Days After Truck Series Controversy, NASCAR President Unfurls Massive Xfinity Update Plans

NASCAR’s revenue model has been under the spotlight for two years. For the same period, the Race Team Alliance had been hounding the sanctioning body for greater slices of the pie. However, the sport just kept on taking measures to grow its profits. At the beginning of 2024, officials limited the number of backup cars that an Xfinity team can bring to the racetrack. They were not allowed to be wrapped either—all with the aim of cutting costs.

Similarly, such profit-making updates are characterizing the 2025 season as well. Barely did the Craftsman Truck Series recover from a massive controversy, and NASCAR dropped another controversial update. This time, the targets are both lower tiers.

NASCAR tightening its grip over costs

A few days ago, the Craftsman Truck Series lost a creative avenue. NASCAR placed design restrictions on both over-the-wall and behind-the-wall firesuits for race teams next season. The reasons provided were cutting costs and meeting safety regulations. Although color choice was given, this meant potentially chasing off sponsors, as they designed the firesuits. This closely harked back to the Next-Gen car debut, where NASCAR introduced single-source parts to save money—but it ended up costing teams more money. And now new updates are already on the radar.

The community barely got 5 days to process this massive Truck change, and NASCAR president Steve Phelps is back with another. During the Race Industry Week webinar, Phelps discussed potential OEM-supported changes. The Xfinity Series is known for its traditional live axle suspension, narrower tires, and other unique aspects. But Phelps said evolution is on the table: “I think we’ll continue to fine-tune what that car is. And it’s an industry-wide thing. It’s not just, ‘Hey NASCAR’s going to do this, this, and this.’ It really is working with our (manufacturer) partners, working with Goodyear, working with our race teams. And we’re in constant collaboration with those groups, with those stakeholder groups.”

Xfinity cars are ‘old-school’ NASCAR with 15-inch wheels, a solid rear axle, and a four-speed manual transmission. However, Phelps is already hinting at changing them like the Cup Series’ Next-Gen cars—with 18-inch wheels, large single-lug nuts, and other features.

Phelps continued: “You know, I think there’s some other opportunities for us in the lower series to make some changes. What those look like, I don’t know, but we’ll keep iterating on the NextGen car…I think there’s some things we need to do with our race teams in the Xfinity Series as well as (the manufacturers) that are existing and potential new OEs that could be in that series and in our Truck Series.”

The elite of the sport are frowning upon such massive overhauls, though.

The dearth of support among veterans

As we are all aware, the NASCAR lawsuit is going on in full swing. Given a slew of negative updates, Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s fold could be potentially losing. However, that does not mean their spirit is deterred. The main objective of the lawsuit is unraveling NASCAR’s ‘monopolistic practices’—but’ the sanctioning body may have done it on its own. That is what Hamlin threw the spotlight on recently. The 60-time Cup race winner Kevin Harvick posted his disappointment about the uniform change on X. “What in the world is happening…” He added sharply that the adjusted 2025 schedule may be eating more costs: “First don’t add more races to the schedule…”

54-time Cup race winner Denny Hamlin also joined this conversation. He sarcastically responded to Harvick, “It’s [sic] called cutting your way to prosperity Kev. Duhhh.” Then he dropped a link to an article discussing the ongoing lawsuit, urging Harvick: “Start here.” 

The Truck Series’ new uniform rule can lead to logistical strains, particularly impacting part-time crew members. But more importantly, the changes indicate broader anti-competitive practices, potentially curtailing the field of suppliers teams can collaborate with. Balancing safety, cost, and competitive fairness, particularly in lower-tier series where finances are limited, assumes primary importance.

Evidently, the community is not taking too kindly to NASCAR’s changes. As the sanctioning body declares new updates, let us see what the 2025 season will look like.