Brad Keselowski made the most of his time in the spotlight on the Dale Jr. Download this week. And with a few pointed comments, he created a little controversy and some conversation about if the sport’s lower-tier divisions are on the right track for success.
Guest hosting Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s podcast, Keselowski touched on all things happening in NASCAR, including Garrett ‘Cleetus McFarland’ Mitchell’s debut in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series coming up in two weeks (April 4) at Rockingham Speedway.
Just about everyone has given their thoughts on Mitchell’s jump to the second-tier series. However, unlike most critics, Keselowski views the issue to less be on the driver in question than the approval process.
“We used to have four very distinct series with four very distinct identities,” Keselowski said. “The Truck Series was like… if you’re a 35 or 40-year-old driver who was pretty good but wasn’t quite Cup-level good, that was your home… Now, it’s the place where like ‘This guy’s 17, he ran two races in ARCA, let’s give him a shot.’”
“Same thing for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series… You’re pretty good, but we’re not sure you’re ready for Cup. So, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re gonna put you in a race on the same track the Cup cars use, with cars that drive kind of similar to a Cup car but not the same, and we’re going to put like half-a-dozen Cup drivers in the field against you and see what you can do.”
“ARCA’s a series where you’re like, ‘Maybe that guy can drive, maybe he can’t, let’s go see. Put him out on the racetrack.’”
It’s somewhat fitting today that Keselowski, still recovering from an offseason skiing accident, walks around at the track with a cane. He was an old soul fawning for the old days of the sport well before his 42nd birthday in February, but he also came up in an era where a ton of fans — including myself — got into the sport.
Imagine it’s 2007 and you’re getting ready for a race weekend. You turn on SPEED on Friday night for the Craftsman Truck Series race and there’s a sea of veteran drivers — Ron Hornaday Jr., Mike Skinner, Todd Bodine, Johnny Benson — amongst those trying to make a name for themselves.
On Saturday, you turn on ESPN and see a field littered with the stars of the Cup Series and those who are on the cusp of being Cup stars. Maybe there’s an ARCA race with an entry or two from those series that catches your eye. All of that built the anticipation to the big show on Sunday, the end goal of almost every driver.
Today’s system — limiting Cup appearances in lower divisions, declaration for points in a series, a true minor league hierarchy — is nice. It brings competitive balance and gives many more people the chance to put their abilities to the test every week. But it’s not perfect. And maybe the biggest criticism that can be lodged against it is the loss of identity. Listen to at any of the “I Am NASCAR” ads from the two series this decade and see if you can spot the difference.
For every veteran in the Truck Series like Stewart Friesen or Daniel Hemric, there feels like four or five drivers that have barely cracked 25. When Corey Heim dominated the series last season, it didn’t automatically land him in some sort of full-time ride at the higher levels, let alone at all, for 2026. Justin Haley is only 26 years old, but he’s already gone all the way up the NASCAR ladder and back down in a span of seven season.
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Those young drivers get their chances, sure. But it’s a system that can eat them alive, spit them out and have them sitting on the sidelines before they can blink. Or before a fan base even knows who they are.
In the O’Reilly Series, be honest with yourself: What percentage of the full-time field has a shot to even get a look from a Cup Series team? Maybe a quarter? A third? No offense to those who are fighting positions and their livelihood every weekend, but the series should be the spot for the best of the best prospects.
Why is it important? Why does the Truck Series need an identity beyond being NASCAR’s Double-A league? Why does the O’Reilly Series need more drivers with Cup resumes or aspirations?
It matters because it could make a big difference in the team’s pocketbook. Frontstretch’s Dalton Hopkins did a report last year on the shrinking field and prize money for the Truck Series. Even without reading it, you can probably tell by the grandstands that the teams are working with and getting significantly less.
NASCAR’s already relaxed its policy on Cup drivers running in lower divisions. Starting this year, a three-year Cup vet can run up to 10 NOAPS races and eight NCTS events. Imagine if they relaxed it even further, or added incentives for those Cup drivers to race in the lower divisions without letting them come in and compete for a title.
Imagine what the grandstands for a Truck race would look like if a Kyle Busch or even Keselowski himself stepped down from Cup and decided to run a full season in the Trucks. The grandstands would fill up and so would the prize pool for teams.
Same for a race in O’Reilly. This weekend’s race at Darlington Raceway includes Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson. Anyone who beats those three will raise eyebrows. But what more could the drivers — and teams — could gain with some more drivers picking up valuable experience on Saturday that propels them on Sunday?
Running both races on a weekend was part of what made Busch, Keselowski and others such successful drivers early in their Cup career. If guys like Connor Zilisch or Ty Gibbs did the double more often, how would their young Cup careers be different?
The racing in both O’Reilly and Trucks, at times, put on even better shows than the Cup race. The on-track product doesn’t need much changing. But just as the drivers will do everything to get that extra tenth out of their car, NASCAR can get that little bit more out of their development series by having them reestablish their identities.
Put the trucks back on more short tracks and see what happens