Folks, the Xfinity Series has been in a lot of talks recently. Most in bad terms. Look at the recent Martinsville race: Taylor Gray was all set to win his first Xfinity Series race, but Sammy Smith, on the final turn, dumped him. You know a race is bad when NASCAR’s Senior VP of competition, Elton Sawyer, calls it a “disaster.” Well, the problem probably is that the series has gotten a little too aggressive. Younger guys are trying to prove their craft! But this is probably not the way. And this might be one reason we don’t see many Cup drivers in the series lately.
Also, look at what happened in the Homestead Miami race. Kyle Larson was set for his weekend sweep. He was coming from a win in the Truck Series and had a strong chance in the next-gen, which he eventually capitalized on by taking the checkered flag. But he had to get the Xfinity race in the bag, too, and he had a solid chance with a 14-second lead on the grid. However, Sam Mayer couldn’t keep it together on the final restart, ruining Larson’s win by shoving him up the track. The point is, there’s a lot on the line for Xfinity drivers, and it might force them to be nonchalant. Recently, Alex Bowman shared his take on the decreasing number of Cup guys in the Xfinity Series races.
Alex Bowman feels veterans wouldn’t tolerate the Xfinity driving
An Xfinity Season’s got 33 races, out of which Cup drivers aren’t allowed in the final 13, as those are the playoff and championship races, and NASCAR doesn’t want Cup drivers ruining full-time Xfinity drivers’ chances at the title. So that leaves them with 2o races and Cup drivers are only allowed to race in 5 races after at least three years of experience in the Cup. These restrictions were put in place to increase the competitiveness of the field. However, now it seems like Cup drivers are better off not racing in the series at all!
The driving factor for this seems to be the aggression that they have to face from the younger drivers. Alex Bowman recently spoke on the waning presence of Cup drivers in the Xfinity Series. Bowman told Trenton Worsham, “I mean, it’s probably a combination of a lot of things. You don’t have Cup guys running every week. You used to see a lot of veterans run Xfinity races quite often. [They] wouldn’t probably put up with some of that stuff. The win and you’re in system probably changes things quite a bit, too. There are a lot of factors… It’s definitely not great.”
What Alex Bowman is trying to say is that Xfinity Series drivers have a lot on the line, while Cup drivers have a free hand. They can run the way they want, but Xfinity drivers are desperate for a win. Especially since it makes them eligible for the playoffs. That’s probably why Sam Mayer got a bit excited on that final restart and shoved Larson up the track. To Larson, it was a triple attempt, but to Mayer, it was the fight to become a contender for the championship. Regardless, the aggression should be kept in check, and incidents like Martinsville should not happen.
Another point of view to Alex Bowman’s comments could be that NASCAR limiting veteran appearances is what caused this decline. Back before these restrictions, Cup drivers had free reign on how many Xfinity races they could run. Busch won 13 Xfinity races in 2013 out of the 24 he took part in, dominating the field at every turn. His presence on the track was a moment that young drivers could learn from. But now, it seems like the lack of veterans is making the sport a chaotic mess, pushing these same veterans away from the series even when they can take part.
I asked @Alex_Bowman about the habits of today’s drivers having raced occasionally in Xfinity with them to get his take…he is also frustrated about defending himself as a driver saying “Welcome to media bullpen” when asked about doing so by other media. #NASCAR #Goodyear400 pic.twitter.com/HvSVf4Yj40
— Trenton Worsham (@soundlink_trent) April 5, 2025
This is probably the reason why we don’t see Kyle Busch, who would run 4-5 races every season that often in Xfinity. He holds the record for the most wins in the Xfinity and Truck Series, yet, in 2024, he ran just one Xfinity race. After the Martinsville race, Busch said, “Xfinity drivers need to learn respect… we are not a clown show, don’t screw it up.” Even Denny Hamlin, until 2023, would run at least one race per season. But last season, he did not run any, and it doesn’t seem like he’s got any plans to run one this season, either, especially after calling the Martinsville race “Absolute garbage” on X.
And while everyone is calling the Xfinity Series bad names, a veteran thinks the Cup Series needs this.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finds positives in the chaos
Junior isn’t saying what happened in Martinsville was right. It was a bit much and must be stopped. But it got some excitement in the series. Something the Cup has been missing. Lately, the races have been too clean. Look at Homestead Miami. Mark Martin might be off the opinion that “this (Homestead) is what classic race fans watch @FS1@NASCAR@HomesteadMiami for. Absolutely great racing. No manufactured drama.” But Junior is of a different opinion. Even the Martinsville Cup race was very clean by its reputation. And Junior did not enjoy it as much.
He said, “Where we had too much of that s— Saturday, I would have a little more sprinkled into the Sunday race in terms of little controversy, just at least one feud. If you go to Martinsville with the Cup car and you don’t come out of there with at least one feud, it was not a good race.” Well, the only drama was Ross Chastain wrecking Joey Logano. And the #22 driver calling him a “Jack—” Junior thinks we need more of that!
“The Cup race is the exact opposite of what we saw Saturday. It’s too clean. There’s some beating and banging, and there’s some anger and frustration. But the drivers get over things really quickly. There’s some guys that go out of their cars like [Joey] Logano talking about [Ross] Chastain. I love that. We need it,” he added.
What do you think, folks? Do you want to see some drama at the ‘track too tough to tame’? Can Ross Chastain bring the drama to Darlington like he did in the Xfinity race, squeezing Christopher Bell and sliding Elliott? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
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