What is the future of the Xfinity and Truck Series?

FLRacingFan said:
Didn't Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, and others I'm forgetting develop in Truck before its schedule was almost a carbon copy of Cup's?
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That’s valid to a point. Biffle is the “oldest” of those guys.

His first full truck season: http://racing-reference.info/drivdet/bifflgr01/1998/C

His last: http://racing-reference.info/drivdet/bifflgr01/1998/C

Edwards’ second and final full season: http://racing-reference.info/drivdet/edwarca01/2004/C
 
gnomesayin said:
The most watched Truck Series race of the season on TV was Martinsville. Eldora had strong and increasing numbers. These should be the template for going forward with a cost-sustainable series. The 1.5 and superspeedway races should be the exception, not the other way around.
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That's ridiculous. If ARCA can run big tracks I think the damn truck series can find the funding
 
Team Penske said:
How many ARCA races are on super speedways?
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If Trucks and Xfinity were to shift their schedules toward mainly short tracks, as proposed repeatedly here in these threads, ARCA would suddenly be in great demand as support races for Cup weekends. ARCA would become the second tier series while Xfinity and Trucks became less prominent, IMO.
 
Mispeedway15 said:
That's ridiculous. If ARCA can run big tracks I think the damn truck series can find the funding
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The team owners will take your word for it and continue with confidence, and the teams that have already folded will return now that you've set things straight.

LewTheShoe said:
If Trucks and Xfinity were to shift their schedules toward mainly short tracks, as proposed repeatedly here in these threads, ARCA would suddenly be in great demand as support races for Cup weekends. ARCA would become the second tier series while Xfinity and Trucks became less prominent, IMO.
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I think NASCAR has a pretty good handle on what the Xfinity Series needs, and I applaud most of the changes they have made on the competition side. They probably need to go further, and while I would support a couple additional races at short tracks or road courses in underserved markets, I don't believe it would be wise to radically alter the schedule. IMO the Truck Series faces a more difficult path and requires more immediate fixes. I think a move toward short tracks for the trucks would fill an underserved niche with established popularity, not abandoning a niche that is serving them well currently.
 
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If they are going to run three series at the same track , I wish they would run them at crowd favorite tracks at least.
 
Given that Ryan Preece was relevant on this forum and the NASCAR microcosm for three weekends, getting a win, a 2nd, and a 4th in the only three competitive races he's had in his national career...before falling off the face of the earth, says there are MAJOR problems in the NASCAR world and Xfinity series. For the 69 years this sport has existed, any driver who put up those kind of stats would've become the hottest **** you could possibly find. A driver who cut his teeth in a crappy car for a season, then "broke out" with 3 incredible finishes that weren't at all flukes. Owners would fight for him. Veteran drivers would endorse him. The media would hype him up.

But in today's NASCAR...he got his five minutes of fame. Without sponsor money, the whole NASCAR community knows that's all his career will ever be. Has anyone heard Preece's name mentioned ANYWHERE since Kentucky? The media? This forum even? No. Because we know it's hopeless unless he can "buy" his way in like the Byron's, Elliot's, Dillon's.

No one wants "The Last American Race Car Driver" who cut his teeth on the short tracks, grinded through a full season in a field-filler car, and is experienced on-and-off the track (he's 26). Nope, in today's NASCAR you need money or your family name. It's sickening, really.

If Ryan Preece can't land a full-time Xfinity ride next year, I've lost all faith in NASCAR...and in 5 years his short career will be a case study in "what went wrong" in post-boom NASCAR.


Off the top of my head there is a driver who had immense talent that wasn't discovered until he was in his mid 20s. He was also a first-generation racer. He was also from an area not know for producing many racers. He struggled in the then-Busch series. He was pretty old when he got his first Cup start. He was irrelevant until he started Cup full-time, unlike the guys these days whose names get shoved down our throats once they turn 16. You may or may not have heard of him- his name is Jimmie Johnson. You'll probably have to Google him or go to Racing Reference. He went up to win a couple races or something.
 
aunty dive said:
It might be a bit early to panic.

He ran those 3 races last month.
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But it was the best 3 race performance by a rookie in NASCAR's 3 national series since Joey Logano's Nationwide debut with Gibbs in 2008. When Preece wasn't signed on with Gibbs after Iowa I started panicking.
 
