Last Lap: Buschwhacked?

A year ago, "Buschwhackers" were all the rage. Well, they caused quite a bit of it, anyway.

Folks would write in with fury-inspired messages of ill will towards Cup drivers who dabbled -- very successfully, I might add -- in Busch Series competition, as if their penchant for victory at the lower tier in some way detracted from the series.

	Marty Smith

Damn that Kevin Harvick!

"It's not fair!" you screamed. "Give the Busch drivers their due!" you yelled. "It's like Barry Bonds playing Double-A!" you complained. "Let the Busch guys have a chance to win. Keep the Buschwhackers out!" you protested. "I'm so sick and tired of Cup drivers winning Busch races!" you said.

Damn that Matt Kenseth!

Above all else, the one question most asked was this: "How can NASCAR let this go on?!?!"

Simple. Because there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

In 2003, Cup drivers won 17 of 34 events, including the first seven of the season. Not until David Green won the eighth race of the year -- a Busch Series stand-alone event at Nashville -- did a non-Cup driver take home the trophy. And it wasn't until the season's 19th event that a Busch Series regular, Bobby Hamilton, Jr., won a race that included Cup talent.

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Damn that Jamie McMurray!

I'm being a smart aleck, but I truly do understand the frustration. With all the Cup money and technology, it really doesn't seem fair that Dale Earnhardt Jr. can just waltz onto the Busch Series playground in Talladega, steal the ball, beat up on the little guys and take their lunch money.

But it's always been like that. Nobody seemed to care much when Mark Martin was winning every single race on the Busch tour, wearing out Earnhardt and Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson and so many others. For so many years.

You'll struggle to convince me that having Cup talent in the field is bad for the Busch Series. Sure, it's a developmental series when compared to Nextel Cup, and yes when it comes to the dispersal of race winnings the Cup guys take money away from needy Busch programs.

But Cup drivers put butts in the seats and make people turn on the television. That significantly raises the overall level of interest, which, in turn, adds money to the pot both at-track and in television ad buys.

But are Cup drivers having too much success? Currently, five of the top-10 drives in the Busch Series championship point standings are full time Nextel Cup drivers.

Should NASCAR modify the Busch Series points system to reward the full-time drivers and reduce the points impact of Nextel Cup drivers racing in that Series?

No. Absolutely not. It wouldn't be fair to sponsors who use the Busch Series as an affordable marketing platform, such as Reese's with Harvick. It wouldn't be fair to the owners who field the cars, hoping to win an owner's championship.

	Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle sandwich Busch Series regular David Green. Green currently sits 41 points behind Harvick in the Busch standings. Credit: Autostock

And it wouldn't be fair to the Busch Series regulars. No real competitor wants to win a championship that includes an asterisk:

Champion: Bobby Hamilton Jr. *Cup driver points awarded differently than those to Busch Series regulars.

Leave it alone. As the season wears on, it all works itself out. Last season was the best Busch Series points race ever -- between Green and Brian Vickers. Who were, you guessed it, Busch Series regulars.

Kevlav88: I say let them keep the points earned, that's not really the main issue. Sure they usually take the highest point-paying positions, but that's life. What they really need to do is reduce the race earnings from the "Busch Whackers," by at least 50% and probably more.

It's not fair to the Busch regulars that these high money Cup teams come in and take all the good money. These guys already have the backing of their Cup teams and spend insane amounts of money in Busch. So I say give the money to the Regular Busch teams, they need it a lot more to be competitive.

Very true. The most legitimate beef against Nextel Cup drivers competing in the Busch Series is undoubtedly money. David Stremme was the highest finishing non-Nextel Cup driver at Daytona this year. He won $54,550. Dale Jr. won $96,210 for winning.

A more telling story, however, is Rockingham. Johnny Benson won just $16,150 for ninth place. Four Nextel Cup drivers finished ahead of him, the lowest of which, Johnny Sauter, won more than $7,000 more than Benson. Seven grand is a ton of cash, especially when you consider it's nearly a 50 percent increase from Benson's actual winnings.

This is another debate for another day. Cup drivers or not, it's tough to get a return on your investment in the Busch Series. The purses are a joke.

2004 Busch Series  •  Results  •  Standings  •  Schedule  •  Drivers  •  Best Starts by Driver  •  Best Finishes by Driver

If a winner is lucky, he'll take home 37 grand. That's what Greg Biffle won at Darlington. And he's a former champion, which pays more than a guy just breaking in. Michael Waltrip and Casey Atwood both finished in the top 10, and barely earned $13,000.

Sad.

chaskayman: I have always felt that since Busch cars were changed to 8-cylander engines, the Busch race should count as a test session for Cup drivers. Too often, the Cup drivers are coming out of the Busch race with an advantage in their set-ups that they then apply toward the Cup car. Points...no, let them keep the points they earn, but charge a test date as well.

