Insider's View: David Green

Buschwhackers -- Winston Cup regulars that come down and race in Busch Series events -- have always been a hot topic when you bring up whether or not they should be allowed to do it, or if they should be restricted.

I've always said it and thought it and believed it: Winston Cup drivers racing in the Busch Series have personally helped my career get kick-started.

	Credit: Autostock

When I started in the Busch Series in 1991, having Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin and Terry Labonte -- gosh, the list goes on and on -- basically being regulars on the circuit, for the most part, helped me to become a better, smarter driver faster because you've got the surroundings of qualified, knowledgeable drivers.

Even though we were combating 60-car fields week-in and week-out, and there was a fear going to the racetrack that you weren't going to make the race because of those guys, there was a luxury when they weren't there that we didn't have to deal with those guys.

But by the same token, I think that being put in that pressure cooker, if you will, so early in my career helped me to conquer the pressure. It helped me put my guard up and made my skin thick enough to endure the pressure-packed Fridays when we had to qualify.

So on that note, I have been absolutely 100 percent positive on having Winston Cup drivers compete in our series.

I think when I started in the Busch Series it needed that little extra zap from having Winston Cup drivers to get it over the hump, you might say. In the mid-1990s, there was a point when it changed and it did not need the Winston Cup drivers.

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I would say that was a positive for the series. But in the last couple years, as we've come off some hard economic times and some lack of sponsors and what-not, I think the Winston Cup guys have added that little bit that we in the Busch Series were missing because of low car counts, low sponsor presence and so on.

Now, being in a championship-contending mode, I think the Winston Cup drivers that are competing in the Busch Series are quite a bit more competitive than they were back when I started in the series.

I say that because the technology, the presence of a Winston Cup-affiliated operation in the Busch Series stands out more than it did before.

I can remember as plain as day being at Richmond and I saw Dale Earnhardt's team loading up that black No. 3 car because he'd failed to make the Busch race -- and that was after he had stomped everybody's butt at Daytona and pretty much everywhere else he ran.

That doesn't happen anymore in the Busch Series because when the Winston Cup guys come over they have a strong tie to their Winston Cup team. It's like their Busch operation is a branch of their Winston Cup team.

Being in the thick of a championship battle in the Busch Series, I look at is a two-fold proposition.

On the one hand, Loudon, N.H., was the icing on the cake for our Brewco Motorsports team, as we were able to go out and to beat Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.

	Credit: Autostock

On the other hand, when we go to Homestead in November, where they've rebuilt that racetrack and put banking into it, every Cup driver that ever had an opportunity to drive a Busch car will be in one, just to get the extra track time.

So, considering we're in a pretty tight championship race, you hope no unforeseen things happen thanks to a Winston Cup driver.

I think every Busch regular out there hopes that anything a Winston Cup driver does won't adversely affect the point standings in the Busch Series.

Then again, at Loudon I had Harvick and Kenseth in-between me and whoever was back there from the Busch Series providing me a cushion.

In the end, my Brewco team and I want to take our Timber Wolf Pontiac and beat the best -- whether that's Busch regulars like Scott Riggs, Ron Hornaday, Brian Vickers and Jason Keller, or Winston Cpu guys like Michael Waltrip, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.

I would hope those other Busch guys would say the same thing, but you know, my feelings are somewhat mixed.

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I wish we could go to the last six races of the year and there would be a ruling saying those Winston Cup guys could race all they want to, but they're going to be invisible -- they're not going to get any points because the Busch Series regulars will get them, straight across the board.

Realistically, I know that's hard to do, and I say my feelings still are that I want to go out and beat those guys as well as my Busch Series competitors.

I've got say that most of my feelings on the Buschwhackers are positive. I can remember back in 1991, them just kick-starting my career. I won my first race in my seventh start in 1991, which was my ninth start overall.

That was pretty darned good, looking back on it, and I'm pretty proud of that, even though you quickly forget it. I think what enabled me to win was finishing second to Bobby Labonte the week before, just prior to Labonte moving to Winston Cup.

Behind me were guys like Dale Earnhardt and Jimmy Spencer and probably Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin and those guys. I remember Mark Martin pulling off the track at Bristol in 1994 when I was running second behind him, he thought the race over and pulled off and I won.

Running second and racing behind that guy -- well, let me tell you. Mark Martin is probably the one guy that has single-handedly inspired most of the Busch drivers.

I say that because he has probably been out there more than the rest of them have. He's the all-time leader in Busch wins, he's always run out front, he's always a class guy.

I felt even more special to be a part of the Bristol race with him, because after the race he was such a gentleman to say, "I made a mistake. I was always pulling for David Green to win, but not like this."

VIDEO CLIPS Green passes Harvick for the victory earlier this year at Loudon Play video

That meant so much to me, because if I had finished second to him, it was still going to be a great day. That's the impact that the Winston Cup drivers have on our series -- if you're a competitive race car driver, you want to beat the best, and that's an element the Cup drivers bring to our series.

I think young guys now that are out there don't need to race with the Winston Cup guys as much because they have better equipment to start out with, and kids like Brian Vickers are good, smart drivers.

When you look at it like that, the need of having Winston Cup drivers in our series is not as big as it was back when I was starting. But I will say it's a positive for our series. If Mark Martin comes back it will be even better.

I think the young guys coming into our series, more than ever need an opportunity to run in these races, but at the same time you have to be put to a test. In other words, there needs to be 60 cars out there again.

In some of the fields that we now have, some of the guys don't even make a qualifying attempt and they're in the race. That's not fair, or right, either.

Overall, having Winston Cup drivers in the Busch Series makes you, not a better Busch Series driver, but a better race car driver across the board, because to compete with them you have to step up to the plate and get it done.

To me, there's a gauge that you have to measure yourself against, whether it's in a race or anything you do any day of your life. At Loudon that day that I won in July, it was Kevin Harvick.

At Michigan it will be Kevin and Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart.

I think it's a plus for all of us.