirola Wins Competitive XFINITY Race at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — The final run to the finish had five lead changes, and Aric Almirola took the lead with four laps remaining to win a competitive XFINITY Series Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Justin Allgaier led the field to the final restart with 11 laps to go. Joey Logano, with Almirola in tow, powered down the backstretch and “chicaned” around Allgaier to take the lead with nine to go. He swapped the lead with Erik Jones before Jones was edged out by Almirola coming to the line with four to go and Almirola drove on to score the victory.

    Elliott Sadler came home second and Joey Logano finished third.

    Ben Kennedy and Erik Jones rounded out the top-five.

    Matt Tifft, Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Suarez and Jeff Green rounded out the top-10.

    Blake Koch led the field to the green flag at 1:21 p.m., but Kasey Kahne used a push from the outside lane on to lead the first lap. Kennedy took the lead on the sixth lap. Ray Black Jr. brought out the first caution on the seventh lap for a blown engine.

    On the ensuing restart on lap 11, Kahne retook the lead. Logano took the lead for the first time on lap 16, edging out Suarez at the line. Almirola followed suit on lap 20, edging out Logano at the line. The following lap on the backstretch, Brennan Poole attempted to thread the needle between Kasey Kahne, Tifft and Suarez. He made contact with Tifft, who hooked him into the left-rear corner panel of Suarez, which sent him spinning, triggering a nine-car spin and bringing out the second caution.

    Red flag was displayed for nine minutes and 28 seconds.

    The race restarted on lap 23 and ran to the end of the first stage, two laps later, that was won by Almirola.

    Michael Annett, who opted not to pit, led the field to the restart on lap 32, and lost the led to Ty Dillon on lap 34. Dillon and Logan swapped the lead back and forth for the next few laps until Jones powered by on the top coming to the line on lap 47 to take the lead. Allgaier jumped in front to take the lead on lap 48.

    A second multi-car wreck, triggered by Almirola bumping Ryan Reed, sending him into the wall and collecting Brendan Gaughan in the process, brought out the fourth caution on lap 49 and ended the second stage with Allgaier in the race lead.

    The multi-car wreck brought out an 11-minute and 30-second red flag.

    Back to green on lap 55, Jones retook the lead on lap 59, only to lose it on the backstretch the following lap to Almirola, who then lost it to Kahne.

    With 44 to go, the top-six cars had broken away from the field. Three of the six, including race leader Kahne, pitted with 43 to go. Jones, who inherited the lead, pitted the following lap, giving the lead to Jeff Green.

    Green led 18 laps, the most he’s led in an XFINITY Series race since Rockingham in 2002, but pitted with 24 to go and the lead cycled back to Allgaier.

    Debris brought out the final caution with 16 to go, setting up the 11-lap run to the finish.

    The race lasted two hours, nine minutes and 41 seconds at an average speed of 139.068 mph. There were 28 lead changes among 14 different drivers and five cautions for 20 laps.

    Sadler leaves Talladega with a 29-point lead over Allgaier.

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  • Brandon Jones Fastest at Talladega in Final XFINITY Practice

    Brandon Jones Fastest at Talladega in Final XFINITY Practice

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Brandon Jones topped the chart in final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Talladega Superspeedway.

    The driver of the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 52.381 and a speed of 182.814 mph followed by Blake Koch in second in his No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet with a time of 52.508 and a speed of 182.372 mph.

    Daniel Hemric was third in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet with a time of 52.623 and a speed of 181.974 mph. Ben Kennedy was fourth in his No. 2 Childress Chevrolet with a time of 52.766 and a speed of 181.480 mph while Ty Dillon rounded out the top-five in his No. 3 Childress Chevrolet with a time of 52.890 and a speed of 181.055 mph.

    No driver posted a 10 consecutive lap average.

    Koch Fastest In First Talladega XFINITY Practice

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  • Elliott Sadler says there’s a big difference between racing Daytona and Talladega

    Elliott Sadler says there’s a big difference between racing Daytona and Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — The late Barney Hall once said, “They don’t race ’em anywhere in the world like they do at Talladega,” and there’s truth to that statement.

