Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs NASCAR driver and former team owner Kyle Busch has targeted the approval system that selects new drivers for the Cup Series. In doing so, he has also called out the way penalties are handed out in the sport, suggesting an unconventional method to improve the system, especially after the recent Austin Cindric penalty controversy, which Busch openly criticized.He admitted that he still doesn’t understand the approval process to this date, considering how some of his drivers have been denied the approval to race on certain tracks while other young drivers were allowed.Busch concluded that the system which sets the approval criteria was “broken,” suggesting that the decision on which drivers get to race should not be made exclusively by those in “suits and ties.”
Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 22, 2025 in Hampton, Georgia.
Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 22, 2025 in Hampton, Georgia.
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Pointing at Cindric, who received a $50,000 fine and a 50-point penalty after he hooked the rear right of Ty Dillon’s car at the Circuit of the Americas, Busch suggested that his peers should have determined the penalty. Speaking about the approval process in Las Vegas and proposing a change in the way penalties that should be handed out, he said:”Yeah. I don’t have a great answer. I feel like I’ve questioned the approval process for a long, long time being an owner in the Truck Series 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. So, I think it’s broken. I think there’s a lot of work that could be done to make it better.”I also do feel as though it shouldn’t be suit and ties making the decision always. Certainly, there can be some that need to be involved but I do feel like there needs to be firesuits involved in some of those decision-making processes on those that need to be approved or not approved for various activities. I’ll even go as far to say too I feel the same way on driver penalties. The Austin Cindric deal. I don’t think suit and ties should be making that, I think you should get penalized by your peers.”Joey Logano also commented on the need to change the way drivers are approved for the Cup Series. He told NBC Sports:”There’s a line between entertainment and safety, not only for that particular driver, but us that race here every week, for the rest of the drivers out there and pit crews that are jumping out in front of these cars playing in traffic.”There’s got to be a line in there somewhere, a little bit of structure behind it would be nice, like saying maybe you’ve got to run the Xfinity race or a couple of other different types of races. I’m sure they don’t want to put too much structure behind it because every situation is a little bit different. At the same time I think there’s got to be some marks you have to hit before you get approved into a Cup race.”
