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Veteran driver Kyle Busch has admitted that NASCAR has turned into a 'money game'. Busch explained that in recent times, talented drivers with no sponsorship funding rarely make it into the Cup Series.
On being asked about the Xfinity driver John Hunter Nemechek's chances of earning a full-time Cup Series seat, Busch surprisingly stated the amount Nemechek had to shell out to secure a cup-series ride.
The two-time Cup Series champion said:
"This isn’t to be mean or rude or a bad word, but he needs 6 million bucks and he’ll be in a JGR Cup car next year. It’s all he needs. It’s not a success game anymore. It’s a money game. So if he can find the cash, then there’ll be a seat for him. I’m pretty sure."
John Hunter Nemechek has failed to secure a Cup Series contract despite an impressive record in the NASCAR Xfinity and the Truck Series. Kyle Busch himself faced a similar situation last year at Joe Gibbs Racing when he lost his long-time sponsor and was unable to continue with the team.
Owning a Truck Series team, Kyle Busch knows the costs associated with running a team. He reckons that team owners don't make enough money to invest in talented young drivers. This creates a situation where the driver has to find financial support from a sponsor to climb NASCAR's ladder to higher categories.
"These owners anymore, there’s not enough money in the sport that they’re making. Money that they’re willing to reinvest it into their talent pool, into their driver pool, and put it out there."
However, Busch cited the example of Kyle Larson adding that Rick Hendrick supported the #5 Hendrick Motorsports driver in the Cup Series.
"So I think Rick is probably the only one with Larson. Everybody else is all sponsorship driven."
Kyle Busch reckons the talent in NASCAR Cup or Xfinity grid isn't 'grand'
Kyle Busch argues that the talent in the NASCAR Cup or Xfinity Series grid isn't as grand as it could be if money was not a barrier.
The #8 Richard Childress Racing driver said:
"But sometimes when you’re here in Cup or Xfinity or whatever, the talent isn’t quite as grand as maybe it could be. If you had all of those types of guys here, it would be a lot tougher."
He then named Bubba Pollard and Josh Berry as two contemporary drivers whose careers have stagnated due to the lack of sponsorship backing. However, the latter has made eight starts in Cup Series this year, replacing the injured Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
Busch added:
"Fortunately, Josh Berry has now ‘made it’ per se. It’s guys like that that I got a chance to go race against and have some fun with and race against the best of the best across the country."
Other high-level motor racing categories also face similar issues as 'pay drivers' are increasing in number.
