Buschwackers----Your Thoughts?

kat2220

kat2220

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Messages
16,886
Points
0
Location
Marietta, GA
NASCAR needs rule to limit Nextel drivers in Busch
By MIKE FINNEY
The News Journal



NASCAR's Busch Series is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season.

But one has to wonder if there will be many more years left to celebrate for the Busch circuit, which has served as the top developmental league for the Nextel Cup Series for the past quarter century.

Nowadays, the Busch Series has very little of its own identity and its races are inundated by Nextel Cup stars on a weekly basis. These drivers, known as Buschwhackers, used to just show up occasionally and win a couple of races while taking the money and running.

NASCAR needs to pass a rule that limits the amount of times a Nextel Cup driver can compete in a Busch Series race, which should fall between five and seven races a season.

If NASCAR does not do this, it will merely choke the development of its very future by counting the money made by the ticket sales of today.

Brian France, NASCAR's chairman, likes to point out the stories of the underdogs, such as Alan Kulwicki, who won the 1992 Cup championship on a limited budget.

"That's exactly what NASCAR was built on: somebody with ingenuity, determination and talent against some tall odds," France said. "I always go back to Alan Kulwicki. I think that was one of the best NASCAR stories ever because of what he accomplished, winning the championship on a third of the budget that those guys had at the time.

"He was a car owner himself. At that point, that was very rare. He came from Wisconsin. He had an engineering background. In that day, all those circumstances ... that's what NASCAR is all about."

The trouble is, if a Busch Series driver is not a part of a development contract with a NASCAR mega-team such as Roush Racing, Dale Earnhardt Inc., or Hendrick Motorsports, he or she is probably out of luck.

Kertus Davis qualified for all but five of the Busch races last year driving for a team owned by his family. Now, they will have to close their doors due to the difficulty of just qualifying for a race since so many Nextel Cup drivers are competing.

So, even though NASCAR insists it needs underdog heroes such as a Kirk Shelmerdine or a Davis, it is doing very little to help them stay afloat.

Now there are seven Nextel Cup regulars who plan to compete in all 35 of the Busch races this season -- including Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

Nextel Cup rookie contenders Denny Hamlin, Reed Sorenson, J.J. Yeley and Clint Bowyer also will attempt the Nextel Cup-Busch Series double in an effort to get more seat time and accelerate their learning curves.

"For the most part, running both series is all about gaining experience with seat time," said Sorenson. "I still have a lot to learn, and I believe running in both series will help shorten the learning curve and keep me focused. It's going to be an extremely busy year, but I'm looking forward to the challenge."

It all leaves very little room for young drivers and smaller teams to gain a foothold in NASCAR in the Busch Series.

It is a problem that gets a little bit worse every year.

Last season, Nextel Cup regulars combined to win 23 of the 35 Busch races. That left 12 wins for the Busch drivers, and Martin Truex Jr. claimed half of them in a car fielded by Dale Earnhardt Inc.

It all came to a head at California Speedway two weeks ago, when the top 11 finishers in the Busch race were all Nextel Cup regulars.

Bowyer, just getting his rookie season kicked off in Nextel Cup, has no problem with NASCAR's biggest stars racing in the Busch Series.

"Every year, we're seeing more and more [Nextel] Cup drivers drive in these Busch races to get more experience," Bowyer said. "What that's done is given us experience racing against those guys and a chance to earn their respect.

"Now, when we get over on the other side of the fence, on their ball field, I think for the most part I've gained some of their respect, and hopefully I can keep it."

The reasons the Nextel Cup drivers have taken to racing in the Busch Series is simple -- it gives them extra time on the race track each weekend, allowing them to test tires, shock absorbers, springs and setups in the Busch race before the main Nextel Cup race.

Believe me, they are not out there taking notes as to who the up-and-coming Busch drivers are. They are out there trying to improve their odds for Sunday.

The time has come to whack them from the Busch races.
 
What gets me, is these drivers say the season is too long and yet they go and drive in the other series, or other events around the country.

Personally I don't think they should be in more than 1 series.
 
