Kyle Larson put NASCAR on notice. Should rules change on Cup drivers in developmental series?

Kyle Larson stirred things up a little bit by saying he wanted to embarrass Xfinity Series drivers when he races against them.

And it isn’t because he takes joy in crushing the competition. He really wants to show the difference between Cup racing and the Xfinity Series. And he wants to prove to young, up-and-coming drivers how far behind they are compared to where they want to go.

Larson has a point. And it is a chorus that Kevin Harvick has been singing for years. 

Drivers enter Cup racing without enough experience racing Cup drivers. Therefore, they don't know just how cut-throat they need to be and how to race for the win against tougher competition.

"The kids, they probably think they're in a good spot, and they don't know where the bar is really at," Larson said. "So I like to go run those Xfinity races and get 10-second leads to let them realize that they've got a lot of room to improve, and I think that's only better for our sport."

Ty Gibbs is the latest to learn. He won 21 percent of his Xfinity races before his rookie Cup year in 2023. And he's still seeking his first Cup win.

Cup drivers with more than three years of full-time Cup experience are limited to five races a year in the Xfinity series and in the truck series. They can’t race in the final eight races of the year — the regular-season finale and the playoffs.

NASCAR has limited Cup participation so that Xfinity drivers have better chances of winning. This helps boost their profiles in the eyes of Cup owners and in the eyes of sponsor executives — both those in the series and potential ones in Cup.

So what’s the answer?

First off, it’s the same thing that many have advocated for in Cup. It’s called practice.

Additional practice in Xfinity and trucks