Topic: cup drivers running in xfinity

[Keith McMonagle]

Anyone have any thoughts on the cup drivers running in the xfinity series?  It seems like if Kyle or Joey or Brad are in the field, one of them is going to win everytime.  back in the 90's it wasn't like that.  Sure, cup drivers like Earnhardt, Labonte and Martin did compete and they did win a lot, but not like the cup drivers do now. i find today's xfinity races rather boring.

[Robert Vining]

Hey Keith... I'm of the belief that it gives the xfinity drivers something to shoot for. I mean, if you beat Kyle or Joey, then you know you kicked major ass that day... Whereas if you beat Ty Dillon, you pretty much could of stayed home and saved the cost of running the race and felt about the same...

[CaffeinatedPixels]

I've said it before on Reddit, they should make the Xfinity cars radically different from the Cup cars and the Trucks so there isn't any gain in running them for practice, but you can still run them if you really want to.

[Keith McMonagle]

I agree that running with the cup drivers can make an xfinity driver better, but when that cup driver is running in xfinity with all the resources of a cup team against someone who has much less equipment wise, it seems a little unfair.  I realize there is no easy fix, and I certainly don't blame Kyle or Brad or Joey for racing every chance they can.

[Keith McMonagle]

That would be one fix caffeinated,  another would be fewer companion events.  i know from a business stand point that might not be as profitable thou.

[Robert Vining]

I agree with you Keith... That's the angle I was thinking about when I first read your post. It's almost an unfair advantage when JGR has 3 cars on the track every week... Roush runs 2 or 3, Penske 1 to 2 and 1 or more of them are using cup pit crews in the Xfinity series. To me that's the disadvantage to the little guy.

But this has been going on for years and years. I'm 47, and I've been a nascar fan since Mark Martin drove the Stroh's car. And it was the same back then... Mark had the most wins in the Busch series (mostly in the 60 Winn Dixie ford out of Roush stables) until Kyle Bush surpassed him a few years ago. But even back then Roush had 2 to 3 cars on track in the Busch series. Mark Martin - 60, Jeff Burton in the 9... etc... etc..

There's no real solution to the problem. And I don't expect Nascar to do any more than they currently do by limiting drivers to receive points in only 1 of the top 3 series in any given year. Basically, the cup drivers are about the only thing that sells tickets to a Nationwide race at all... otherwise the seats would be completely empty on Saturdays at most tracks.

[DawsonvilleBill9]

At least they don't count in the championship points/standings...back in the day Winston Cup drivers could win the Busch championship!

[Robert Vining]

watchin todays race... the Gibbs cars clearly have an advantage. But 1 stat that I saw on the screen was Kyle Busch has led over 640 laps this year... everyone else has less than 100 laps led this year in the Xfinity series. That's crazy.

And Kyle skipped the Daytona race.

[Keith McMonagle]

Yep.  I have nothing against Kyle, but I think somethings got to give.  I know that back in the 90's Mark martin did dominate a lot, but nothing like the Penske and Gibbs cars today.  Plus Martin only ran partial schedules.  I got on the racing reference site and only one time in his Xfinity career did Mark run more than 17 races.  And he never won more than 7 in a season.