NASCAR will limit Cup drivers in lower series: In an announcement that will put an even brighter spotlight on the next generation of stars and bolster the identity of all three of its national series, NASCAR announced on Wednesday driver participation guidelines for the 2017 season. The new guidelines limit the number of events a premier series driver can race in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Starting next season, premier series drivers with more than five years of full-time experience will be eligible to compete in a maximum of 10 races in the XFINITY Series and seven races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Additionally, drivers with more than five years of full-time premier series experience will be ineligible to compete in the final eight races in each series, as well as the Dash 4 Cash races in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The final eight races are comprised of the regular season finale and the entirety of the Chase in each series. Drivers earning premier series points in 2017 also are not eligible to compete in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“The updated guidelines will elevate the stature of our future stars, while also providing them the opportunity to compete against the best in professional motorsports,” said Jim Cassidy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations. “These updated guidelines are the result of a collaborative effort involving the entire industry, and will ultimately better showcase the emerging stars of NASCAR.”
Drivers with more than five years of full-time experience in the premier series still can run for an XFINITY Series or Camping World Truck Series championship, provided they have declared for championship points in the respective series.
Wednesday’s announcement signals the next step in NASCAR’s driver participation guideline evolution. Prior to the 2016 season, NASCAR announced that members of the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field would be ineligible to compete in the 2016 Championship Race in both the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In 2011, NASCAR implemented a rule requiring drivers to select one of the three national series in which to collect championship points.(NASCAR)(10-26-2017)
Texas offering VIP experience to Antarctica resident Texas Motor Speedway has become an international destination over the past five years with NASCAR and Verizon IndyCar Series race fans visiting the world-renowned motorsports venue from 41 countries and territories. They have arrived from literally all ends of the earth, with six of the world’s seven continents represented including North America, South America, Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe. Not surprising, the lone one missing is Antarctica, the southernmost continent and site of the South Pole that is a virtually uninhabited, ice-covered landmass. But that isn’t going to deter Texas Motor Speedway for striving for perfection by having a fan representing every continent attend a race in this five-year span during its 20th anniversary season of racing. It may appear to be an implausible idea to identify a race fan from Antarctica, but let’s not forget that the National Science Foundation’s United States Antarctic Program (USAP) is stationed there and those employees return to their U.S. homes after their tenures. There also have been military deployments over the years. Texas Motor Speedway is searching for any individual that can prove they were a temporary resident of Antarctica and their reward will be a free VIP package to the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR tripleheader weekend Nov. 4-6. The speedway will provide that individual along with a guest a pair of suite tickets for the race weekend, pre-race passes to the concert by country artist Jake Owen, access to the Sprint Cup drivers’ meeting and garage passes along with a Texas Motor Speedway “No Limits” merchandise package.(TMS)(10-26-2016)