NASCAR fans aren’t even trying to hide their hypocrisy

It’s beginning to look as though the “NASCAR Cup Series drivers shouldn’t compete in the Truck Series” argument only applies to some drivers.

Over the last few seasons, NASCAR has enforced stricter limitations on full-time Cup Series drivers with five or more years of experience competing in Xfinity Series race or Truck Series races.

As things stand right now, drivers with such experience are only allowed to compete in as many as five Xfinity Series races and five Truck Series races per year. The rule has become known as the “Kyle Busch rule”, and for obvious reasons.

Prior to 2022, when he has no planned Xfinity Series starts for the first time, Busch had regularly been the only driver to take full advantage of the maximum allowable start total in these lower series for Cup Series drivers.

And as you might expect, his win rate in these two series pretty high. In 2019, he went five for five in the Truck Series, and in 2021, he went five for five in the Xfinity Series.

He is the winningest driver of all-time in both series, and by a considerable margin.

But Busch competing in these lower series — and usually winning — almost always leads to nonstop “Cup drivers shouldn’t compete in the lower series!” posts on social media.

This was especially the case in 2019, his first “undefeated” season, when he just kept coming back and winning every week in the Truck Series. Four of his five starts came in consecutive races, and he won them all. It took until the season’s sixth race for a second full-time Truck Series driver to find victory lane.

So wouldn’t you expect to see “Cup drivers shouldn’t compete in the lower series!” quite often this year, with drivers such as Alex Bowman and William Byron competing in Truck Series races with Spire Motorsports?

Of course not.

In fact, Chase Elliott is set to drive for Spire Motorsports in tonight’s Pinty’s Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, and Joey Logano is set to compete in it for Team DGR.

But you don’t hear that at all. And in some respects, it’s blatant hypocrisy.

While some may deem it an unfair comparison, considering the fact that Busch has historically run more races in these series than any other active Cup Series drivers, the excitement about the others doing so still doesn’t quite fit the “Cup drivers shouldn’t compete in the lower series!” argument, no matter how you slice it.

It’s okay to dislike a driver — or even obnoxiously and annoyingly tweet about how much you hate him whenever he does something you don’t like (such as win a race, for instance). It’s also okay to be a fan of a driver and follow his racing ventures both in and out of the Cup Series.

But at least be honest about this: the issue isn’t really “Cup drivers shouldn’t compete in the lower series!” then, is it? It really boils down to nothing more than “I don’t like Kyle Busch!”.

You either want the Cup Series drivers to be able to compete in the lower series, or you don’t. There is no need for two sets of rules. The limits are in place for a reason, and they apply the exact same way for everyone.

The Pinty’s Dirt Race is set to be broadcast live from Bristol Motor Speedway on Fox Sports 1 beginning tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET. The Cup Series race, the Food City Dirt Race, is set to be broadcast live on Fox tomorrow night beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET. Start your free trial of FuboTV now if you have not yet done so!