NASCAR is considering changing its rules in the coming seasons to allow its premier series drivers to moonlight in the lower-tier national series more often, as the sport looks for the right balance between talent development and entertainment value. For decades, top-tier Cup Series drivers have chosen to occasionally make appearances in other circuits like the second-tier Xfinity Series or third-tier Craftsman Truck Series to get more repetitions and just out of the pure love of racing. Comparable to an MLB player going down to the minors to sharpen his skills, the appearances often lead to debates among fans and industry members about whether having the sport\u2019s cream of the crop come beat up on younger and less prominent opponents helps the Xfinity and Truck full-timers hone their skills or just leads to boring blowout wins in mismatched competitions. <\/p>\n
NASCAR has made several alterations to the rules around the topic over the years, including in 2020 limiting Cup drivers to only five Xfinity Series appearances, down from seven. Cup Series drivers with more than three years of experience remain limited to appearances in five Xfinity races a season and five Truck races. Those appearances must be before the regular-season finale and playoffs in order to ensure that Cup drivers don\u2019t directly impact those championship-deciding events. <\/p>\n