Kyle Busch doesn't want 'suits and ties' alone deciding who races in NASCAR

Kyle Busch has always been an outspoken driver, never shying away from making his opinions known. So, it’s no surprise that he’s examining NASCAR’s approval process, and whether certain drivers with limited stock car experience should be allowed to compete at the Cup level, no matter their background.

Some questioned the decision to let Helio Castroneves run the Daytona 500 with zero NASCAR starts beforehand, and similar points were made regarding Katherine Legge being allowed to run Phoenix with no oval starts at any of the national divisions since 2018. Both are accomplished racers in the open-wheel and sports car racing scene, but neither reached the checkered flag.

Judged by racing peers, not the ‘suit and ties’

“Yeah, I don’t have a great answer,” said Busch would asked about the approval process during a Saturday media availability. “I feel like I’ve questioned the approval process for a long, long time.

“Being an owner in the Truck Series [with Kyle Busch Motorsports, which shut down after the 2023 Truck season] 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. So I was very confused, and probably I’m even more confused now on how it all works. I think it’s broken.”

Busch went on to say that “there’s a lot of work that could be done to make it better.” He went as far to question what executives get to be involved in such calls. “I also do feel as though it shouldn’t be ‘suit and ties’ making the decisions always,” he continued. “Certainly there can be some that need to be involved, but I do feel like there needs to be fire suits involved in some of those decision-making processes on those that need to be approved or not approved for various activities.”

Questionable penalties

Beyond the issues with the approval process, drivers have also questioned why Austin Cindric‘s intentional right-hook of Ty Dillon at COTA didn’t result in a suspension as previous incidents did. NASCAR claimed it had to do with the specific nature of the incident, but should outcome be weighed against intent?

Busch feels those same unnamed executives shouldn’t be involved in policing on-track incidents like that, and he has an idea of who should: “The Austin Cindric deal … I don’t think ‘suit and ties’ should be making that. I think you should get penalized by your peers.”

Is the answer more track time?

Could a little more track time for rookie drivers help? Right now, the NASCAR Cup Series is extremely limited with a single, brief practice session most weekends. But as Busch points out, it’s not always so simple.

“Testing is tough because, obviously, I would say that if we’re talking about Katherine’s [Legge] situation, I don’t know how much extra funds there are there with that situation [Live Fast Motorsports] to be able to go out to Phoenix a week early and go test, you know what I mean? But that obviously would be beneficial to not only the team, but also the driver in that case to just go out there and get some reps; get some laps, get some seat time, feel the car out, get it more comfortable than probably what she was able to do in just the short practice that we have. So how that all works, I’m not exactly sure.

“If it’s a four-hour session on Thursday or Friday or, like, the day before or something, I think that that could certainly be a waiver piece that is allowed for, you know, some first-timers.”

For the time being, no changes are being made, but Busch is not alone in wanting the system recalibrated in the near future.

Photos from Las Vegas – Qualifying