Denny Hamlin hasn’t been shy about voicing his displeasure with some of the changes NASCAR is making for next season, including recent comments regarding the 2026 NASCAR schedule and moving the All-Star Race to Dover. Now, he’s found a rule change being considered that he wants an explanation for.
Following reports last week that NASCAR is considering allowing Cup drivers to race more in the Truck and Xfinity Series, Hamlin questioned on Actions Detrimental why the change is even necessary.
“I don’t know why there is a need for that…That is an unnecessary rule change…I like seeing the Xfinity regulars going down there and competing against themselves…Opening it back up, I don’t know what that accomplishes…What are we doing? What is that solving?”
Denny Hamlin on NASCAR Considering Allowing Cup Drivers to Race More in Xfinity, Truck Series
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One of the biggest points Hamlin raised is that increasing the limits above five races for either series serves no present purpose. Ross Chastain is the Cup driver most active in racing at the lower levels, finishing the regular season with five races in Trucks and five in Xfinity.
While Kyle Larson has admitted he loves going down to the Truck and Xfinity levels to ’embarrass’ the drivers, showing them what it takes to race against the best in NASCAR, he only participated in four Xfinity races and two Truck races this year.
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It’s also not as if the NASCAR Xfinity Series needs help boosting its television ratings. Nearly every race this season has averaged over 1 million viewers on the CW Network. Viewership has climbed significantly, with fans showing more interest than before when there are largely full-time Xfinity drivers.
Cup drivers also face the issue of sponsorships at the Xfinity level, which has now become a series largely consisting of full-time drivers with deep pockets or significant financial backing to fund their racing. For sponsors, if they want to partner with the best NASCAR drivers, it makes the most sense to do so in Cup races, where there will be substantially more eyes on the sponsored cars.
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Even if NASCAR increases the number of lower-series races that Cup drivers can compete in to seven or eight, it might not result in the likes of Larson and Kyle Busch doing more races. If drivers aren’t interested in doing it, for whatever reason, it’s hard to see what impact the rule change would have.
