In an ideal world, Kyle Busch is the person who gives the hot take, which is then discussed and countered on podcasts. But this time, Travis Rockhold of Dirty Mo Media took that mantle from him and has given arguably the hot take of the year. Contrary to the usual, Kyle Busch has reacted with a sober, sensible, and thoughtful response.

Kyle Busch on who should be included in the NASCAR HoF

On a recent episode of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast, Rockhold argued that only Cup Series drivers should be eligible and worthy of being honored with the NASCAR Hall of Fame induction. This was something that was presented in front of Kyle Busch, who has a lot of achievements at the Cup level, but also at the O’Reilly and Truck Series level.

Busch, who has 63 Cup wins and two Cup championships to his name, has also won 102 races in the O’Reilly Series and 68 in the Truck Series. He claimed that how it is being done at present is the way to go about it because of the nature of NASCAR.

“Our sport is vastly different than other sports. And so, having different divisions and different people that have made impacts on our sport in those different divisions, I feel like it’s done the right way, the way that it’s being done currently,” Busch claimed.

Busch wasn’t alone in defending NASCAR’s current criteria for HoF nomination. When Rockhold shot down Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s idea of Justin Allgaier being a HoF, the 2x Busch Series champion found the idea ridiculous and put up strong opposition. Junior claimed that it is the NASCAR Hall of Fame instead of the NASCAR Cup Series Hall of Fame.

Justin Allgaier also defended the idea of the HoF being comprised of people who have contributed to elevating NASCAR, irrespective of the Cup or O’Reilly level or their role.

Allgaier and Earnhardt’s points make sense because of the inclusion of names like Jack Ingram and Ken Squier in the HoF, two NASCAR legends who never won a single Cup race. In fact, Squier wasn’t even a driver. His contributions as a media personality were deemed worthy enough for him to be a Hall of Famer.

Having said that, there was one big name who believed only Cup drivers are worthy of being in the HoF. That name is Denny Hamlin, who publicly announced he’s in agreement with Rockhold’s hot take.

What is NASCAR’s criteria for nominating in HoF?

As Kyle Busch was aligned with the current way NASCAR nominates its HoF inductees, it is worth looking at the criteria for being bestowed with the honor. Every year, representatives from NASCAR and the HoF, track owners, and media members select 15 nominees. For the Modern Era Ballot, 10 nominees are selected, and for the Pioneer Ballot, five.

As per the official NASCAR Hall of Fame website, the process is then followed by a voting panel submitting a total of 65 ballots, which includes one ballot from a nationwide fan vote, to determine the three inductees (two from the Modern Era Ballot and one from the Pioneer Ballot) who are chosen to take their place in history as the next Class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Having said that, and crucially amid the ongoing discourse, the HoF website and even NASCAR claims the main criteria for nomination in the HoF are ‘accomplishments and contributions’ to the sport. Or in other words, neither NASCAR nor the Hall of Fame draws the line between Cup achievements, O’Reilly achievements or Truck achievements, and puts one over the other.

If one has contributed to the sport, they are considered to be a part of the HoF. The opinion can be subjective, but for drivers like Hamlin and Busch, there is not going to be a lot of debate, as both have done enough for the sport to be in the Hall of Fame.