RELATED: New guidelines put limits in place
The updated 2017 driver guidelines will have an effect on many drivers, as it places a limit on the number of NASCAR XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series races in which veterans of the premier series can compete.
It also will have an effect on two NASCAR records — the all-time wins in both the XFINITY and Camping World series.
Kyle Busch is closing in on Ron Hornaday Jr.’s Truck Series mark, but will have fewer opportunities to catch him due to being eligible for fewer races. As NASCAR announced Wednesday, all drivers with at least five years of experience in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series can compete in a maximum of seven races in the Camping World Truck Series and 10 races in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.
WATCH: Driver analyzes new guidelines
Here’s how the records books might turn out:
XFINITY SERIES
Leader of the pack: With 85 career wins, Kyle Busch leads second-place Mark Martin by … uh, a lot. Martin has 49 career series wins, followed by Kevin Harvick (46), Carl Edwards (38) and Brad Keselowski (34).
What it means: Busch has piled up stats over the past eight years. From 2008-15, he started 203 events in the XFINITY Series, an average of about 25 per year. That will go down drastically — to a maximum of 10 — but it may not create as much of a hardship as one would think. The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion has cut back on his XFINITY schedule in recent years, starting 15 races in 2015 and 16 this year through 30 races.
March to 100: Busch has 100 series wins in his sights. He averages one win in about 4 starts in his career, but the past two years the start-to-win ratio is nearly 2:1. With those recent numbers in mind, if he makes the maximum of 10 starts per year in the future, we expect Busch to reach 100 series wins in 2019.
And that record … : The XFINITY Series all-time wins record likely will never be broken.
CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
Leader of the pack: Four-time series champion Ron Hornaday has 51 career wins, but Busch is on his heels with 46. Mike Skinner and Jack Sprague both have 28. Todd Bodine is fifth on the all-time list with 22.
What it means: There’s even less of an impact here for Busch as he has lightened his Truck Series load considerably, spending most of his energy in the series as an owner (Kyle Busch Motorsports).
March to 52: Two wins in eight races over the past two seasons is an excellent ratio for “Rowdy.” While there’s a chance he cuts out Truck Series races completely, being so close to Hornaday is going to be like a gravitational pull to someone as competitive and talented as Busch.
And that record … : Call it an average of two wins per season moving forward, mimicking his numbers this year, and you’re looking at a new all-time series wins leader in … 2019, the same year we project him to get to 100 XFINITY Series wins.