NASCAR announced on Wednesday, Oct. 27, that it’s limiting the number of races Sprint Cup Series drivers can run in its development series, the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series, starting next year.
According to Nascar.com, Cup series drivers who have more than five years of full-time experience in the Cup series will be able to run a maximum of ten races in the Xfinity Series and seven races in the Camping World Truck series. Cup drivers are also prohibited from participating in the final eight races of the year. In the Xfinity series Cup drivers won’t be able to participate in races that are part of the Dash 4 Cash program.
"The updated guidelines will elevate the stature of our future stars, while also providing them the opportunity to compete against the best in professional motorsports," NASCAR senior vice president Jim Cassidy said. "These updated guidelines are the result of a collaborative effort involving the entire industry, and will ultimately better showcase the emerging stars of NASCAR."
Cup drivers have dominated the Xfinity Series winning the majority of the races and causing fans to not favor the Cup drivers in the development series. However, NASCAR hasn’t wanted to limit the Cup drivers so that tracks could sell tickets and so up-and-coming drivers could race against the Cup drivers and see how they do against them. Cup drivers have won 18 Xfinity races and three truck series races this year, according to ESPN.
Drivers and fans reacted to Cup drivers being limited in the Xfinity and Truck series via Twitter.