    Restrictor plate racing, while polarizing to some, is beloved by many in the NASCAR nation for its unpredictability and intensity. A byproduct of the use of restrictor plates, the racing consists of cars packed together racing inches apart three, four and sometimes five-wide, at 200 mph.

    Brad Keselowski summed up plate racing as a “balance of daredevils and chess players” and said that Talladega is a “daredevil style of track.”

    “…racing has always been that balance of daredevils and chess players. Some weekends we’re chess players, some weekends we’re daredevils,” Keselowski said. “(Talladega) has always been the more daredevil style of track, which probably offsets some of the tracks that we go to where we’re the chess player.”

    This type of racing is done exclusively at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, both of which were built to serve as cathedrals of speed.

    Talladega is essentially an enlarged version of Daytona, being 2.66 miles in length to Daytona’s 2.5. It’s also wider, allowing for four to five-wide racing, whereas the narrow confines of Daytona restrict pack racing to three-wide racing.

    Beyond the size, you’d almost think there was no difference in racing at either track. That’s unless you ask NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Elliott Sadler.

    “To me, it’s a big difference,” Sadler said. “It is restrictor plate racing and we have the bumpers all lined up. But Daytona, there are some handling characteristics involved. The turns are a lot tighter. The course is a lot more narrow. The tri-oval is more of a sharp corner. You have some handling characteristics where two-wide is good, but three-wide is not real good at Daytona. We can run three and four-wide around here (at Talladega) all day long. The corners are a lot longer. It’s a little bit more banked. The tri-oval is not as sharp of a turn. So handling is not a characteristic. So what that means is more people are in play.”

  • Koch Fastest in First Talladega XFINITY Practice

    Koch Fastest in First Talladega XFINITY Practice

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Blake Koch topped the chart in first NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Talladega Superspeedway.

    The driver of the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 49.722 and a speed of 192.591 mph. followed by Brendan Gaughan in second in his No. 62 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 49.732 and a speed of 192.552 mph.

    Ben Kennedy was third in his No. 2 Childress Chevrolet with a time of 49.784 and a speed of 192.351 mph. Daniel Hemric was fourth in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet with a time of 49.803 and a speed of 192.278 mph while Ty Dillon rounded out the top-five in his No. 3 Childress Chevrolet with a time of 50.128 and a speed of 191.031 mph.

    Dillon posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 188.343 mph.

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  • Erik Jones Rallies from Late Speeding Penalty to Win Bristol XFINITY Race

    Erik Jones Rallies from Late Speeding Penalty to Win Bristol XFINITY Race

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Erik Jones rallied back from a late speeding penalty and took the lead in the closing laps to score the victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    After being penalized for speeding on pit road during the fifth caution of the race, Jones worked his way back through the field until he restarted second on the penultimate restart with 23 laps to go. Two laps later, he put the chrome bumper to leader Ryan Blaney, took the lead and held him off on a three-lap restart to end the race and win for the eighth time in his career.

    “It was just hard racing,” said Jones. “We ended up racing hard and getting by him. To come back from a pit road penalty like that, it’s a race I won’t forget for a long time — just an awesome day.”

    Blaney finished runner-up and Daniel Suarez rounded out the podium.

    Elliott Sadler and Daniel Hemric round out the top-five.

    Ty Dillon, Kyle Larson, Brennan Poole, Blake Koch and Michael Annett round out the top-five.

    Larson led the field to the green flag at 1:04 p.m. He lost the lead to Jones on lap 20, but took it back five laps later passing him exiting Turn 2 and held it through the end of the stage.

    The race restarted on lap 95 and was stopped twice, for a spin into the Turn 2 wall by Ray Black Jr. and rain delaying the race for over 90 minutes (1:38.52), but won by Daniel Hemric after the leaders opted to short-pit the stage caution as the caution for rain came with eight laps before the end of the stage.

    Blaney cycled to the lead under the stage break caution.

    Larson took the race lead again with 95 to go, but he lost it under the fifth caution with 95 to go and wasn’t a factor in the race win.

    The run to the finish was set up by an incident on the backstretch related to Ross Chastain.

