It sounds like NASCAR is considering less XFINITY, Truck races for Cup Series drivers

The number of lower series races that the top NASCAR drivers can enter has long been a contentious subject, and it appears that number could be going lower.

For fans of other sports, the presence of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers doesn’t make a lot of sense. It would be like MLB sluggers moonlighting in double-A ball, or Steph Curry warming up for Warriors games by playing with Golden State’s G-League affiliate.

But the unique nature of NASCAR’s economics and its star-driven reality mean that it makes both dollars and cents for the Cup drivers to moonlight in the lower series. The question has always been how much is too much? What’s the right balance between getting the fans and sponsors the big names they crave without making it that the XFINITY and Truck Series regulars never get to win any races?

NASCAR obviously felt that it was erring on the side of letting the Cup drivers into too many races, as it imposed new rules this year limiting when and how often they could enter. However, NBC Sports reports that even lower limits could be on the way.

NASCAR exec Steve O’Donnell mentioned on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that one consideration could be whether tracks that don’t have Cup Series races could be an exemption of some sort, though a move in that direction could cause logistical nightmares. In general, though, he made it sound like reducing the number of Cup Series starts was a thing that could happen.

"It’s one thing to say we like this, but fans need to turn out, ratings need to be there and those sorts of things. That’s something that we’ll continue to monitor, but our gut tells us that’s the direction we want to continue to go, even more so in 2019 and beyond."

If you’ve ever attended an XFINITY Series race in person on a Cup Series race weekend, you already know that the crowds can be pretty sparse, and the Truck Series even more so, even if there are ringers in the field. Anecdotally, though, the Dover spring XFINITY race attendance didn’t feel like it was any smaller this year than in 2017, when Cup Series drivers were participating (and one of them, Kyle Larson, won pretty easily).

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That suggests that NASCAR might be able to dial back the efforts of its stars a little more and let the regulars in the other series have more opportunities to grab some wins. Maybe a combined XFINITY Truck Limit, like seven total starts between the two series instead of separate limits for each, would work. But clearly, it shouldn’t surprise you if the trend we saw this year continues.