Last Lap: Buschwacked
By Marty Smith, NASCAR.COM
June 21, 2005
02:52 PM EDT (18:52 GMT)

Ask some Busch Series team owners that have no Nextel Cup affiliation, and they'll say Buschwackers are a rolling blight, a mobile plague that swoops in like a swarm of locusts and strips money and resources and -- as trivial as it may seem, trophies -- from those committed to running the series full time. Ask NASCAR, Buschwackers raise race series awareness and appeal for the fan, leading to greater ticket sales and larger television audiences. Both make valid points. So it's time to formally address the issue, starting with a fundamental premise: Busch Series race purses are laughable. How's a team like ppc Racing, that fields one team on a shoestring budget and another with no budget at all, supposed to compete with Jack Roush and Richard Childress?

It can't. Not on a consistent basis, anyway. The gap between the haves and the have-nots in this predicament is virtually impossible to bridge. Occasional success is feasible, but consistent competitiveness? No way. It's like the American League. Far more often than not, the New York Yankees' gabillion-dollar budget will buy a depth of talent and resources that is impossible for small market teams to overcome.

RCR and Roush are the Yankees of the Busch Series.

"It is frustrating, but we have fought this since day one," ppc executive Keith Barnwell said. "It didn't just start this year. Look at the list of drivers who've won Busch races: Dale Earnhardt, Tim Richmond, Dale Jarrett. Heck, Mark Martin's the all-time leader.

"It's not something new, but what has happened is NASCAR has finally realized it's having an impact now. They're finally seeing, with Carl's [Edwards] situation and Greg Biffle's situation, we could have two or three guys in the Chase also battling for the Busch Series championship.

"In their eyes, that's probably not how it was meant to be."

It's not easy, but Barnwell truly believes ppc can run with the big dogs.

"I was sitting on the airplane last night looking at owner's points, and we are competing with them," Barnwell said. "We're fifth or sixth. But it's Roush, Ganassi, DEI, Hendrick, Childress and us. Brewco and us are in the top 10, but Brewco has a Cup driver. So we're the lone ranger, really.

"We're really fortunate to have competed well and had good finishes. And a lot that has to do with having a good veteran driver. But I'll tell you, as season goes on it'll wear our small team down." The sanctioning body understands this, and says it is working diligently on a plan to lessen the impact of Busch Series teams that are effectively extensions of Nextel Cup programs on the overall health of its minor leagues.

Part of that plan is to re-distribute prize money to further reward teams not affiliated with Nextel Cup teams. How about this re-distribution plan -- let's take some TV cash and re-distribute it from NASCAR and the tracks to the teams.

That's a good place to start.

The Mexico City purse was appalling. Two million dollars? Please. That race should have carried a $7 million purse. And Mexico City is the biggest Busch Series purse in 2005. You'd think some winner's purses were typos. Forty thousand dollars to win Richmond? Twenty-eight grand to finish second? Come on.

And what about points? Let's stop paying points to full-time Nextel Cup drivers. If a Nextel Cup Series owner wants to run a Cup guy in his car, fine. Win the race? Absolutely.

But if an owner wants to run for a Busch Series championship, field a full-time Busch Series driver like Childress does with Clint Bowyer.

Heck, competitors that solely run the Busch Series aren't even winning stand-alone events. Carl Edwards qualifies his Cup car in Michigan, hops on a bird to Kentucky and runs away with the race.

Personally, I think Cup drivers greatly bolster the appeal of the Busch Series events. They absolutely have a place.

But they have their cake. Let somebody else eat.

What would you do to lessen the impact of Buschwackers on the Busch Series?

"It's a simple answer," Barnwell said. "If they're top 25 or top 30 in Cup points, they get no Busch points, period. And pay them 50 percent of what the purse would have been. I don't know the answer on the money, but the answer on the points is don't give them any."

I agree. And so do many of you.

The point system is the major factor that needs to be addressed. Money, in my opinion, would not deter any Cup drivers from competing. I believe that, if they are not attempting a full season, the points that are normally accrued during a Busch race by Cup drivers should not be awarded to them.

Instead, score the points as if they were never in the race to begin with. For example, Mark Martin finishes first and Martin Truex Jr. finishes second, then award Mark 0 points and Truex Jr. 185, plus whatever bonus points were collected. It might not be the answer, but it's a good start.

You're on the right track, General, but I don't think a driver should get points he didn't earn. I don't think Jason Keller, who finished 11th at Richmond, but fourth among Busch regulars behind Carl Edwards, Johnny Sauter and Clint Bowyer, deserved a 40-point bonus just because the majority of the top-10 was made up of Buschwackers.

A more viable answer might be to award Busch Series regulars the number of points truly earned, while awarding no points to any full-time Cup Series, part-time Busch Series driver ahead of them.

Using my Richmond example, Edwards would earn 185 points for winning, plus five bonus points for leading a lap; Sauter earned 170 points for a third place finish, plus five bonus for leading a lap; Bowyer earned 138 points for ninth, plus 10 bonus points for leading the most laps; and Keller earned 130 for finishing eleventh.

Meanwhile the seven full-time Cup/part-time Busch drivers scattered among them would get no points at all.

Kenny Wallace, driver of the No. 22 Stacker 2 Ford for ppc, agrees that no driver points should be awarded, but makes a solid case for the application of owner points.