    Justin Allgaier spins out in the closing laps of the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com

    With 95 to go, Black spun out in Turn 4 and his front-end was clipped by David Starr. With 56 to go, Darrell Wallace Jr. tapped Brendan Gaughan and sent him spinning into a head-on collision with the inside wall on the frontstretch. With 45 to go, Wallace spun out and got t-boned by Garrett Smithley, brining out the red flag for five minutes and 10 seconds. The final caution flew with seven laps to go for a two-car incident involving Justin Allgaier and William Byron.

    The race lasted two hours, 21 minutes and 38 seconds at an average speed of 67.738 mph. There were 15 lead changes among seven different drivers and nine cautions for 85 laps.

    Sadler leaves Bristol with a 16-point lead over Byron.

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  • Larson Takes Bristol XFINITY Pole

    Larson Takes Bristol XFINITY Pole

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Larson will lead the field to the green flag this afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway after winning the pole for the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300.

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet scored the pole after posting a new track record time of 14.992 and a speed of 127.988 mph. Austin Dillon will start second in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 15.043 and a speed of 127.554 mph. Cole Custer will start third in his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford after posting a time of 15.074 and a speed of 127.292 mph. Erik Jones will start fourth in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after posting a time of 15.104 and a speed of 127.039 mph. Justin Allgaier will round out the top-five starters in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet after posting a time of 15.128 and a speed of 126.838 mph.

    Ty Dillon, Matt Tifft, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez will round out the top-10 starters.

    Ross Chastain and Brendan Gaughan will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

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  • Allgaier Fastest in Final Bristol XFINITY Practice

    Allgaier Fastest in Final Bristol XFINITY Practice

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Justin Allgaier topped the chart in final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 15.422 and a speed of 124.420 mph. Erik Jones was second in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 15.509 and a speed of 123.722 mph. Kyle Larson was third in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 15.525 and a speed of 123.594 mph. Ryan Blaney was fourth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 15.535 and a speed of 123.515 mph. Austin Dillon rounded out the top-five in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 15.552 and a speed of 123.380 mph.

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  • One on One with XFINITY Series Driver Ryan Reed

    One on One with XFINITY Series Driver Ryan Reed

    With a win to start off the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series, Roush-Fenway Racing driver Ryan Reed is currently fourth in points and in position to make a run for his first series championship in his fourth full season. Reed, 23, has two XFINITY wins to his credit, both at Daytona, but has had strong showings at several other tracks, scoring top-10s last season at Iowa, Watkins Glen, and Kentucky.

    The Bakersfield, California native took the time to talk with SpeedwayMedia.com about his 2017 season and life as an XFINITY Series driver.

    You’ve had a fairly consistent start to your 2017 season, with a win and two top-10s already. How do you feel your results compare to your team’s effort this year?

    Ryan Reed: Obviously, the win was phenomenal. Starting the year getting us locked into the playoffs with a win was so important and takes a lot of pressure off us throughout the year; we are in a really good position. We want to knock down more top-10s, we feel we’re in a much better place than 2016 not just because of Daytona, but with overall speed. If you look at our average finish we are leaps and bounds ahead of a year ago.

    You have two wins at Daytona, undoubtedly one of racing’s most hallowed grounds. It’s easy to say one win at Daytona is luck or happenstance. But to have two wins at Daytona does show a bit of mastery. How do you feel about having two major wins at Daytona?

    RR: I certainly think, especially the second win, was a lot harder. The first one, I ran a good consistent race and was in the right place at the right time on the last lap. The second one, we had to fight for and overcome two wrecks and at the end of the race I took the lead with five or six to go and had to hold off Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, a bunch of good Cup guys. I don’t think I was in the place two years to hold those guys off, but I’ve learned a lot over the last two years. Running a Cup race at Talladega helped a lot. I’m proud of the win.

    Aside from restrictor-plate racing, where do you feel you perform your strongest? Which tracks do you feel you need the most work done?

