NASCAR isn’t just limited to the Cup Series, so why should the Hall of Fame be? Travis Rockhold’s comments on the same have ignited quite a debate. Speaking on the Dale Jr. Download podcast, he suggested that the Hall of Fame should be concerned only with Cup drivers. However, there are quite a few who haven’t sat well with it. Ryan Newman, meanwhile, sends a subtle warning about NASCAR’s politics while explaining his interesting take on the same debate.
Roger Penske’s former driver’s subtle warning
“I don’t want to get into the politics and NASCAR because that’s the dirty street,” Ryan Newman said when asked about the Hall of Fame debate. He has spent quite some time racing on the field, especially with Roger Penske’s team. Moreover, he has ample participation in the Truck and NOAP Series, and is currently running the Whelen Modifieds tour. Safe to say, he has enough experience across all the series to comment on the situation.
“It is NASCAR modifieds or arguably, where a lot of this started, right? Like before, there were actual stock cars, there were stock cars that had fenders taken off, that were modified,” he claimed.
“I don’t want to get in the politics of NASCAR because that’s a dirty street.”@RyanJNewman offers his take on the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the inclusion of Modified drivers.#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/YPqDFF6kCk
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) March 29, 2026
To an extent, it made sense. The Whelen Modified Series has created some of the strongest drivers in the past, and it wouldn’t be wrong to have some of those exceptional ones in the Hall of Fame. Drivers like Richie Evans and Mike Stefanik prove to be important examples of the same.
So, while Ryan Newman does target the NASCAR’s top brass for the “dirty” politics, the Hall of Fame system seems to be quite systematic and well-planned right now. It seems only right to award drivers from the other national series as well; however, one of the more experienced Cup drivers recently put up an interesting argument to that.
Seasoned Cup driver puts up an interesting HoF argument defense
And in fact, Hamlin agreed. Replying to one of the fans, he brought up quite an interesting point for the debate.
“I actually think the farther back in time you go, the less the gap is between top level and grass roots. Today the gap is too large between, lets say, Modifieds and Cup,” he said.
This would actually be true to a point, but there is no certain way to claim that the NOAP Series drivers are any weaker than the Cup Series drivers, or so is the case with the Truck or Modifieds drivers. It could be brought down to the business side of NASCAR to a certain point. When drivers are young, they find it hard to find a strong sponsor that would be enough to sanction their Cup team, and hence, they have to settle for the Truck and NOAP Series.
At the same time, the major difference that comes in the racing is through their overall lack of experience, which they continue to gain. But the likes of Justin Allgaier, who are still not racing in the Cup Series, make for exceptions and prove that Series other than Cup can also provide some of the strongest drivers that the sport has ever had.
Moreover, Roger Penske’s former driver’s comments on NASCAR’s alleged politics send a subtle warning to these aspects of the sport. While the racing or the teams do not seem to be under threat in any way, it does provide an interesting outlook on the Hall of Fame debate.
