A fair shot? Cup competitors question the approval process of NASCAR for new drivers to series

Katherine Legge said she would be better than her debut in Phoenix, but some drivers ask questions about Nascar’s approval process and say it put Legge and Helio Castroneseves in difficult situations in their cup debut this season.

Legge spun twice in Phoenix this weekend, and her second incident damaged Daniel Suarez’s car. CastroneVes was collected in accidents in his qualifying race and the Daytona 500 last month.

Nascar’s approval process for managers has received attention since the beginning of the year.

In January, Nascar has denied approval for Mike Wallacewho started 197 Career Cup to run the Daytona 500 because he chased the series in 2015. Castronseves, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner with no Nascar Cup, XFinity or Truck Experience, has been approved to compete in the Daytona 500.

Legge, whose Indycars and in IMSA have been chasing for years, but had only one Xfinity start since 2019, has been approved to make her cup debut at Phoenix. This week has been announced that Casey Mears, who starts 489 cups, will chase at Martinsville later this month For his first cup event since the 2019 Daytona 500.

Three-time cup champion Joey Logano suggests that more structure is needed with NASCAR approval process.

“There is a line between entertainment and safety, not only for that particular driver, but also us who chase here every week, for the rest of the drivers out there and pit staff jumping in front of these cars,” he said on Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday.

‘There must be a line somewhere, a little structure behind it would be nice, such as saying that you might have to run the Xfinity race or some other types of breeds. I’m sure they don’t want to put too much structure behind it, because every situation is a little different. At the same time, I think there must be a few points to make before you are approved in a cup of race. ‘

Two-time cup champion Kyle Busch said the current cup managers should be involved in the approval process.

“I think there’s a lot of work done to make it better,” he said in Las Vegas on Saturday.

“I also feel like it shouldn’t be” pack and ties “to always make the decisions. There may certainly be some that need to be involved, but I feel that there must be (active managers) involved in some of the decision -making processes about those who need to be approved or not to be approved for different activities. “

Sixteen drivers have made their cup debut since the beginning of the 2023 season. Eleven of them had no or limited NASCAR, XFINITY or truck range experience.

Of the 11, eight this month debuted on road courses, including Connor Zilisch at Circuit of the Americas. The other three debut of drivers with limited or no NASCAR experience came to Daytona (Castroneeves), Phoenix (Legge) and the 2023 Bristol Dirt Race (Dirt Late Model Racer Jonathan Davenport).

Shane van Gisbergen had no Nascar experience until he made his cup debut in the 2023 Chicago Street race. He won that event and became the first manager to win in their Nascar debut since 1963.

The only other driver since 2023 with no or limited NASCAR experience to finish in the top 20 in their cup debut was Jenson Button. The 2009 Formula One champion placed 18th on Cota in 2023.

Logano understands the challenges that new drivers face in the series, just as he faces as he chased elsewhere.

“If you look at F1, for someone to get a license to chase there, I don’t know if one of us (in Nascar) is qualified, nor should we be, because we have never driven anything like that,” he said.

“I don’t think it would be okay to throw me in an F1 race without chasing one before and practicing me for 20 minutes. Yes, I’m going to be in the way because I don’t know what I’m doing. However, the same thing for them, isn’t it? If you have never driven a stock car, you should just jump in a cup of car with 20 minutes and line and race? ‘

Michael McDowell, who will start on the pole for Sunday’s Cup Race in Las Vegas, takes note of the problems that drivers, who either have no experience in a cup, or have no recent cup experience with the car. But he also considers what those drivers did.

“Helio is a world-class car driver, and he has to be approved,” McDowell said. “I mean, it would be crazy to think he wouldn’t.

‘Does this mean that he has a lot of experience in our cars and is prepared for every situation and every dirty air situation and all that things? No. But also Kyle Larson at the Indy 500, right? There are certain things that, if you do not do it all the time, you will not know and you will not have.

“Mike Wallace, he’s a tremendous Speedway driver. Out of all the places where you could drive him, you could probably run him reasonably with confidence and not think about it. This is just the amount of experience he has in all the different situations. Casey Mears, I mean, I have no problem with Casey Mears driving. He has finished (489) a cup started and is an excellent race car driver. And he was not removed that far from it.

