"That makes you look less than": Jeff Gluck shares his blunt take on NASCAR introducing 'give us attention' rule for Daytona 500

NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck recently shared his take on the 'world-class driver' exemption rule which was announced earlier in January in light of IndyCar legend Helio Castroneves' upcoming Daytona 500 run. This rule introduced by NASCAR would allow Castroneves a guranteed spot in the Great American Race, even if he fails to make the field through qualifying.

Speaking about this on the recent episode of The Teardown podcast, Gluck shared his thoughts. He remarked that the rule is essentially and specifically for the Daytona 500 because no celebrity driver has been sent home from a road course race in the past:

"This is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. To me, it's also detracting from what makes Daytona 500 special. The duels are fun and it's exciting to see the reaction of who made it in and qualifying as well, the emotion, the excitement. Or, on the other hand, the heartbreak, the setback, it's part of the buildup to what makes Daytona 500 NASCAR's biggest race." [9:20]

Gluck pitched a hypothetical scenario in which Kyle Larson expressed his desire to run the Indy 500. In Gluck's scenario, a 'world class driver' rule would've made Roger Penske and IndyCar do anything to make sure Larson gets a spot.

"That's crazy. That makes you look less than. I don't think that's good for NASCAR. It's screaming to Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, 'Please come. Please come and give us attention from F1 fans,'" Gluck added. [11:30]

While Gluck mainained his opinion that NASCAR introducing the new rule wasn't such a good idea, his co-host Jordan Bianchi saw it from both sides.

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Jordan Bianchi shares his dual take on NASCAR introducing the world-class driver rule

During the recent episode of The Teardown, Jeff Gluck's co-host Jordan Bianchi said that upon hearing about the rule for the first time, he wondered if it was necessary at all. But then he thought of Fernando Alonso's Indy 500 attempt and the drama surrounding it.

Bianchi said that him not getting to do it led to "a huge storyline" and a lot of attention, which made the series look better.

But on the other side, Bianchi also mentioned that if Helio Castroneves has a guranteed spot, that doesn't rule out the possibility of a weird scenario.

"That's a weird thing. Here are these two recent NASCAR champions, [Martin] Truex [Jr.] was a playoff driver last year, and he misses the race. So that's not good. I don't think it's good," Bianchi added. [6:20]

Bianchi further added that the rule makes sense considering NASCAR's provisional system from back in the '80s. He added that one driver from the outside getting a guranteed spot isn't taking away from any other team, and that their gain isn't coming at anyone else's expense.