Ward Burton calls out yonger drivers in NASCAR Xfinity, Cup Series for lack of respect

One of the most iconic drivers of the late 1990s and early 2000s has had it. Ward Burton is calling out the lack of respect in NASCAR. From the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series and I’d throw in the Truck Series and ARCA as well – no respect.

We have heard drivers like Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin decry this trend in recent years. Aggressive driving bordering on out-of-control driving.

Everything seemed to come to a head last weekend at Martinsville. Sammy Smith pulled a boneheaded move at the end of the race, but that was just the cherry on top. The entire race had moments of ignorant racing and sportsmanship.

Ward Burton is calling out the problem. It starts with how these drivers are getting into the sport now versus how it used to be.

“The young men coming into these series don’t show the ones that’s been running these series the respect that I used to show when I first got to the Busch Series or I first got to the Winston Cup Series,” Burton said on his Crossroads podcast. “I wanted those older gentlemen’s respect, and I had to earn it. And by running over them, I wasn’t going to earn it. Now, again, I’m not going to call names.

“Particularly in the Xfinity Series, in the Cup Series, they just don’t have that kind of respect. For somebody to run over you or for somebody to run over the 11 car, or people that’s been in the series for a long time. That used not to happen when I was racing. So, that level of respect ought to return, but I’m afraid that the way it – and the age of a lot of these kids that getting the opportunities and how they’re getting the opportunities, they haven’t gone through the learning experiences that we did in the past.”

By the time Ward Burton was in the Cup Series, he was a 33-year-old rookie. He didn’t make his first Xfinity Series start until he was 29 and wasn’t full-time in that series until he was 31. Sammy Smith is 20 years old and in his third full-time season.

This season alone you have so many young drivers in the Xfinity Series overall. Don’t forget that you have young guys in the Cup Series too. Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar are both 22 years old. There are currently 15 drivers under the age of 30 in the Cup Series full-time. Six of those drivers are 25 or younger.