NASCAR Credential Issue

Last week saw more drama in the NASCAR world as it was widely discussed that the approval process to drive in the Cup series should be adjusted. The talks started after the announcement that Katherine Legge would be driving in the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevy. The talks became louder after a up and down day that saw Legge spin on lap 4, but after that was able to stay out of trouble and log laps like any rookie would want. That was until another incident later that took out Daniel Suarez. While she has had success in various other forms of racing, she doesn’t have many starts in a stock car especially on a oval which drew concern. Another issue was the lack of time or practice that there was for her to prepare, especially when one is a rookie for a team that also isn’t full time. Let’s get into it.

Now normally when it comes to rookies making Cup starts that are their first start, there is a rookie test which is like a shakedown that gets rookies more familiar with the car. Most notably Shane Van Gisbergen at the roval prior to his debut at Chicago street, and Helio doing a test at Talledega. Legge however made her first start in a Cup car at Phoenix, a short 1 mile flat track that requires handling. This track didn’t have a rookie test, and with recent stock car experience in the ARCA Ride The Dente 200 sessions and race itself she was approved. I believe going forward that rookies unfamiliar with stock car racing all together should at least be able to have rookie testing to help get familiar with the car and team that they are driving for. Adding it at every track outside of the road courses and a speed refresher course at a super speedway will help new rookies out a ton.

On the opposite end of things, there has also been controversy about how drivers who have stock car experience get denied, but those with limited experience are. This was the case for Mike Wallace as he was unable to race at Daytona due to his time away from the car. The controversy came as Helio, and Legge were both approved to race despite never driving a cup car before. I believe in this situation obviously Mike being out the car so long on top of trying to race on a super speedway shouldn’t draw comparisons to Legge attempting a much shorter race track, or Helio racing in the 500 because they both were more recently in a race car than he was (Indycar). Both also did the January ARCA test and ARCA race. However I do believe that there should be a number of years said out loud that a driver can go without racing to be considered ineligible. There should be a threshold and should a driver get passed that threshold, they should be required to do a test and in the case of a race like the Daytona 500, go through the same process that the rookies do that never drove at Daytona.

Wallace does have a lot of starts in NASCAR but his last start in cup was 2015, and his last national series start came in 2020. It’s also worth noting that Wallace’s last start at a track that was an intermediate or larger was the 2015 Daytona 500. In my opinion age is also a factor as Wallace hasn’t raced a fast track like Daytona since 2015 and he is 65. Helio racing Indycar and Legge racing Indycar and gt cars last year alone should give them the nod.

Overall I want to see more testing overall especially for new rookies as more international stars jump into NASCAR for the first time in their careers. I also want more clarity on when a driver loses their eligibility and how they can gain it back.