Bigger XFINITY Series fields than Cup Series is the new NASCAR normal

Drivers used to go home without making the race fairly often in the NASCAR Cup Series, but that fate seems reserved only for the XFINITY Series in 2018.

There aren’t a whole lot of conclusions that can be drawn just two races into a new NASCAR season. With Daytona an ever unpredictable crapshoot and Atlanta a puzzle that only Kevin Harvick has completely figured out, long-term trends are hard to put together at the moment. But here’s one for you that might have seemed crazy just a few years ago: It’s going to harder to make the NASCAR XFINITY Series fields the rest of the year than it is in the Cup Series.

Let’s examine the second part of that thesis first. Anyone who has entered a car so far in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in 2018 has made the show. That includes the Daytona 500, where several drivers inevitably are in “race in or go home” predicaments during the Duels the Thursday before the 500. Not this year. With 40 drivers entered for 40 spots, even the likes of Mark Thompson were safe.

Only 36 cars signed up for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta, the smallest NASCAR Cup Series field in more than 21 years. And even that stat doesn’t tell the whole story, because the 1996 Martinsville fall race was limited to 36 cars and still had 42 entries. This weekend, 37 cars are entered for Las Vegas, but it’s hard to imagine when we’ll see 40 or more again. If and when that happens, it will almost certainly be at either a superspeedway or road course, the two types of tracks that tend to draw a few one-off or very part-time open teams.

It’s a different story in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, which had 46 entries for the season-opening race at Daytona, 42 at Atlanta and 41 for Las Vegas. That number could hypothetically get to 40 or even lower at some point during the season, but the bet here is that cars will get sent home from most XFINITY Series races in 2018.

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For starters, without a charter system like the top series uses, there are simply more teams running or attempting to run the full XFINITY Series schedule. Indeed, it really makes no sense to try to run the full Cup Series schedule as an open team, given the way the money is divvied up, so unless NASCAR expands the number of charters — and right now there’s no reason to do so — it was inevitable that the weekly number of regulars would stabilize around 36 cars, with the occasional extra entry at certain stops.

There’s also the fact that even with new limits in place to how many XFINITY starts the Cup Series regulars can make, there are going to be at least a few drivers pulling double duty anywhere it’s allowed. Many of those starts from the invaders come for full-time teams, but others do not, helping to swell the size of the XFINITY Series entry lists. Heck, even Dale Earnhardt Jr. is slated to make an appearance at some point this season.

Last and certainly not least, it’s just not quite as expensive to run a team on the secondary circuit, so if you’re a part-time or underfunded team, it makes sense to ply your trade in the XFINITY Series right now. Ironically, your mere presence increases the chances that you or someone else won’t even get to race on Saturday, but those are the breaks.

Next: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings after Atlanta

The sport has been headed to this strange but logical state of affairs for at least the past few years. It’s not inherently good or bad to see less racers in the biggest race of any weekend, but it’s the reality as of 2018, and it’s something as fans we’re all going to have to get used to seeing going forward.

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