    RR: I think we are really strong on road courses. I think our mile-and-a-half package is getting better and the two-mile tracks are really good for us too. Michigan and Fontana have always been two of our best race tracks even if the stats don’t show it, those are the tracks we’ve had the most speed. We’ve got to figure out how to close out the races better. Tracks I need to get better at are probably Bristol and Dover. Both of those really high-banked concrete racetracks. I don’t know if that says something. The concrete surface has not suited my driving style as well. Those are sort of my calendar as places to get better at. I’ve definitely gotten better throughout the years, I finished ninth at Dover last year and I think we’ve improved, but those are tracks where I can improve as a driver.

    It’s evident that you’ve improved over your XFINITY career. To what do you credit that to?

    RR: I don’t know if it’s just one area, it’s getting better in a lot of areas, but I think to get better in those areas I had to definitely commit myself to learning. I had to humble myself and open myself up to advice from a lot of people and be okay with struggling in areas and asking for advice. I think as a race car driver it can be a little defeating sometimes to admit you need help, but I’ve learned how to do that and it’s made me a much better driver. I also think battling through adversity, the days that are tough and frustrating, being able to salvage those and not let those days turns into 20th-place finishes, instead you get a 13th-place finish. It’s still not a great day, but it could have been a lot worse. As a driver, I’ve learned to battle and get a little more out of the every week and especially on the weeks we aren’t doing so hot.

    Last year you made your Cup debut at Talladega in the No. 99 Ford. Where would you like to make your next Cup start? With the success that the No. 99 has seen over the years as a Roush team, did you feel like you had any expectations to live up to at Talladega?

    RR: I absolutely want to get to the Cup level and I want to be racing on Sunday every week. That’s been my goal since I was a little kid and that continues to be my goal today. Talladega was a tough race for a lot of reasons. Talladega is a tough race track and it was my first start so there were a lot of nerves, it was the middle of the Chase and an elimination race. So there were a lot of challenges, but for me, it was about going in there and running all the laps so I could learn and also to not cause a problem for any of the Chase guys and taking someone out of contention for a Championship. Those guys worked all season long and I was just coming in for one race. I just tried to stay out of trouble and learn.

    How would you describe your relationship with your teammate Bubba Wallace? Where does he help you the most? Where do you help him the most?

    RR: Bubba and I make good teammates. We each have strengths and weaknesses and we communicate well. We are both very dedicated to getting better, whether that means the race team or ourselves as race car drivers. We try and give as much feedback as possible to the race team and each other. I don’t know that there’s necessarily one place where I’m better or he’s better, one week he might be a little better than I am and the next I might be a little better than him. So we try to communicate what it is that we think we are doing better than the other so the other person can get better.

    2017’s NASCAR season is still fairly new. What are your expectations for the rest of the season?

    RR: I think for me I’ve got my sights set on a Championship and my team does as well. We’ll just do whatever we can to learn throughout the summer. We are going to enjoy being locked into the playoffs, which takes a lot of pressure off. Try and knock out a few more wins and get more bonus points.

    With the recent news that NASCAR plans to implement restrictor plates at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for this year’s XFINITY event, how do you feel that affects you as a competitor?

    RR: I’m not sure, I think testing there might help me a little bit, have a little bit of experience, but it’s going to be a very tough race. Having practice knowing that we’ll be wide open, but then also, too, you’ll also have some aero sensitive situation since the track is so flat and we are going to be running in a pack. It’s going to be interesting, I don’t know what to expect. I don’t know what it will be like when we get 40 cars out there.

    There’s a large debate among NASCAR fans and personalities that there is not enough parity in the XFINITY Series; in 2015 Cup drivers won 23 of 33 races, while in 2016 they won 20 races. Do you think that NASCAR should do even more to make the XFINITY Series a division where “names are made,” like the PR campaign states?

    RR: As a driver, you’re never going to tell me the reason I didn’t win was because there’s another driver too good out there or has too much experience. I want to win no matter who’s out there. No matter if it’s my teammate Bubba Wallace, or Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, or anyone else. Definitely beating those guys makes it way more special for sure. When you win on a day you have a lot of Cup guys out there, you know you did something special. At the same time, I can see from a fans perspective that you are watching Cup guys win on Saturday and Sunday a lot.

