Feeder System Needs Tweaking

Perhaps the best way to describe the NASCAR Busch Series is to call it stock car racing’s version of the minor leagues – that is, the Busch Series is to Nextel Cup as the AAA-level Norfolk Tides are to the Baltimore Orioles.

The series is a feeder system of sorts for America’s most popular motorsport – despite sagging TV ratings and empty seats at the track every week. Many of today’s Nextel Cup stars cut their teeth in the Busch Series.

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were competitive. Mark Martin holds the all-time mark for Busch Series wins. Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have each hoisted the Busch Series championship trophy – Harvick and Earnhardt twice each.

And when NASCAR negotiates television deals for the Nextel Cup Series, the Busch Series is part of the deal. When FOX got in on Cup racing, the Busch Series tagged along, either on FOX or FX. TNT and NBC used to split Cup and Busch duties and now ESPN puts all Busch races on ESPN2.

Most Busch Series race take place on the same tracks as the Cup races, sometimes referred to in racing circles as “companion events.” Much like your short track might use a series of 25- or 50-lap features to lead up to the big-ticket 75- or 100-lapper, NASCAR often uses the Busch race to “lead in” to the Cup race.

But the Busch Series finds itself in a bit of a quandary right now. Cup drivers have always raced in the Busch Series, but in recent years the presence of “Buschwhackers” has threatened the health and integrity of the series. Stephen Leicht’s win at Kentucky and Jason Leffler’s win at O’Reilly this year notwithstanding, Nextel Cup regulars have won every Busch race this season.

How can the Busch Series serve as a development series for the Nextel Cup Series if Nextel Cup drivers are constantly barging in and taking checkered flags and valuable purse money?

Carl Edwards has won four times and is running away with the Busch Series this year, holding 787-point lead over David Reutimann. The highest-placing Busch regular? Leffler in fourth, 935 points behind Edwards.

Does that sound to you like a series conducive to developing young talent for the next level?

To put it simply, no. To put it not so simply, the Busch Series is now a glorified test session for Cup drivers. The big, multi-car operations in Nextel Cup form multi-car teams in the Busch Series, place their star drivers in the cars and watch as the Cup drivers dominate the Busch drivers, undoubtedly stunting the growth of a young guy – like, say, Aric Almirola – looking to eventually work his way to Cup.

Example: on June 23, the Busch Series ran at the Milwaukee Mile, while the Cup guys were at Infineon Raceway. Joe Gibbs put Almirola in his Busch car to qualify for Cup driver Denny Hamlin. But since Hamlin didn’t get to the track before the start of the race, Almirola – who won the pole for the Busch race – ran the race.

He ran well, leading laps and appearing to be the car to beat. But, once Hamlin finally got to the track, Gibbs made Almirola come into the pits and climb out of the race car. Hamlin got in, went back out and took the checkered flag. While Almirola gets the trophy and the check and the credit for winning the race, we all know – Hamlin won the race, and in the process Gibbs showed just how unimportant developing young talent in the Busch Series is.

Don’t get me wrong; I understand completely why Cup drivers run Busch races. It helps the track boost ticket sales; fans are more likely to put down money to watch a Busch race if they know they’ll get to see Harvick and Earnhardt Jr. And given how strict NASCAR’s testing rules are for the Cup teams, the Busch races can be valuable bastions of information.

But something needs to be done to let the series be what it once was; an exciting series that showcases the up-and-coming NASCAR talent.

And with Anheiser-Busch opting out of its deal to sponsor the Busch Series after this season, NASCAR is at a crossroads. I see this as an opportunity, a chance for NASCAR to take the Busch Series and turn into something new and exciting, fresh and competitive.

Something young drivers can use as a springboard to the Nextel Cup Series.

So here’s what I suggest: With the Cup Series running the Car of Tomorrow exclusively next season, make a similar change in the Busch Series. Turn the Busch Series into a Sports Car series; instead of running Monte Carlos and Fusions and Chargers and Camrys, let these guys run Corvettes and Mustangs and Vipers and Supras.

Doing so serves several purposes:

1) Running the Busch Series with sports cars will give the series an identity of its own, something to distinguish itself from the Nextel Cup Series. Keep running the same tracks, but by running sports cars, the Busch Series becomes unique.

2) The sports cars will also lessen the advantages Cup drivers have over the Busch regulars, and will negate the “test session” approach most Cup teams take to Busch races. If the cars are so different a Cup driver or crew chief can’t take information to apply to the Cup car, they might be less likely to run the race, letting Busch regulars fight it out amongst themselves.

3) Which would you, as a fan, rather see – a Monte Carlo and a Camry go at it, or a Corvette and a Viper? This could go hand-in-hand with the identity argument, but considering the various other cars NASCAR sanctions – stock cars, open-wheel modifieds, trucks – a sports car series makes perfect sense.

The Busch Series is in trouble right now, what with Cup drivers dominating the series, race purses being so small and a change in series sponsorship on the horizon. NASCAR has to do something to protect and keep the Busch Series alive, because if the series is allowed to serve its original purpose – get young drivers ready for the rigors and competition of Nextel Cup racing – it can be almost as big an asset to stock car racing as Nextel Cup is.

The true racing fans – not just NASCAR fans, but racing fans in general – will flock to the Busch Series regardless, but a switch to sports cars will infuse the series with an identity, a sense of uniqueness and a competition not seen since the Cup drivers began invading en mass nearly every weekend.

If car owners want young drivers to develop into Cup stars, they need the Busch Series. More importantly, they need a Busch Series in which they feel like they have a shot to win and be competitive every weekend.

Right now, they don’t have that.