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NASCAR: What’s wrong with NASCAR? Part 7 – The drivers

By William Richard

BROOKLYN, MI - AUGUST 12: William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, is introduced during pre-race festivities for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Consmers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 12, 2018 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
BROOKLYN, MI - AUGUST 12: William Byron, driver of the #24 Liberty University Chevrolet, is introduced during pre-race festivities for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Consmers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 12, 2018 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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WATKINS GLEN, NY – AUGUST 04: William Byron, driver of the #24 Hertz Chevrolet (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)
WATKINS GLEN, NY – AUGUST 04: William Byron, driver of the #24 Hertz Chevrolet (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images) /

Rushed into the limelight

Another issue that seems to plague today’s youngsters is the fact that they are simply moved into the limelight too quickly. Instead of seeing drivers race multiple years in the Camping World Truck Series and then NASCAR Xfinity Series, fans watch as 19-year-olds take high-profile rides after making a limited amount of starts in NASCAR’s feeder series.

The perfect example of this is current NASCAR Cup Series driver William Byron. Byron emerged out of the darkness in 2016, when he competed for Rookie of the Year in the Truck Series driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Byron not only won Rookie of the Year, but he took home seven wins in route to finishing in fifth place in the final championship standings. The only thing that kept the then 18-year-old driver from winning the 2016 Truck Series championship was a blown engine in the race at Phoenix, which resulted in a 27th place finish that prevented him from being one of the drivers competing in the Championship 4 in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Had that not happened, he would have won the championship, as he won the race at Homestead.

Byron was then announced as the latest driver to carry the banner for Dale Earnhardt Jr. with JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series beginning in 2017. In his lone season in the series, the then 19-year-old took home four wins en route to winning the championship.

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