{"id":31639,"date":"2016-10-20T08:43:27","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T15:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=31639"},"modified":"2016-10-20T08:43:27","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T15:43:27","slug":"is-nascar-going-to-nix-cup-drivers-from-the-lower-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/is-nascar-going-to-nix-cup-drivers-from-the-lower-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Is NASCAR Going to Nix Cup Drivers from the Lower Series?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Over the past few years, we\u2019ve seen a small number of Cup drivers dominate in the XFINITY and Camping World Series, in particular Kyle Busch. This may be coming to an end in 2017. The fan camps are divided on this subject. Most of us are dead set against allowing the Cup drivers to steal victories that those competing for a title in that particular series need in order to become eligible. There are others out there who want us to believe that having the likes of Busch, Logano, Harvick, and Keselowski competing on a regular basis in these lower series is the only way to make these series\/races viable financially.<\/p>\n

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Big Announcement on This Subject Due According to NASCAR Executive<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Image courtesy of latimes.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Steve O\u2019 Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer for NASCAR, appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio\u2019s Monday\u00a0 morning show \u201cThe Morning Drive\u201d and was asked about fan unhappiness in regards to Cup drivers appearing in the other series races. He told fans that we should keep our ears open (he actually said \u201cstay tuned\u201d) because an announcement is forthcoming \u201cfairly soon\u201d on the subject.<\/p>\n

O\u2019 Donnell said, \u201cIt certainly is on our radar. We\u2019ve heard the fans. It\u2019s interesting; it\u2019s been a balance throughout the years. We\u2019ve always had Sprint Cup drivers come into the XFINITY and Camping World Truck series. They like seeing those drivers come up through the ranks and it\u2019s our job to make sure that XFINITY is where names are made. We\u2019ve got to do that on the racetrack. That is something we\u2019re taking a really hard look at for next year; I\u2019d say stay tuned. We\u2019re going to look at it and probably have something to announce fairly soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Image courtesy of NASCAR.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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NASCAR already prohibits any Cup driver who was in last year\u2019s Chase from competing in this year\u2019s season finale for either lower series at Homestead-Miami Speedway<\/a>. One possibility that\u2019s being bandied about in groups and the press is to ban any Cup drivers from competing in the lower series during their Chase. Another option, one which many fans will back, is to completely prohibit Cup drivers from competing in any lower series race throughout the season.<\/p>\n

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The Impact Cup Drivers Have Had on the XFINITY Series Lately<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past few years, Cup drivers have won a staggering 70 percent (138 out of 196) of all XFINITY races. That means that XFINITY regulars are only able to honestly compete for victories 30 percent of the time. When you look at it on a year to year basis, it hasn\u2019t really changed much since at least 2011:<\/p>\n