Katherine Legge’s debut in Phoenix last weekend has left many questioning NASCAR’s driver approval system. The 44-year-old was allowed to race in a Cup Series event despite having little to no experience in the Next Gen car. She struggled to handle the vehicle and crashed out after 215 laps.
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In Las Vegas, two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was asked if the promotion has to rethink their methods going forward. He responded by mentioning that he has been questioning the approval system for a long time. He faced a lot of confusion over it as a team owner in the Craftsman Truck Series.
“Being an owner in the Truck Series and seeing some young drivers get opportunities at different tracks versus my drivers that I was trying to get them opportunities at some of those same tracks getting denied,” he said.
“I was very confused, and probably I’m even more confused now on how it all works. I think it’s broken.” Busch believes that these decisions should not be made by the men wearing the suits and ties alone.
He wants drivers or former drivers to be a part of the committee that makes the final calls. He added, “I do feel like there need to be firesuits involved in some of those decision-making processes on those that need to be approved or not approved for various activities.”
Busch doesn’t want NASCAR to make unanimous decisions on penalties
The former champion doesn’t think drivers should be consulted on the driver approval system alone. He wants them to be involved in making decisions regarding penalties as well. He said, “I’ll even go so far as to say, too, that I feel the same way on driver penalties. The Austin Cindric deal…. I don’t think ‘suit and ties’ should be making that. I think you should get penalized by your peers.”
Team Penske’s Austin Cindric was penalized at the Circuit of the Americas for intentionally running into Ty Dillon. Such mistakes usually result in suspensions, but Cindric was let off with a fine. This caused many drivers and fans to question the sensibility of NASCAR’s decision-making.
Perhaps Kyle Busch’s recommendation of having a more diverse committee that makes these decisions would help NASCAR gain some goodwill. The Las Vegas native has qualified to start in fourth place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. It remains to be seen if he can finally break his long-standing winless streak at home after all.
