CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) – Kyle Busch was hit by a backlash when he complained about drivers lacking the experience to compete at the highest level in NASCAR.
This was last fall, after the inaugural playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, when Busch ran into Garrett Smithley, who was 12 laps behind.
“We are at the highest echelon of motorsports, and we have guys who have never won Late Model races running on the track,” Busch said. ”It’s pathetic. They don’t know where to go. ”
Busch’s point was lost in his delivery and he was quickly portrayed as a champion with the right to drive for an elite team that just wanted a marker to get out of his way. Smithley and other lesser-known drivers from underfunded teams quickly defended their right to compete in the Cup Series.
Busch’s argument, that there should be standards for being in NASCAR’s top 40 racers each week, was never addressed. And here we are again: Quin Houff, at the start of his 35th Cup career, made a late mistake on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway that not only stirred the ending but altered the image of the playoffs.
Houff tried to dive down the pit lane, but collided with two other cars he didn’t see, prompting caution with 29 laps remaining in the race. Several contestants had clashed and had missed a lap of the rhythm due to unwelcome caution. That paved the way for Richard Childress Racing to get his first 1-2 finish since 2011 when Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick held out the rest of the field. Dillon now has a coveted spot on the 16-man playoff field.
Houff posted a video on social media explaining that “we were trying to get to the pit road and they didn’t call me in time and the guys who were engaged under me were already there, and it’s my fault.” It had an observation mirror in there that we used in the window on the left side of the car, and it had fallen off, so I couldn’t see that. So, rookie mistake. ”
The bug highlights NASCAR’s flexible approval process for drivers. The series has standards: A driver must be 18 years of age to compete full-time in one of the three national series, but 16-year-olds can compete in truck series races on circuits and tracks of 1.25 miles or less than length, but the approval exceeds that comes from NASCAR officials.
James Davison, who has five races at the Indianapolis 500, was not approved to debut in the Cup at Talladega Superspeedway in June. He had never raced a series car on an oval track and NASCAR delayed his debut by a week until the series moved to Pocono Raceway.
Houff, meanwhile, has a poor NASCAR resume. He had five starts at ARCA and 10 in the Xfinity series before winning a part-time Cup trip last season. The 22-year-old Virginian was parked for being too slow in his fourth Cup run and finished no higher than 28th in 17 starts. He is full-time this season for StarCom Racing and was the best 23rd of his career at Indianapolis, but he has not yet finished on the lead lap this season.
Brad Keselowski, a former series champion who was unaffected by Houff’s accident on Sunday, said it had the unintended consequence of creating a dramatic ending.
“There’s an entertaining way of looking at it and saying that it probably created a more entertaining ending,” said Keselowski. “So if you like chaos, that was good.”
The flip side, he said, was the expectation that the drivers would compete against “pairs of similar talent levels.” The incident, for example, was at the expense of Ryan Blaney, Keselowski’s teammate, who had led 150 laps only to find himself caught one lap because he faced off before Houff crashed.
NASCAR senior vice president of competition Scott Miller said officials plan to speak to Houff ahead of Thursday’s race at Kansas Speedway.
“I have to do better than that,” Miller said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “Every decision that is made on the race track is an instantaneous and spontaneous decision, but I think no one could argue that it was not a poor decision.”
The pandemic has forced NASCAR to frantically return to races where events take place one day without practice or qualification. That lack of time on the track is hampering young drivers, perhaps Houff included.
Keselowski has suggested a ladder system to develop drivers as they progress to the Cup. NASCAR does not have such a system, and as long as a driver is approved to compete for the sanctioning body, a car owner can make any kind of deal. with anyone trying to compete in NASCAR. Some of the smaller teams fill their seats with drivers who bring sponsorship dollars, and not talent, to the organization,
“I would like to see that drivers can graduate at this level and I would also like to see that they can be removed from this level when they have repeated problems,” said Keselowski. “ I’ve seen in the past that drivers who have had this problem multiple times are somehow still here, where I think they should either effectively place themselves in a lower series or ask them to return to a minor league level to test their salt. . ”
Clint Bowyer argued that there is a ladder system in the Cup, but the economy has accelerated the promotion rate.
“Just because you have money or something else, you shouldn’t be able to buy your way to the track,” Bowyer said. “I don’t like having guys who just show up and run every once in a while at this career level.” That is not right.
” You don’t just show up and line up against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. You shouldn’t be able to do that against Stewart-Haas Racing or Joe Gibbs Racing or anything else. ”
