A couple of weeks ago, a disturbance in the NASCAR Force was felt.
It came in the form of a Sports Business Journal article that boasted this headline:
“NASCAR Considers Upping Limit on Top Tier Drivers Moonlighting in Lower Series.”
The disturbance was the collective cry of NASCAR followers of a certain age who had lived through the days of what is now called Buschwhacking and lived to tell the tale.
A time when Kyle Busch won 10, 12 or 13 races a year in the NASCAR Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity Series.
The days of Austin Dillon winning the Xfinity title despite not winning a single race.
A period when NASCAR Cup Series drivers won every single Xfinity race in the 2006 season except one, with the only saving grace being a David Gilliland victory at Kentucky Speedway.
Eventually, NASCAR showed mercy on its Xfinity and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers and beleaguered fans. It imposed a five-race limit in both series for drivers who have more than three years of full-time experience in the Cup Series.
But now, after years of both series being able to firmly establish their own identities, a successful first-year partnership with The CW and a new series sponsor on the way in the form of O’Reilly Auto Parts for the soon-to-be-former Xfinity Series, a sea change may be on the way.
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell said the sanctioning body is “going to look” at its limits and “maybe make some changes down the road.”
“So we’ve certainly had conversations with The CW and in the Truck Series as well (about), ‘Does that rule as it stands now make the most sense to continue as it is?’ So we’re looking at a lot of things over the offseason and talking to a lot of the teams and drivers,” he said.
There’s an obvious culprit to why this is even being discussed.
“For the Love of the Money,” as The O’Jays sang back in 1973. The sponsorship kind and the TV kind.
A couple of weeks ago, Dillon was asked on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio about the prospect of making more Xfinity starts if Cup drivers were allowed more opportunities.
He was asked in the wake of making his second Xfinity start of the season at Richmond Raceway, albeit as a substitute driver for a suspended Austin Hill. His start in the spring race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was his first since 2023.
“I know it’s very interesting, from a CW standpoint, their ratings have been very good,” Dillon noted of ratings that have topped 1 million viewers for all but a couple of races. “I think more (sponsor) partners would probably be interested, and if we can get five to 10 races scheduled out there for Cup guys, it’d be easier to sell a sponsor on 10 races than five, maybe.
“And you can pair them together, and that makes more sense. If you get 10 and 10, you could put together 20 between myself and Kyle Busch. I know Kyle would be all about it, and I think his confidence really is at the right place when he’s running other racecars and he’s running the Xfinity Series, because let’s just be honest, he’s the greatest to ever do it in the Xfinity Series. He’s unbelievable.”
The CW loves how many people are watching its news sports property. Of course, it wants more to watch; who wouldn’t? It’s a natural impulse, the chase of the almighty dollar (it’s done wonders for NASCAR in the last 20 years, right? … Right?).
So how do you do that? Throw in some more Cup drivers, of course.
Seems like an easy fix, right?
I don’t know. Like I said, the lack of Cup drivers has done wonders for Xfinity and Trucks over the last few years.
After a decade or so of the Xfinity Series claiming “names are made here” while Cup drivers racked up the wins, it was refreshing to have that actually be a reality.
Sure, you have the occasional race where Kyle Larson or Shane van Gisbergen steps down and stomps the field. That’s acceptable when it’s not happening every other week.
No matter what changes NASCAR considers ahead of 2026, we can only hope the executive suite in Daytona Beach doesn’t overthink it and somehow overcorrects.
Daniel McFadin is a 10-year veteran of the NASCAR media corp. He wrote for NBC Sports from 2015 to October 2020. He currently works full time for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and is lead reporter and an editor for Frontstretch. He is also host of the NASCAR podcast "Dropping the Hammer with Daniel McFadin" presented by Democrat-Gazette.
You can email him at danielmcfadin@gmail.com.