NASCAR: Is a demotion system worth implementing?

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JULY 19: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Maytag Ford, lead the field during the NASCAR Cup Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on July 19, 2020 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /

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Quin Houff, StarCom Racing, NASCAR, Cup Series (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

Con: A potential loss of value in the sport

Unfortunately, we live in a world where money talks. I understand that fans aren’t happy from time to time, and sometimes, I am one of them. Drivers getting their own sponsorship funding in addition to the sponsorship deals the teams have already acquired brings more value to the sport and brings more value to the companies that are sponsoring those drivers.

So if a driver were to be demoted, an Xfinity Series driver could move up without sponsorship, and it could possibly not just affect the driver, but the entire team as well, possibly leading to a shutdown.

Look at some of the drivers who have moved up the ladder, excluding those with family ties such as Paul Menard and Brian Scott. Daniel Suarez had sponsorship from Arris. Trevor Bayne had a deal with Advocare, and Justin Allgaier had a deal with Brandt.

Those deals increased the value of those companies and NASCAR as a whole. While I have a lot of respect for drivers such as Matt DiBenedetto and Landon Cassill because of their talent (Cassill had the lowest crash rate of all drivers in the Cup Series last year), I don’t think we should lose these pay-to-race sponsors.

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