"I think if a Cup driver is running the full Cup Series, if he's not signed up to run the full Busch Series he shouldn't get any driver points," Wallace said Tuesday.

"But I do believe in car owner points. A lot of guys, like my brother Rusty, he's starting a team for his son Steven and needs those owner points to fall back on."

Some disagree with Crazy Herm.

I'd prorate the point system against Cup Drivers, much like they did in the old BGNN companion events. For an example, click here.

Additionally, I'd eliminate the teams from the owners' point standings, and only award them 30 percent of the prize money available (while a true Busch driver gets 100 percent of the prize money available for that position).

Distribute the rest evenly among the full-time Busch drivers.

By those specs, Hemi, Matt Kenseth would have earned zero points and $12,292.80 for winning the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington. Along those same lines, I find it interesting that Kenseth won nearly $41,000 while Kenny Wallace, who finished second that night, won 46 grand and change.

Wallace agrees the Busch Series teams could use further compensation for their efforts, but says for the most it's fine as is.

"In my opinion, the more money, the better the NASCAR Busch Series is," Wallace said. "But we'll never be able to fight the Cup teams, as far as their infiltration in this sport. It'd be a mistake to try to penalize them. When I was outrunning 17 Cup drivers at Darlington that made our team look good.

"I want to go head-to-head with them. You can't stop Cup teams from getting more sponsorship than Busch drivers and teams. Cup is elite. People want to feel big time. Sponsors want to affiliate themselves with who they see on TV."

NASCARDale7: First of all, I do not like the idea of having NASCAR legislate who can and cannot drive. Other than having a driver with substance abuse problems, a team that has the money for the entrance fee, a car fitting specifications, and a driver (whomever it may be) should not be kept from competition.

One thing is for sure: We needn't be concerned about NASCAR completely disallowing Cup drivers in the Busch Series. That will not happen. The Nextel Cup presence is entirely too lucrative.

mcmurrayfan: First, limit the number of times a Cup regular is allowed to race in the Busch Series. If you give them the option of running say seven Busch Series races, you would force them to pick and choose which races were important to them.

Second, I would set only a certain number of spots in the race lineup for the Cup regulars. In a sense, they would be competing with each other for the starting positions that are available to them. In combination, the impact of the Buschwackers would be minimal, yet we would still have an opportunity to see the Cup drivers race in the Busch Series.

Many responders share Anna Kournikova's wish that Cup drivers be limited to a handful of Busch Series events. NASCAR won't do that. Once again, the more Cup guys in the field, the more eyeballs on the field, and the fatter the back pocket.

NASCAR doesn't disagree.

"In any sport, you can only have one set of stars, and the Nextel Cup is our stars," said NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter last weekend at Michigan. "To have them competing against the Busch drivers does two things: No 1. it gives you great appeal at the box office and No. 2, it makes your Busch regulars better racers."

Tommy3_8_9: I think that Cup guys should be allowed to run Busch Series races. It's just that Cup guys need a provisional system to run in the Busch races. Unless the "Buschwackers" run a complete schedule (run for the championship) they should be allowed a set number of starts.

Something like seven or eight would be enough. Keep in mind that a lot of people watch the Busch Series to see the Cup guys run. It's a good way to get exposure for the Busch Series.

That is why I started to watch the Busch Series. But after a little while, I started to follow the Busch Series races just because it was good racing.

Fans would rather see Kevin Harvick than Ken Alexander. Just how it is. So NASCAR must find a balance between offering more incentive to Busch teams without completely eliminating incentive for Cup teams.

That starts with determining what exactly a "Busch Series regular" is. Luke Skywalker thinks he has the answer:

laserwizard: Define Busch Series driver as one who participates in 90 percent or more of the Busch races and participates in fewer than 10 percent of Nextel Cup races.

Ten percent is an awfully small percentage, Luke. That's not quite four races per season. By that criteria David Stremme may or may not be able to run for the Busch championship this year.

Chip Ganassi plans to run Stremme in four Nextel Cup races. Let's up your Nextel Cup limit to 20 percent of the total schedule, or seven races, and I'll buy your criteria. I do agree, though, that to receive Busch Series championship points a driver should have to enter 32 of 35 races.

wyldwing: I've heard more than one Cup driver say that they run in the Busch race to get seat time on the track because of the impound rule on their Cup car. With adequate practice time, and time to tune a car into running with a consistent rules package and tires throughout the season, drivers wouldn't have to use the Busch race for practice time.

So the first thing to do would be to cut down on the "unknowns." Then, and only if that didn't work, would it be necessary to actively regulate Busch entries.

Maverick hit the bulls-eye on a crucial point, here. The impound rule has eliminated traditional Happy Hour practice, thereby making the Busch Series race a legitimate gauge for determining track characteristics, and how the surface changes throughout an event.

To date, 15 Cup regulars have made at least five Busch Series starts in 2005, and Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace have returned to the series sporadically, as well, after several years away.

"I've never had any problem with the way anything's been structured," Kenny Wallace said. "All I know is if I go to a Cup race, all I am is a hindrance to the guys that run the full series. They're like, 'Why you here?' So I see how important it is for Cup guys to be in Busch Series."

Agreed, Herman. Nextel Cup drivers bolster the Busch Series in many ways. The series benefits greatly from their presence.

But a compromise is necessary, and it begins with offering larger race purses.