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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – MAY 20: NASCAR Executive Vice President Steve O’Donnell speaks during the 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Day at NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 20, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Krista Jasso\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
NASCAR might be cooking up a pretty big change for 2026, and it\u2019s already got people buzzing. The sanctioning body is considering allowing Cup Series drivers<\/a> to race more frequently in the Xfinity<\/a> and Truck Series, according to an August 19 report in the Sports Business Journal.\u00a0<\/p>\n For some, that sounds like a dream. For others? A nightmare.<\/p>\n This all comes as O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts<\/a> gets ready to step in as the new title sponsor and The CW ramps up its broadcast deal. <\/p>\n Put together, it feels like NASCAR is trying to reset the stage for its \u201cminor league\u201d series, though depending on who you ask, that could either be a huge win for fans or a step backward for young talent trying to break through.<\/p>\n Steve O\u2019Donnell Hints at Possible NASCAR Rule Tweaks for 2026<\/p>\n According to the Sports Business Journal\u2019s Adam Stern<\/a>, the current rules, basically a cap of five races per season for Cup drivers with three-plus years of full-time experience, and no playoff appearances allowed, are under review. NASCAR President Steve O\u2019Donnell<\/a> even hinted at it himself recently:<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to look at who can race in the series in the future as well and maybe make some changes down the road\u2026 we\u2019ve had discussions with The CW and in the Truck Series as well, \u2018Does that rule as it stands now make the most sense to continue as it is? Do we tweak it?\u201d<\/p>\n He added more context in another comment, praising the work Xfinity had done with their drivers and marketing efforts:<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s interesting \u2014 Xfinity did a great job with that, and we\u2019ve certainly passed that along to O\u2019Reilly in terms of what drivers can do with the drivers and industry. So not sure yet exactly how that will look and feel, but certainly something to build on there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n So clearly, the league is thinking not just about competition, but about how star power and branding play together in this next era.<\/p>\n Kyle Busch\u2019s Dominance Sparked NASCAR\u2019s Rules, but Larson Wants Them Loosened<\/p>\n The restrictions weren\u2019t random; they came back in 2020 after years of Cup drivers dominating the lower series. If you\u2019ve followed the sport a while, you\u2019ll remember the term \u201cBuschwhackers,\u201d when guys like Kyle Busch regularly mopped the floor with full-time Xfinity drivers.<\/p>\n To put it in perspective: Busch has 102 career Xfinity wins. Thirteen of those came in one season (2010). No surprise that NASCAR eventually said, \u201cOkay, enough of that.\u201d<\/p>\n But not everyone agrees that the limits have been good for the sport. Some say the smaller fields have lost a bit of star power, which hurts attendance and TV numbers.<\/p>\n Take Kyle Larson<\/a>. After winning an Xfinity race at Bristol earlier this year, he didn\u2019t exactly bite his tongue: \u201cI want to embarrass NASCAR a little bit because they just don\u2019t let Cup guys run anymore\u2026 I like to go run those Xfinity races and just get 10-second leads to let them realize that they\u2019ve got a lot of room to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n Larson\u2019s point? More Cup drivers could push the young guys harder, and maybe make the racing sharper.<\/p>\n NASCAR Faces Tough Call: Boost Ratings with Cup Drivers or Protect Young Talent?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s where it gets messy. On one side, you\u2019ve got the argument that Cup drivers, big names like Larson, Busch, or Denny Hamlin, sell tickets, move merch, and pull in TV ratings. (For example, The CW\u2019s coverage reportedly saw a 17% ratings bump in 2025.)<\/p>\n But on the flip side, the young talent benefits from having the spotlight without constantly playing second fiddle to Cup regulars. Guys like Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, or Connor Zilisch have been able to build careers thanks to the breathing room the rule created.<\/p>\n So, do you pack the house with stars, or let the next generation shine? That\u2019s the heart of the debate, and it\u2019s not an easy call.<\/p>\n NASCAR\u2019s 2025\u201326 Shakeup: From Charter Fights to International Expansion<\/p>\n NASCAR isn\u2019t making decisions in a vacuum. They\u2019ve got the new 2025 charter system hanging over their heads, ongoing lawsuits from teams like 23XI Racing, and fresh commitments from sponsors who want the sport to keep growing.<\/p>\n If the rules are loosened, expect powerhouse teams like Joe Gibbs Racing<\/a> or JR Motorsports<\/a> to sprinkle Cup drivers into more Xfinity and Truck races. That could shake up sponsorship deals, team strategies, and even the ladder system for drivers trying to work their way up.<\/p>\n O\u2019Reilly\u2019s long-term commitment and The CW\u2019s TV muscle mean NASCAR wants to maximize the moment. Even internationally, the Xfinity Series just returned to Mexico in 2025, with Daniel Suarez grabbing the win. So, there\u2019s a big-picture play here.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, this rule tweak could either supercharge NASCAR\u2019s lower-tier series or crush the momentum of rising stars. Maybe it\u2019ll be both.<\/p>\n The real question: do fans want to see Cup veterans rack up more wins in Xfinity and Trucks, or would they rather watch the next wave of talent try to carve out their own space?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> Dogli Wilberforce is a sports writer covering football, basketball, MMA, and other trending sports stories for outlets including Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. He has built a reputation for delivering timely, engaging coverage that blends sharp analysis with accessible storytelling. Wilberforce has covered everything from major football transfers to fight-night drama, bringing readers the insight and context behind the headlines. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on NASCAR\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – MAY 20: NASCAR Executive Vice President Steve O’Donnell speaks during the 2025 NASCAR…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[425,99],"class_list":["post-95289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}