Earlier this season, Kyle Larson<\/a> said he ran occasional Xfinity races to \u201cembarrass<\/a>\u201d the field and to prove that a lot of the guys in that series aren\u2019t ready to race against the best that the NASCAR Cup Series has to offer.<\/p>\n Xfinity Breakdown: Shane van Gisbergen Survives Late-Race Duel with Connor Zilisch<\/p>\n Larson finished the Grant Park 165 on July 6 in 13th, behind a pair of fellow former Cup champions in Ryan Blaney<\/a> and Joey Logano<\/a>. Beating all three of them out, plus Ross Chastain<\/a>, in ninth was one of those Xfinity drivers Larson tried to embarrass.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Everyone in NASCAR, no matter the level, feels they have something to prove. Austin Hill<\/a>, who registered a pair of top-10 finishes at the Chicago street course this past weekend, put forth some proof to his theory that he can be a top-notch driver in Cup.<\/p>\n According to a July 6 report from Jayski\u2019s Dustin Albino, Hill has turned down<\/a> multiple full-time Cup Series offers over the last two seasons in favor of a ride with Richard Childress Racing in a competitive Xfinity Series. Hill still wants to showcase himself in Cup like he did on the Chicago street course and would run full time if \u201cthe perfect opportunity\u201d came along.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always had confidence in myself that I can do this and that I can run inside the top 10 and top 15, and we proved that today,\u201d Hill told Jayski.<\/p>\n Hill\u2019s top-10 run in Chicago was his first in 12 starts over the last four seasons in the Cup Series, all in an open entry for either RCR or Beard Motorsports. He still has three more starts planned this year, including the two remaining superspeedway races at Daytona International Speedway on Aug. 23 and at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 19.\u00a0<\/p>\n On the other end of the spectrum, there\u2019s Daniel Suarez<\/a> announcing he\u2019s leaving his Cup ride at Trackhouse Racing at the end of the season. The two questions that immediately sprung to mind for most were: \u201cWho will be taking over Suarez\u2019s ride?\u201d and \u201cWhere should Suarez be driving next year?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The answer for most was probably the same for both: the driver of the No. 88 Chevy in the Xfinity Series. In this potential scenario, Suarez and Connor Zilisch<\/a> would essentially do a ride swap.<\/p>\n During his media availability this weekend, Suarez didn\u2019t sound so sure that Xfinity is where he\u2019s looking to wind up.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my mind, I don\u2019t have anything to prove in the Xfinity Series,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing series, and I love it, but I want to compete with the best of the best. That\u2019s why I wake up and work hard every day. My goal is to stay with the best of the best and stay in the Cup Series.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Suarez has a point. After going from last-to-first in the Xfinity race in Mexico City in June, the 2018 Xfinity Series champion showed that he\u2019s still at a level well above most of the field. The problem? He\u2019s floundering in the Cup Series with a team that has three wins this season after Shane van Gisbergen<\/a>\u2019s latest dominance on the Chicago street course.<\/p>\n Did You Notice?: For Daniel Suarez, Being NASCAR\u2019s Nice Guy Isn\u2019t Enough<\/p>\n Suarez\u2019s pull as an international draw with tons of experience in Cup, not to mention a few wins under his belt, basically opens up any door he wants in NASCAR with the exception of the top cars in the Cup Series. He could probably have some of the same Cup rides Hill declined in favor of staying in Xfinity. \u00a0<\/p>\n In Suarez\u2019s mind, going to Xfinity and winning another title doesn\u2019t get him closer to winning in the Cup Series in top equipment. In Hill\u2019s mind, who would give up a competitive Xfinity ride for a Cup ride where they\u2019ll be scratching and clawing to finish in the top half of the field?<\/p>\n For a young driver, outperforming lower-tier equipment and finishing 20th when you should be finishing 30th is a great way to show you\u2019re ready to move up the ranks in NASCAR. When you\u2019ve already been in the sport for over a decade like Hill and Suarez, it\u2019s understandable why Hill might see it as a waste of his time. Then again, at least you\u2019d be in the Cup Series.<\/p>\n So which approach is right? Maybe, in this case, they\u2019re both wrong.<\/p>\n Suarez, who\u2019s ridden the struggle bus the majority of his Cup career, can have a stint in the Xfinity Series to remind people what he can do in top equipment. Hill, who is approaching 32 years old without a full-time season in Cup, might better his own chances of getting a top-notch Cup ride within a year riding the pine in a lower-level ride.\u00a0<\/p>\n Different drivers, different circumstances, different approaches.<\/p>\n Then again, the Suarez news was the first shoe to drop in this year\u2019s Silly Season. Maybe there\u2019s an even bigger move coming down the line in the Cup Series that opens things up for Hill to finally make the next step.<\/p>\n Heck, maybe soon we\u2019ll be hearing about the newest addition to RCR\u2019s Xfinity stable \u2026 Daniel Suarez. Crazier things have happened!<\/p>\n James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in La Crosse, Wisconsin as a local sports reporter, including local short track racing. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve seen a commercial for the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year on The CW, you\u2019ve probably heard…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":50663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[1406,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-50662","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-nascar","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114821785786890887","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2025-chicago-nxs-shane-van-gisbergen-woohoo-nkp-150x100.jpg\")
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