Spire Motorsports driver Michael McDowell finished 16th in the Cup Series race at Las Vegas after starting from the pole. Ahead of the performance, he spoke to the press about NASCAR’s driver approval process. It is an issue that several others, including Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson, had delivered their opinions on while in Sin City.
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McDowell became a Cup Series driver through the traditional route. He was a driver in the ARCA Menards Series before climbing up to the Craftsman Truck Series and the Xfinity Series. It was only after multiple trials in these lower tiers that he was given a shot in the premier series. He pointed out the same when he was asked about the current approval system.
He said, “I signed my Cup deal with MWR [Michael Waltrip Racing] before I ever stepped into a truck or Xfinity car or a Cup car, right? So, I knew I was going Cup racing. We just didn’t know how we were going to actually get there.” Does that mean he wants drivers like Katherine Legge and Helio Castroneves to go through a similar process? No.
He thinks that it is crazy that drivers with the caliber of Castroneves would be denied a chance to race in the Cup Series. He continued, “Now, does that mean that he has a ton of experience in our cars and is prepared for every single situation and every single dirty air situation and all those things? No. But neither was Kyle Larson at the Indy 500, right?”
McDowell contended that approving drivers is not a matter of skill or ability but practice. Castroneves and Legge don’t have “situational experience” driving the Next Gen car, according to him.
He doesn’t have an idea of how many races would provide that, either. But most of the community would agree that it must be a prerequisite for those seeking to drive in the Cup Series.
Denny Hamlin wants a more stringent driver approval process
The NASCAR Cup Series is considered the most elite stock car racing series in the world. For a series with such an image, Hamlin believes that the promotion lets drivers with no stock car experience easily race in it. While he empathizes with the situation of Legge, he does want NASCAR to make its approval process more stringent.
He told the press, “I hate it for her. It’s probably not fair to her that she is getting the brunt of all the scrutiny. But it does open eyes. It should open eyes because NASCAR is like, ‘We are not very strict in who gets to run a Cup [Series] car.’”
Legge had spun out during her debut in the Phoenix Raceway and wrecked Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez with her. Her struggles to handle the Next Gen car are what kickstarted the entire debate.