I think the Busch Series should do like the Cuppers do and that is to guarantee the top 35 in points a spot in the race. That would still allow 8 non regulars chances to get in, and with 7 of the Cuppers going full time, that still could mean that possibly 15 Cuppers could make a race. But it would insure those regulars who show up weekly a much better chance at making the race.
 
I just think that no Buschwackers would allow "up and coming" talent to actually mature and cure down there...instead, they have to race against the best of the bets in Nextel, AND deal with the fact that they can't get better rides because the top tier teams would rather have cup drivers in them.
 
buckaroo said:
I think the Busch Series should do like the Cuppers do and that is to guarantee the top 35 in points a spot in the race. That would still allow 8 non regulars chances to get in, and with 7 of the Cuppers going full time, that still could mean that possibly 15 Cuppers could make a race. But it would insure those regulars who show up weekly a much better chance at making the race.
Click to expand...
Busch and trucks have the same thing, at 30 and 25 cars/trucks resectively.

I agree something needs to be done. Maybe have is so that if they're a rookie in the cup series, they're allowed to run a double schedule, but only for that 1 rookie year. Or maybe deduct cup points for having a driver race in the busch series, wether it's for the same team owner or not (McMurray), like 1 point per busch race. (with the chase format, 1 point can become a lot once added up)
 
The cup drivers participation may be keeping the Busch Series around. I would bet that a large percentage of Busch series attendees are there to see their favorite cup driver, not the busch regulars.Cup participation may be necessary to generate the money the Busch series needs to continue on & new talent to have a place to prove their worth.I like watching the Busch series, but I never miss it when my cup driver is racing.
 
But, you COULD have a favorite Busch driver if there were more regulars in decent equipment. My favorite Busch Driver is Jon Wood. He's good, he's in decent equipment, but nowhere near what the juggernauts have (Roush, Yates, RCR).
 
Someone with the history book look back and see how many Cup drivers drove Busch in the 'Good Ol' Days'. DW recently said that they (himself included) used to drive the Grand National in their own cars and then WC on Sunday. So has it changed? Or, since all of the races are televised is it just more obvious?
 
hmm...

you 3 have a point. Maybe the cup guys are keeping attendance rates up. Maybe make the cup guys start shotgun, just to mix things up a little? Maybe allow a driver to double up only if he plans to run both full schedules- not just pull a newman and run 7 (and win over half of them).
 
Back in the days when DW made an appearance in the Busch Series, they were running six cylinders and it was indeed NASCAR's idea that they needed some top Cup stars in the race to attract a full house. My first big time NASCAR race was in 1993 at the first Busch race at Milwaukee. They were running the sixers and they had four Cuppers there to help attendance. I might add that although included in the race was DW, Davey Allison, Rusty Wallace and Harry Gant, the stands were full and would have been even if none of those guys had showed up. Back then, anything that was learned from a Busch race wouldn't mean a thing to the Cup cars and therefore, it was only those Cuppers who would get an appearance fee that would race. Now days, the cars are so much alike and the tires and shocks and most everything else are so close to the Cup cars that much can be learned in a race the day before the main race.

I really don't have anything against Cuppers racing against the Busch regulars, but as has been said before, a Busch regular has absolutely no chance against the high dollar teams, even if they field a team with rookies. Pick a driver, any driver from the Roush camp. Put him in a Roush Busch car and I will garentee you that if his car doesn't blow up, or he makes a major mistake, he'll be one of the top ten, if not a top five. You can also say the same for a DEI team car, Hendrick, and on and on. If you take any of the strictly Busch teams and put any of those Roush, DEI, Hendrick and on and on drivers in those cars, you will be lucky to see that car finish in the top ten.
 
i think the manufacturers should be involved in this. Make the 2 series less similar- Like run intrepids, escorts (or whatever ford's second highest car is), and malibu's (or at least you get the point).
 
Yeah, cup attendance really increased alot when the busch cars were brought closer to the cup cars. When there was a large difference in the two, there weren't as many cuppers racing in BGN.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom