In NASCAR, as in so many aspects of life, if there is every a lack of news to discuss, eventually someone will spout off at the mouth on a given topic that no one had previously felt like discussing and then suddenly the entire world wants to weigh in on the subject.
After the recent NASCAR Cup race at Texas, Brad Keselowski opined NASCAR should consider demoting drivers from the Cup series after one too many on-track incidents.
Keselowski made the comments in the aftermath of a late-race caution caused by rookie Quin Houff cutting down across the track, headed towards pit road but making contact with Christopher Bell and Matt DiBenedetto.
Although Keselowski was not involved in the incident with Houff, it didn’t prevent him from discussing it. He stated he had “seen in the past where drivers that have had this issue multiple times somehow are still here, where I think they should effectively be placed in a lower series or asked to go back to a more minor league level to prove their salt.”
First of all, just let me be clear that, while he may not be in my Top 10 favourite drivers, I have a lot of respect for Brad Keselowski. Even more so than his driving, I can admire the fact that he speaks his mind – and speaks it well – about the larger issues facing NASCAR. That said, I don’t always agree with him and this is one of those times.
First of all, let’s compare NASCAR to “stick and ball” sports (baseball, hockey, football, basketball, etc.) which have minor league systems or “farm teams” as they are often called (or at least until someone gets offended by the term in 2020). These “farm teams” help to cultivate new young talent that, if all goes well, will eventually be brought up to the “majors”. At the same time, those young stars who don’t cut it right off the bat (and even some more established stars who are in slumps or rehabbing from an injury) can be sent back down to the minors.
This is pretty much what Keselowski is envisioning. The issue: a baseball team like the Toronto Blue Jays can send a struggling young pitcher down to their minor league affiliate like the Buffalo Bisons (or they could in years past when there was minor league baseball being played) without too many issues. (I think each player gets so many minor league options.)
However, it’s different in NASCAR. Sponsorship rules everything and sponsors fund the driver, not the car, at least not for more than perhaps a race or two. (We have seen instances where a substitute driver can replace the car’s regular wheelman. We saw this recently when Justin Allgaier replaced Jimmie Johnson when Johnson had to sit out the Brickyard 400 due to testing positive for COVID.) And companies are sure not going to sponsor a driver once he’s been “demoted” to essentially NASCAR’s AAA level. Considering how many drivers have had to accept part-time non-competitive rides even at the XFINITY level or leave the sport entirely because they couldn’t arrange for full-time sponsorship, the last thing NASCAR should probably be doing is placing another hurdle in front of their progress to an eventual competitive, full-time Cup ride.
At the same time, how are the decisions about what constitutes a “demotable offence” or how many such offences need to occur? Are we limiting this discussion just to rookies?
It’s one thing to say “Well, Quin Houff has caused three number of wrecks this season, he should be demoted to the XFINITY Series.” However, what about someone like Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. who went through a period where he was drawing the ire of a lot of his fellow competitors for his aggressive driving style. How many strikes should he have been given before he was demoted? And if you listen to the weekly Radioactive segment on NASCAR Race Hub, you often hear drivers complaining of multiple run-ins with other drivers. Should even well-established veteran Cup drivers, guilty of multiple perceived infractions, be demoted?
How big a hit will NASCAR take in ratings, attendance and overall popularity, if all of a sudden, some of its biggest stars are demoted to the XFINITY Series over a couple of infractions. While it’s easy to blame wrecks and mishaps on rookie drivers, but it’s not like well-established drivers can’t screw up from time to time, whether accidentally or not-s0-accidentally. (Simply look to Matt Kenseth wrecking Joey Logano at Martinsville in 2015. Should Kenseth have been demoted to the XFINITY Series?)
I will agree with Keselowski’s sentiments that drivers should have the opportunity to hone their craft in development series like ARCA, the XFINITY and Truck Series, which is why I’ve long championed limiting – or for that matter, outright banning Cup drivers from. Let these young drivers learn how to drive stock cars and more than that, how to win and contend for wins, not ride around following Cup drivers who want more practice.
We’ve seen this pay dividends in recent years, with last year’s “Big Three” phenomenon of Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Cole Custer all contending for wins and making the XFINITY Series must-viewing for race fans. They are currently having great seasons in Cup.
I do agree with Keselowski that you don’t want to let just anybody jump in a Cup car. There was some criticism of Houf getting a Cup ride in 2019 after only a combined 17 starts in ARCA and the XFINITY Series, and perhaps that’s warranted. However, the reason he got his ride was because he could bring sponsorship that Landon Cassill (the previous driver for StarCom Racing) could not. So, it was less about putting the best driver in the car and more about who could bring the right amount of money.
Maybe instead of demoting drivers, NASCAR (and the Race Team Alliance) should, instead, look into restructuring their sponsorship set-up. Rather than forcing drivers to have to go, hat in hand, for enough sponsorship to earn a decent ride, a better solution would be for the team’s marketing people to convince sponsors to fund the team, either by marketing the team as a whole or the driver themselves.
It would ensure the best drivers with sufficient experience, not just those with access to wealthy benefactors, would be behind the wheel of Cup cars every week.
johnmilner.ca 