NASCAR: Should Cup drivers be allowed to moonlight in lower series?

With the fresh limitations for NASCAR Cup Series drivers competing in Xfinity Series and Truck Series races slated to go into effect next year, the debate has been reignited: should they be allowed to moonlight in lower series at all?

NASCAR announced that starting in the 2020 season, they will be further restricting Xfinity Series and Truck Series participation of full-time Cup Series drivers.

Beginning next year, Cup Series drivers who have three of more seasons of full-time experience in the Cup Series will be permitted to compete in a maximum of only five Xfinity Series races and five Truck Series races.

This is down from the current limitation of seven Xfinity Series races for Cup Series drivers who have five of more seasons of full-time experience in the Cup Series.

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No change was made to the Truck Series limitation aside of the change from five years of Cup Series experience to three.

And just like that, the only driver in every NASCAR fan’s mind was Kyle Busch, and the debate about whether or not Cup Series drivers should be allowed to compete in Xfinity Series or Truck Series races at all was reignited.

NASCAR senior director of racing operations Meghan Miley discussed what went into this decision. Here is what she had to say, according to NASCAR.

"“We’ve made small tweaks since then, and this is third tweak, but the goal is to find a happy medium or that sweet spot where it works for all of our stakeholders.“We hear from the fans that we need to get Cup drivers out of Xfinity and Trucks, and they want to just see the regulars, but we hear from the younger drivers that, ‘Hey, we want to race against these guys because they make us better.’“We also work with all the teams within the garage to make sure it’s working with the way they run their businesses, so we really loop in all of our stakeholders to get all of their feedback.”"

Miley effectively outlined the debate in her statement.

Many fans want Cup Series drivers to be prohibited from competing in Xfinity Series and Truck Series races, while many Xfinity Series and Truck Series drivers welcome the challenge of competing against Cup Series drivers.

So should Cup Series drivers be allowed to compete in these two lower series at all in the fewer?

There are several factors to consider. Yes, fans do want Cup Series drivers gone from these races, but at the same time, there are many other fans who don’t, and the addition of a big-name Cup Series driver such as Kyle Busch to the lineup of a lower series race isn’t doing any harm to the popularity of these series, even if some of that popularity is fueled by the haters.

Yes, these lower series drivers also want these Cup Series drivers to compete against for that added challenge and experience and to make themselves better.

However, I’m sure that college football players would love to play against Tom Brady every week for that added challenge and experience and to make themselves better.

But there are two sides to this story. First of all, all of these drivers are professional athletes. This isn’t one amateur league and another professional league. This isn’t college NASCAR and professional NASCAR like it is with the NCAA and the NFL/NBA.

Secondly, if the Cup Series is racing at the same venue as the Xfinity Series and/or Truck Series, why shouldn’t Cup Series drivers be allowed to compete in these series? This is something that other sports don’t have the luxury of.

That said, other professional racing series do have that luxury, and you still don’t see moonlighting happening. You don’t see Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen competing in Formula 2 or Scott Dixon or Alexander Rossi competing in Indy Lights when Formula 1 and IndyCar share weekend venues with their respective lower series.

Because there is is so much to consider for NASCAR to be able to go one way or the other and put all of their eggs in one basket, it’s hard to say whether or not Cup Series drivers truly belong in Xfinity Series or Truck Series races.

However, the idea of restricting this participation without eliminating it completely is probably the best way to go, even though it has come with additional limitations twice now in the last two years.

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Should full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers be allowed to compete in any Xfinity Series or Truck Series races, or should they be barred from moonlighting in either series?

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