While most of the attention is on the NASCAR Cup Series' Next Gen car's dirty air problem and the endless controversy involving NASCAR's playoff format, a different issue plaguing the top stock car racing series in the world has reared its ugly head this week.
Craftsman Truck Series driver Kaden Honeycutt, who currently sits sixth in points, was released midseason by his Niece Motorsports race team. Why? Because he informed the organization that he was signing with a different team, believed to be Toyota's TRICON Garage, for 2026.
Make no mistake: this was a manufacturer decision.
Manufacturer politics are dictating the entire sport, and it's an issue
On many occasions throughout NASCAR history, a driver has signed with a team for the future but been allowed to finish out the season with their current organization.
Sometimes, announcements have even been made more than a full year in advance, such as Kasey Kahne's move to Hendrick Motorsports, Kevin Harvick's move to Stewart-Haas Racing, and Tyler Reddick's move to 23XI Racing.
For a driver to be released by a team for this reason in the middle of the season, with a shot at competing for a title, sets a dangerous precedent. Sadly, it's just one more way for the manufacturers to pull all of the strings.
This has been a problem seen in many other facets of NASCAR's landscape today, most notably when it comes those with whom certain drivers are and aren't allowed to draft during superspeedway races.
Last season at Daytona International Speedway, Parker Retzlaff was chewed out by Chevrolet for helping push Ford driver Harrison Burton to the win in the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
In 2023, after Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson tangled battling for the win at Darlington Raceway, Rick Hendrick alluded to having a conversation with Chevy higher-ups about the Trackhouse Racing driver's recklessness. Ever so conveniently, the team owned by Justin Marks immediately suffered a downturn in speed from which it still hasn't fully recovered.
When it comes to the driver hiring process, in-season changes used to be a lot more frequent, but for different reasons. In the past, team owners were more hands-on and made their own decisions purely based on performance. Now, those decisions are all dictated by the greater powers that be, which has created an entirely different problem in enabling a lower on-track standard.
Thankfully for Honeycutt, he has landed on his feet with multiple opportunities to finish out the season, first with Young's Motorsports at Watkins Glen International this weekend and then with Halmar Friesen Racing for the rest of the year, replacing owner-driver Stewart Friesen after he was injured in a dirt racing crash.
But it doesn't change the harsh reality of a situation that could've been avoided so easily.
If Honeycutt was simply underperforming, he would get to stay with Niece for the rest of the year with no problems. But because he is good enough to draw another team's interest for next year, it's apparently incompatible to have him continue driving for his current manufacturer in the meantime. Make it make sense.