    Does the XFINITY Series need more stand-alone events? If so, what type of tracks should be on the circuit?

    RR: I think the stand-alone races are great. Iowa is always a lot of fun; it’s a really cool race track. Selfishly, I love short track racing so I would love to see them go to more short tracks. I think Indianapolis Motor Speedway is unbelievable to go to and race at, but the short track just outside of there is a really cool race track and I’d love to go there. We have great partners that need to be represented at these amazing facilities, and I think Indy is one of them, so I’m proud we get to go there and race at a track like that.

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has the annual All-Star event at Charlotte. The Camping World Truck Series has the Mudsummer Classic at Eldora. What should the XFINITY Series add to its schedule that would equal those two events?

    RR: Those are two of the coolest races around. The All-Star race is a staple for any major sporting league to have an all-star type event, so that race is very special. The trucks have really nailed it with going to Eldora. The fans love it and drivers love it. In the XFINITY Series, we do some more road course racing than either of those series and that’s really cool to go to some road courses like Road America and Mid-Ohio that are unbelievable places. With the way the Final Four is now, Homestead is becoming a very special race and this year we will not have any Cup guys so it’s going to be a much different race than you’ve ever seen. It’s going to be a unique race and maybe Homestead can be that race for us.

    Special thanks to Ryan Reed and Nancy Padula

  • Finley Factor: Let’s Fix The Serial “Buschwhacking” Problem

    Finley Factor: Let’s Fix The Serial “Buschwhacking” Problem

    After weeks of falling races, NASCAR actually had a steady, even slightly up rating for a race on television. But, it wasn’t the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway; it was the NASCAR XFINITY Series race on Saturday.

    Now, this rating has two pretty large notes attached to it. First and foremost, as the tweet itself notes, this race actually went up against the NCAA Tournament this year and didn’t lose any viewers from last year. That’s pretty amazing, considering the Phoenix ratings for the Cup Series tanked.

    Secondly, keep in mind this was a Dash 4 Cash Race this year. Dash 4 Cash Race rules dictate that no MENCS driver with five or more seasons of experience are eligible to compete. So there was no Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, or Kevin Harvick dominating the event flag-to-flag. Instead, the race was mostly a dogfight between XFINITY regulars Justin Allgaier, William Byron, Elliott Sadler, and young MENCS drivers Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, and Erik Jones.

    The main argument for not restricting MENCS drivers from the XFINITY Series is that without the big name drivers, nobody will attend or tune into the race. Well, the rating went slightly up against much tougher competition this season, and the only real established name in the race was Sadler. From watching on television, the stands weren’t noticeably emptier than they usually are for the XFINITY Series. So while this is such a small sample size, it’s hard to use that argument anymore.

    Last year, NASCAR created new rules to be put in place this year limiting MENCS drivers from competing in either the XFINITY Series or the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In addition to being barred from the four Dash 4 Cash Races, drivers with more than five years experience in MENCS full-time competition will not be allowed to enter playoff races or compete in more than 10 races in the XFINITY Series and seven in the Truck Series. Other MENCS drivers can compete in any race they want to aside from either series championship race at Homestead.

    Fun fact, by the way: because of this guideline, if the No. 2 Chevrolet makes it to Homestead in the owner’s points championship four, the team that will primarily run Ty Dillon all season will have to rely on Florida journeyman Scott Lagasse Jr. to bring an owner’s championship home to Richard Childress Racing. It would be amazing to walk into the RCR Museum one day and see Lagasse’s championship winning car sitting next to Austin Dillon’s and all of Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s.

    Some in the industry such as Larry McReynolds believes the new rules do not do enough to limit MENCS drivers from participating in the XFINITY Series. As entertaining a driver like Kyle Busch can be to watch, nobody wants him or any other Cup veteran winning eight XFINITY Series races after leading 90 percent of the race in any given season. These rules don’t stop that, and NASCAR could very easily fix that problem for next season.

