Whenever NASCAR tweaks the regulations for its top three national series, it usually ends up creating a mixed reaction. It’s nothing less than a double-edged sword. The same dynamic is unfolding with the newly announced rules for 2026. Starting next season, competition officials announced a series of changes to the eligibility guidelines across NASCAR.

This includes a notable shift in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. The minimum age to compete is being lowered. A series that already includes a good mix of youth and veterans is seeing this massive change, and one NASCAR insider sees himself on the other side of the fence of this debate.

Parker Kligerman sounds off on the new age rule

NASCAR veteran Parker Kligerman isn’t having any of it. Speaking on The Money Lap podcast, the 35-year-old driver voices his concern. He said, “I believe there’s a certain driver that will be announced in doing Xfinity that this was helping out in some respects. You know, motorsports is different than other sports in that respect. And I also believe what it does is just continually can cheapen the product in some respects.” 

NASCAR officials used the championship weekend at Phoenix to roll out several major updates to its driver eligibility rules for 2026. One of the biggest changes affects young talent. For the first time, 17-year-olds will be allowed to race in the newly named O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and 16-year-olds in the Truck Series. The sanctioning body is dropping the minimum age from 18 to 17 for road courses and for shorter ovals measuring 1.25 miles or less. The threshold for the larger intermediate ovals and superspeedways, however, will remain at 18.

NASCAR also announced a shake-up to the long-standing participation limits for Cup Series drivers, a policy many fans have nicknamed the Kyle Busch rule, where he owned his own Truck Series team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, before selling it off and running one of the entries. Currently, full-time Cup drivers are capped at five stars in either of the lower series. Beginning in 2026, the limit doubles to 10 races in the OAPS and increases to 8 races in the Craftsman Truck. The existing restrictions on entering championship events in those series still apply; drivers will continue to be barred from the truck finale, and OAPS drivers won’t be allowed to run the truck series title race.

But for Parker Kligerman, it wasn’t the right choice. Lowering the age means a lot of inexperienced drivers come into the mix. A lot of mistakes and a lot of lack of veterans’ support could bury the quality of the Truck Series, according to him. Kligerman added, “So I didn’t love that. Going to 16 years old in the Truck Series really cheapened the Truck Series in a lot of respects. And I felt like 18 was a good place to be for Xfinity, considering the seriousness and the level of that championship… And I even had a discussion with a current Xfinity driver that was a rookie this year. And he said, I hope they don’t go to 16. I did Truck Series starts at 16. And I was absolutely not prepared or ready.”

This decision arrives at the end of a season where rising phenom Connor Zilisch, 19, shaped expectations in NASCAR’s second tier. He entered the series last year, just two months after turning 18, and immediately won in his Watkins Glen debut. In his first full season, he became a championship contender, unfortunately lost out on his first-ever title, but will be stepping up to Trackhouse Racing’s series program in 2026. This is the type of talent NASCAR aims to hone amid the young aces of the sport.

But there will be a change, which will also follow a year where Cup drivers have continued to leave their mark on the lower divisions. Four Cup regulars, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, and Shane Van Gisbergen, scored victories in the Xfinity field. SVG, still classified as a rookie in the Cup Series, remains exempt from the three-year experience clause and could continue racing more frequently in the lower series. In the front garage, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Carson Hocevar each added wins of their own. This definitely doesn’t give any scope of chance for younger talent to rise up to the opportunities presented.

Why is the NASCAR community split on the updated eligibility rules?

While the updated rules are something many teams have been asking for, a chunk of the fanbase isn’t enthusiastic. Some guardrails are still in place. Series drivers will continue to be barred from entering the regular season finale and the playoff races in both the lower series. The landscape has changed dramatically from the days when NASCAR Cup drivers owned and operated their own Xfinity entries.

Today, most of the cars they run are backed by major organisations, which means those appearances can siphon opportunities and sponsorship dollars away from smaller Xfinity and Truck teams. Still, their presence brings bigger crowds and more eyes to the events, especially for fans who can’t make it to a cup race but want to see their favourite drivers compete.

There’s another upside, though. Cup veterans in the field accelerate the learning curve for younger drivers. With NASCAR lowering the minimum age for its lower series, that experience becomes even more valuable at a time when private testing has all but disappeared. And track time matters more than ever; with everyone in the NASCAR community split about this decision, it only creates more intrigue in the sport that everyone loves so dearly.