re: 2025 NASCAR Season Thread - 2025-26 Offseason

Need to mention again I hate the GWC. Larson got robbed last night. He was a half lap ahead of 2nd place when a backmarker spun out and they did a GWC.

Kyle took lower line to restart. He made the mistake of going late in the restart box and the car behind him made contact which lifted his car a bit and spun tires. The outside car took off a smidge early imo and then Kyle got all used up as the spinning tires caused him to not get a good start. Ended up 4th.

Thats another GWC stolen finish that didn’t represent the race. There were only 5 cars on lead lap too, thats how bad Kyle was beating the field. And of course no one got punished.

Having said that Kyle should have went as soon as they entered the box. And it appeared to me the outside line and car behind Kyle throttled up early.

I used to like the GWC but have changed my mind over the last few years.

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Cup drivers competing in these JV races should be ashamed. Racking up wins against guys who will never get a sniff of a Cup ride is no accomplishment.

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Why? It brings dollars and eyeballs (TV $$$) to the series. And racing against the best makes them better.

They can exist in their own but can exist better with Cup drivers crossing over. Mayer is who pushed Larson but he learned a lesson or showed the kind of driver he is. If he wants to make the leap to Cup, he needs to learn how to drive around Cup drivers.

Its also a way for a Cup team to have presence in lower series. If they have a Xfinity team with full time, they can better scale it by having a part time team as well. That allows all the crew to get starts just like drivers. A part time team trains tire changers and gas men and if full time team needs to replace one, the part timer can move up. And then can move from full time team up to Cup if does great.

Its easier to scale more teams even if one is part time filled with Cup drivers. They also use that part time team to give new drivers chances.

There are many reasons to use Cup drivers too. Larson and other Cup drivers can help teach the part time team how to set up cars which they can then use to help their full time team. It helps benchmark the full time team so to speak.

I really don’t see the issue. Fans at these other 2 series get to see the best compete as well, more bang for their buck.

Those Cup teams have huge advantages when they drop down. It doesn't make the drivers town there better to race against cars that are much superior to their own. It does take money away from them, and money is what most of those teams lack.

Most? Are you sure?

God and Big Bill France want to start at 12 noon CST

Yeah. Back in the day, you didn't have this many Cup teams in Busch/Infinity, and none of them had multiple cars.
Most Cup guys had their own team or sat in for an owner running in that series.
The rich are still getting richer.

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Having said that Kyle should have went as soon as they entered the box. And it appeared to me the outside line and car behind Kyle throttled up early.

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Had to rewatch last night's race this morning, and that's what I saw on the restart. Larson postrace seemed to blame the 41 for slamming into the back of him, but he didn't get a good jump compared to everybody else regardless.

Hill looked like he probably went early, but it was nothing egregious like Hamlin last year.