He got the seat at Kentucky because he did so well in the 2 previous races. Somebody stepped up.

The kid’s got balls ... quitting a full time ride he knew he couldn’t win with. It would be a shame if the current climate freezes him out. Something tells me he’ll find a way.
 
aunty dive said:
He got the seat at Kentucky because he did so well in the 2 previous races. Somebody stepped up.

The kid’s got balls ... quitting a full time ride he knew he couldn’t win with. It would be a shame if the current climate freezes him out. Something tells me he’ll find a way.
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I have my doubts it will happen for him. He got his own sponsor money to rent a car from JGR to show he was as good as most of the field. Unfortunately he doesn't have the big sponsor who can rent the car for a whole season. If he did JMS would be calling.
To many young good drivers out there for no rides right now. Many will fall through the cracks until this current crop starts to fail and I don't see that happening for a few years.
 
Speedbowl14 said:
Given that Ryan Preece was relevant on this forum and the NASCAR microcosm for three weekends, getting a win, a 2nd, and a 4th in the only three competitive races he's had in his national career...before falling off the face of the earth, says there are MAJOR problems in the NASCAR world and Xfinity series. For the 69 years this sport has existed, any driver who put up those kind of stats would've become the hottest sh!t you could possibly find. A driver who cut his teeth in a crappy car for a season, then "broke out" with 3 incredible finishes that weren't at all flukes. Owners would fight for him. Veteran drivers would endorse him. The media would hype him up.

But in today's NASCAR...he got his five minutes of fame. Without sponsor money, the whole NASCAR community knows that's all his career will ever be. Has anyone heard Preece's name mentioned ANYWHERE since Kentucky? The media? This forum even? No. Because we know it's hopeless unless he can "buy" his way in like the Byron's, Elliot's, Dillon's.

No one wants "The Last American Race Car Driver" who cut his teeth on the short tracks, grinded through a full season in a field-filler car, and is experienced on-and-off the track (he's 26). Nope, in today's NASCAR you need money or your family name. It's sickening, really.

If Ryan Preece can't land a full-time Xfinity ride next year, I've lost all faith in NASCAR...and in 5 years his short career will be a case study in "what went wrong" in post-boom NASCAR.


Off the top of my head there is a driver who had immense talent that wasn't discovered until he was in his mid 20s. He was also a first-generation racer. He was also from an area not know for producing many racers. He struggled in the then-Busch series. He was pretty old when he got his first Cup start. He was irrelevant until he started Cup full-time, unlike the guys these days whose names get shoved down our throats once they turn 16. You may or may not have heard of him- his name is Jimmie Johnson. You'll probably have to Google him or go to Racing Reference. He went up to win a couple races or something.
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Ryan Preece is 28 and has done nothing in a stock car except win one race. Gibbs focus should finding rides for Bell, Gragson, Gillian’s and Burton who are younger and more talented
 
2 Sweet said:
Sponsorship money was always a factor, but nowadays it's the only factor. The sponsors dictate literally everything in this sport now. The tail wagging the dog. Talent/ability is completely irrelevant unless it comes with funding.
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It's a shame really. No other sports league has this issue and is able to carry on with business as usual. Even the awful WNBA.
 
BradBlaney said:
Ryan Preece is 28 and has done nothing in a stock car except win one race. Gibbs focus should finding rides for Bell, Gragson, Gillian’s and Burton who are younger and more talented
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Won a race and how he won it was impressive.

Preece should have a seat somewhere in the fold and not to mention his consistency in all three races. He opened a lot of eyes, not to mention he finally got his shot in the Xfinity series with JD Motorsports, I'm a big Johnny Davis fan, and you never know what doors might open up for him. The four you mentioned are all backed by Toyota and will get seats sooner or later, its all of a matter of when. He's 27 btw.