    Keep in mind, however, that it would be beyond stupid to simply announce that a driver may only enter races in their given series. There are a lot of XFINITY Series sponsors that sign on to sponsor up-and-coming drivers as long as they get to have a Cup Series driver in the car for a race-or-two. I don’t think Dale Earnhardt Jr. really likes to go back down to the XFINITY Series all that much, but he’ll do a race or two for, say, TaxSlayer.com every year in return for them sponsoring Regan Smith for many more races.

    The best way to somewhat restrict drivers from competing outside of their given series would be to set up some kind of system that would limit their total amount of national series races in any given season. For the purposes of this article, let’s call it the NASCAR License system.

    For those who do not know, every season just about everybody competing in the sport needs to renew and receive a new NASCAR license. Not doing so makes it impossible to work in this sport on the at-track competition side of things.

    Here’s how to change it: for the three NASCAR national series, there would be two different kinds of NASCAR driver licenses, generally limiting how many races a given driver may enter in a given season. These licenses would also stipulate which series said driver would receive points in.

    Before getting into specifics, a quick note: the term “national series races” from now on refers to every points event in the Cup Series, XFINITY Series, and the Truck Series. All of these races would count under this plan, with one very notable exception. The Daytona 500 is the most prestigious and richest event on the NASCAR calendar, which typically draws a large number of entries and has a unique qualifying system. The 500 would be a freebie for any driver who attempts it, in order to help encourage more entries into the “Great American Race.” The Daytona Duels would also be excluded, even though they technically are point races now.

    First and foremost, no driver would be allowed to compete in another series’ playoffs or the last race of the regular season. This would be similar to the current rule limiting experienced drivers from those same races- the only difference would be that it would apply to all series drivers. For example, Matt Crafton would not be allowed to enter the XFINITY Series race at Charlotte in October due to being a Truck Series driver. Due to the number of restrictions being put in place, there would no longer be much reason to limit Cup Series veterans from Dash 4 Cash Races.

    Every experienced national series driver would be limited to 40 national series races, regardless of series. For Cup Series drivers, this would limit them to five XFINITY or Truck attempts. For XFINITY Series drivers, they would be limited to seven Cup and Truck attempts. Finally, Truck Series drivers would have the most wiggle room, with 17 out-of-series races they would be able to attempt. This is due in part to the pretty large amount of down time the series has in the early part of the season; after Atlanta, save for a single race at Martinsville, the Truck Series goes on hiatus until May.

    Notice that I wrote there would be two different kinds of licenses. For drivers who either have over 100 total starts between all three series at the start of the season or are no older than 22 before July of the given year, they would be eligible for a special license that would allow them to enter in any national series race with no restrictions. They would even be able to declare for two series’ points, whether it be the Cup and XFINITY Series or the XFINITY and Truck Series.

    This rule would be to allow inexperienced or young drivers chances to earn valuable experience. It may seem a bit extreme and not that limiting, but considering the six Cup Series drivers who would have been eligible for it before this season would have included Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Chase Elliott, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Corey LaJoie, and Gray Gaulding, it really isn’t that constricting. None of these drivers have a win yet in the Cup Series, and only Elliott has even run a full season in the Cup Series before this season. None of these six should really be restricted from running XFINITY every weekend if they so desire.

    By the same token, if William Byron wanted to run double duty between the XFINITY and Truck Series and go for a championship in both, there should be nothing stopping him. By the time most drivers make it up to the Cup Series level, they would either be too experienced or too old to take advantage of this. If they do, they would probably only get a year or two in before reaching 23 and becoming too old. By the time said driver becomes too old, they should be about to enter their prime as a driver, like Kyle Larson or Austin Dillon.

    Is this system perfect? Probably not, but no system would be perfect at this rate. This system would just lead to fewer fans and industry people being mad about how drivers can jump from series-to-series. Many fans reason that Major League Baseball players don’t go back down to the minors and dominate while still competing full time in the majors, but that’s apples to oranges at this point. NASCAR has three national touring series and the MLB has one major division; a more apt comparison would be if Kyle Busch decided to go down and lap the field in ARCA or the K&N Series. There will always be “bushwhackers” as long as NASCAR pays money at the end of XFINITY races, they will be there to pick up the check.