Unless you’re a fan of Kyle Larson, the driver of the No. 5 Chevy in the NASCAR Cup Series probably took some of the fun out of this past weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
That wasn’t exclusive to Sunday (April 13), when Larson led 411 of 500 laps and won the Food City 500.
The day prior saw Larson put another beatdown on the NASCAR Xfinity Series that rivaled his dominance at Homestead-Miami Speedway back on March 22. The only difference is this time Larson sealed the deal and came out the winner. In two Xfinity starts, Larson has led 81.4% of the laps he’s run in the series.
The 2021 Cup champion has absolutely spanked the field in two straight starts …and as Larson revealed Monday (April 14) on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, that’s kind of the whole point.
“This is going to come across very cocky, but I want to embarrass them,” Larson told Harvick. “I want to embarrass NASCAR a little bit, because they just don’t let Cup guys run anymore. The kids, they probably think they’re in a good spot, and they don’t know where the bar is really at.
“I like to run those Xfinity races and build up 10-second leads to let them realize they have a lot of room to improve.”
Is it fun to watch a guy get a 10-second lead on young drivers and take their lunch money? Not really. But is it a necessity for the sport? Yes.
The limitations of Cup drivers to just five NXS starts a year has artificially inflated the performance of Xfinity full-timers that in year’s past wouldn’t be nearly as high. While it may have changed how title battles play out and increased the number of unique personalities to each series, the Cup drivers and car owners aren’t as impressed as they once were.
Ask a Cup Series owner who from the Xfinity Series they would put in their cars tomorrow and you probably won’t hear most of the names in the Xfinity points top 10. The names you will hear — Justin Allgaier probably being the top guy — are guys who have been around the block in the series and have proven track records over years.
And while it may seem like Larson’s just beating up on young drivers that don’t know any better, it’s racing with Larson that is in turn making those young drivers better.
“I think that’s better for our sport too,” Larson said. “When those young guys can compete with our Cup guys, they’re better suited for Cup when they get there.”
Take a guy like Ty Gibbs. One of Gibbs’ most impressive performances came at Road America in 2022, when Gibbs bested Larson over a thrilling late battle. Later that month, Gibbs filled in for Kurt Busch for his first career Cup start. It’s fair to say Gibbs hasn’t lived up to expectations yet this season, but he did manage a playoff berth last season, and it’s hard to argue he doesn’t belong in the Cup Series.
Then there are guys like Sam Mayer, who was frustrated last year that he wasn’t being considered for Cup rides. After sitting a mile behind Larson in second, a late caution gave Mayer a chance to steal one from the Cup champ. What does Mayer do? He botched the restart, took them both out of contention and had Larson rip into him post race.
It’s somewhat fitting that Larson relieved this train of thought on a podcast hosted by Harvick, who’s probably one of the main reasons Cup guys can’t run every Xfinity race anymore. In 2006, Harvick won nine races, had 32 top 10s and secured the Xfinity title by over 800 points.
But it’s not like he was out just schooling guys new to the sport every weekend. Only two drivers — Paul Menard and Johnny Sauter — finished in the top 10 in points while not driving full time in the Cup Series. Where were they both the next year? In the Cup Series.
Of the other seven full-time Cup drivers in Xfinity that year (then the Busch Series), Greg Biffle was the only one who wasn’t in either their first or second full-time season of Cup competition.
“When I started Xfinity, there’d be 20 to 25 Cup guys in the field every week, and you had this constant evaluation of where you were,” Harvick said. “Dumbing it down to let everyone do it doesn’t make it better.”
A full-blown return to “Busch Whacking” is probably not the answer and certainly not of any interest to NASCAR. That said, maybe the leash is too tight on Cup guys running in the lower divisions. An increase of races allowed for full-time Cup drivers to 10 or more may lead to more weekends like we saw at Bristol, but it’ll also give full-time Xfinity drivers a better chance to measure if they’re ready for Cup.
After years of trying to put a lid on Cup drivers in the field, incentives for Cup drivers to want to run Xfinity would help reboost their entry. Allowing them to run the Dash 4 Cash races would be a great improvement, but why not allow Cup drivers not in the Cup playoffs to run in the Xfinity playoffs? Maybe NASCAR could emphasize the owner’s title to encourage big teams to have drivers run in Xfinity.
Then again, maybe NASCAR doesn’t need a ton of incentives. Maybe there’s more drivers who want to run Xfinity for the same reason Larson did. To prove a point.
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in La Crosse, Wisconsin as a local sports reporter, including local short track racing. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.