“I don’t think we missed it. I don’t think that’s a problem. But you put a manager to know all these different aspects in a one -time situation. Same with Katherine (Legge) too. She is a world-class racing car driver. Driven around the world in different types of racing cars. I don’t feel like she’s under -qualified.

“But she doesn’t have the experience in our cars. And I don’t know how many races would do – if she did an XFinity race in Phoenix, I don’t know if that would change anything. ‘

Nascar officials explained the driver’s approval process earlier this month on the “Hauler Talk” podcast of the sanction body. Former cup manager Chad Little leads the process, which includes a committee that helps make decisions about the approval of a manager.

Little monitored the progress of a driver throughout the weekend and any notes are placed on the driver’s file to consider if the participant requests to be approved for future races.

Although CastroneVes had no Nascar experience, his success in Indycar and IMSA easily shows his talent.

He also had the benefit of extra track time before his Daytona 500 debut. Nascar allows a test for drivers of ‘elite faith letters’ who have not yet tested or competed before their debut in a next Gen’s car. Castroneseves took part in a test at Talladega in January. He also drove in the Arca race at Daytona.

While he had the opportunity to practice before the cup in Daytona and participate in a qualifying race and one of the two workouts afterwards, he still had a limited experience with the couch car, something he acknowledged before qualifying.

Legge, who participated in the Arca meeting at Daytona last month, said she was approved for road courses and short cuts, but that she did not have enough time to put everything together to run at Cota, and she made her debut at Phoenix a week later. To prepare, she had a simulator time at Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet and drove a car in practice for Hendrick Motorsports this week of the race.

On a question at Phoenix why she only delayed her debut to Martinsville later in the month, Legge said: ‘If I talked to other drivers and teams in Nascar, and people who helped me said they were the best job to learn and to go somewhere like Martinsville. I don’t know if it is true or not, but I take their advice, doesn’t it? I don’t know what I don’t know, so if someone tells me, then I do what I said. ‘

One thing that Phoenix provided was extra practice time. Teams had 45 minutes of exercise instead of the usual 25 due to the use of the option tape that weekend. Legge said on Her podcast “Throttle Therapy with Katherine Legge” That she didn’t run early in the workout not to get in the way of other teams. She ran 43 laps in the session – less than anyone but one driver.

Legge said on her podcast that she worked quickly in the race. She started last and fought early with a bad car. She brought a caution on lap 5 for a turn. She said the team made the car better later in the race before her turn brought the warning on the lap 216. At the time, Suarez ran sixth and made contact and damaged his car.

In his vlog over his Phoenix weekendSuarez questions the Nascar driver’s approval process while talking to wife Julia after the race.

“Nothing against her,” Suarez of Legge said. “You know how I am. I hope girls make it in the sport. Hope. … (Nascar) cannot allow anyone to run with no experience in the cup series. Simple and simple. Simple and simple. “

Legge discussed her incident on her podcast.

“I just made a mistake, man,” she said. ‘… we were a lot, came up and Josh Berry touched and then went around and collected Suarez. I have some phone calls to apologize for the devastation of Daniel’s day. That was not my intention. I know it doesn’t help, but I really tried to do my best to keep out of the way. ‘

But Legge also defended her right to compete at Phoenix.

“I can understand that they think it’s a pain to have cars that are a little wildlife card, but that’s how we all learn,” Legge said on her podcast. “Yes, I did not come through the traditional Xfinity, truck ranks, but you know, I have just as much right to be here as in a way.

“I think many of them were very understanding, but many of them probably refuted it a little, and I understand it. I was in that position where the new people came in and you are like ‘what are they doing?’ They just come in. They buy a ride or whatever it is, and you’re just out of the way. Just don’t ruin everyone’s race. ‘

“I tried to earn their respect and show respect, and I hope I did somehow. I think I have a long way to prove it. You know what, I am a decent race car driver and I will prove it, and I will get better. ‘