@AdoubleU24 stop hating on the WNBA. Maya Moore and Skylar Diggins are like my major... crushes...:oops:
 
BradBlaney said:
Ryan Preece is 28 and has done nothing in a stock car except win one race. Gibbs focus should finding rides for Bell, Gragson, Gillian’s and Burton who are younger and more talented
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"Jimmie Johnson has done nothing in a stock car. Hendrick's focus should be finding rides for Casey Atwood and Justin Labonte who are younger and more talented"
 
2 Sweet said:
"Jimmie Johnson has done nothing in a stock car. Hendrick's focus should be finding rides for Casey Atwood and Justin Labonte who are younger and more talented"
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They should of put Landon Cassill in the 5 car too...l get the point and he’s only two and half older years than Bowman, but it’s hard to find owners now who want someone that that old, Bowman stayed the course and got lucky
 
BobbyFord said:
What percentage of the jobs went to automation or were simply eliminated because of software?
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Many (not all) of those jobs that automation eliminated were replaced by new jobs developing and programming the automation. Of course, that took learning new skills, something many don't want to do even when they're paid to do so. They'd rather complain about having the old jobs brought back. It won't happen.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Then we'll have to disagree as to what those other reasons may be. I'll accept R&D if you can link to any non-safety technology that's gone from a stock car to the showroom in the last 15 years.
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Charlie, I guess you don't keep up on the uses of carbon fiber in hybrids and where it is finding its way into, dare I type it, the chassis. The development for those uses is coming for multiple sources but racing is one of them. Wanna chat about composites in race cars and their uses in the showroom? It just isn't about the R&D dollars going into an engine or the drive train.
 
Towmater said:
Charlie, I guess you don't keep up on the uses of carbon fiber in hybrids and where it is finding its way into, dare I type it, the chassis. The development for those uses is coming for multiple sources but racing is one of them. Wanna chat about composites in race cars and their uses in the showroom? It just isn't about the R&D dollars going into an engine or the drive train.
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Is that carbon fiber R&D being done in NASCAR? I'm aware it's happening in other forms of racing.
 
I don't know why NASCAR teams decided to find drivers that already had sponsors lined up as opposed to the past when they hired good drivers and they picked up sponsors. The whole thing is backwards. Trucks and Xfinity are worse about this than Cup.

I know a very accomplished racer who still hasn't reached his mid 20's. He's won at every level from his early teens. He's beaten a bunch of those now getting Xfinity and Cup rides. He's had a few K&N rides, even one a K&N race. He's had a handful on Xfinity starts in crap equipment just to get his name out there. Yet, he has no deal with a top tier team to race on any level because his family is not super rich and has no big sponsor to bring with him. He may get a good Xfinity ride and not cut it or could be the next big thing. At this point, he doesn't have the opportunity to see.
 
MRM said:
I don't know why NASCAR teams decided to find drivers that already had sponsors lined up as opposed to the past when they hired good drivers and they picked up sponsors. The whole thing is backwards. Trucks and Xfinity are worse about this than Cup.

I know a very accomplished racer who still hasn't reached his mid 20's. He's won at every level from his early teens. He's beaten a bunch of those now getting Xfinity and Cup rides. He's had a few K&N rides, even one a K&N race. He's had a handful on Xfinity starts in crap equipment just to get his name out there. Yet, he has no deal with a top tier team to race on any level because his family is not super rich and has no big sponsor to bring with him. He may get a good Xfinity ride and not cut it or could be the next big thing. At this point, he doesn't have the opportunity to see.
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I have been talking with some others on another thread about this very issue. In theory if you are a good driver it should get you noticed and you would hope that some sort of sponsorship could be cobbled together. Unfortunately Nascar is not a meritocracy so even top drivers could be without a ride if they are not pleasing to the people that write the checks.
 
MRM said:
I don't know why NASCAR teams decided to find drivers that already had sponsors lined up as opposed to the past when they hired good drivers and they picked up sponsors. The whole thing is backwards. Trucks and Xfinity are worse about this than Cup.

I know a very accomplished racer who still hasn't reached his mid 20's. He's won at every level from his early teens. He's beaten a bunch of those now getting Xfinity and Cup rides. He's had a few K&N rides, even one a K&N race. He's had a handful on Xfinity starts in crap equipment just to get his name out there. Yet, he has no deal with a top tier team to race on any level because his family is not super rich and has no big sponsor to bring with him. He may get a good Xfinity ride and not cut it or could be the next big thing. At this point, he doesn't have the opportunity to see.
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I wonder what series where that happens? Go Karts?
 
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