There is a growing contingent of fans who want to see fewer NASCAR XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series trophies collected by Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regulars. Next year, that will likely happen a bit less often.
NASCAR announced on Tuesday that they will once again reduce the number of NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races that full-time Cup drivers can participate in.
Starting in 2018, any drivers with more than five years of full-time experience in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be limited to a maximum of seven races in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and five races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Any drivers, regardless of experience level, who are eligible for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points will be ineligible to compete in the regular season finale and playoff races in each series, as well as the Dash 4 Cash races in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.
The changes are part of a continuing effort to highlight the series regulars in the developmental series of NASCAR. The limitations began for the 2017 season, with drivers with five years of full-time experience in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series capped at 10 XFINITY Series races and seven races in the Camping World Truck Series.
NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations Jim Cassidy talked about how the fans of the sport have been clamoring for such a change.
“Fans have made it clear that they want to see the future stars of the sport racing against their peers in the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series,” said Cassidy. “These guidelines achieve that and preserve limited opportunities for developing drivers to compete against the best in motorsports.”
Any drivers who are competing for the championship in either the NASCAR XFINITY Series or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series are not included in the new guidelines, whether they have prior Cup experience or not.
Frank Velat has been an avid follower of NASCAR and other motorsports for over 20 years. He brings a blend of passionate fan and objective author to his work. Frank offers unique perspectives that everyone can relate to, remembering the sport's past all the while embracing its future.
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