Interesting concept, Chaka Khan, but not truly feasible. Sure, Cup drivers take information away from the Busch Series race, but only rarely will it provide a meaningful advantage on Sunday. Busch cars have 130 less horsepower than Cup cars, weigh 100 pounds less, have a shorter wheelbase and a shorter, wider, longer body.

Track tendencies, I think more than anything, are what Cup drivers learn in Busch competition, whereas during Cup test sessions one can learn shock and spring information with Cup specs. That's often the difference between first and 31st these days.

24JG13: Hey Marty, why didn't you ask the real question, why was Junior allowed to get away with spinning on purpose? Any other driver would have been fined money and points. As I recall, NASCAR got all over Kurt Busch when he caused a caution on purpose in the Winston All star race.

We chose to discuss it in Wednesday's TrackSmack, instead. Check it out tomorrow. For the record, it was dangerous and uncalled for, and I anticipate NASCAR will react accordingly.

Junior called them out. Their credibility is on the line, here.

248fan18: If a Nextel Cup driver is able to win the Busch championship, it is his. It takes a lot of commitment to run both, and usually the Cuppers can't run all of them.

Usually the Busch boys win the championship. (Harvick did double duty right?) What I don't understand is why these field fillers don't just go Busch racing. $50,000 will buy you a lot better Busch car than a cup car.

Two words: purse money. Last place in Nextel Cup pays $15,000 more than winning the Busch Series event.

Buckshotfan: Again, to stay on topic - I do not think the point system should change. NOW, let's talk about the fact that a large portion of the messages on this board are being deleted. All of which I read and they contained no offensive language. I suggest everyone go back and see how many posts have been deleted. Hey, Marty, heard of free speech?

Yes, it enables to me say Buckshot can't drive a nail, if I dang well please.

And for the record, I have nothing to do with how the message board is moderated.

lms20fan: If the Cup drivers run the entire schedule, then they have every right to win the championship, just as a Busch driver would. If a Cup driver doesn't run the entire schedule, then his points will reflect that and that driver will not be a burden to the system. Talk about absurd...changing the point system would lead to mass confusion, which NASCAR has enough of right now.

This was the session's first response, and likely its best. Simple. Leave it alone. It works itself out.

Chucker23: The Full Time Nextel Cup Drivers SHOULD NOT participate in the Busch Series Races. There are a couple of good reasons. 1) If NA$CAR wants parity in the Nextel Cup, by limiting everything, including testing, then the Cup guys running in the Busch race is unfair practice time. I know the Horsepower and Cars are not the same, but laps are laps.

2) A Cup Driver qualifies for a Busch race and who goes home on Friday? As Busch regular who doesn't have the big shop/multi team/top pit crew support. This is supposed to be the proving grounds for the Cup Series, not a Cup Driver practice race. 3) Does a Pro Ball player play both in the big leagues and the AAA farm team at the same time ? Nope.

4) In todays NA$CAR problems, there are not enough sponsors to go around, so say ABC company could sponsor a Regular Cup Driver for 6 races or a Busch Regular for an entire season for the same amount of money, they will take the Cup driver for exposure, thus leaving another unsponsored white car going around during a race that the Cup drivers don't attend. Keep the Cup Drivers in Cup Cars, The Busch Drivers Driving, and the Truck Series drivers on the track.

VIDEO CLIPS Biffle holds off Burton to win Darlington Play video Harvick, Kahne battle for the win at Las Vegas Play video McMurray takes the checkers at Rockingham Play video Earnhardt Jr. sweeps at Daytona Play video

Seat time is, indeed, crucial. But unfair? Naw. Three of the six Cup races have been won by drivers who participated in the Busch race the previous day, but look at Darlington. Biffle couldn't be touched in the Busch Series race, and finished 12th in the Cup event.

As for your second point, it goes both ways. Had Kyle Busch not shown up to race at Vegas, Scott Wimmer wouldn't have had to use a provisional and Larry Gunselman wouldn't have gone home. Had Gunselman so much as made the race, he'd have taken home more than $63,000. It's the nature of the game -- survival of the fittest.

Your third point is ludicrous, yet common. The last point carries a ton of validity, though. Many sponsors do just that -- sponsor a Cup driver either as an associate on the Cup car or primary in a limited Busch Series slate, rather than take a chance on a lesser-known driver.

Makes sense, both financially and as a marketing platform. You're spending $2.5 million on a proven commodity, rather than $5 million on a chance. That said, I agree it stinks.

Look at DeWalt Power Tools. I'm sure they're glad they took a chance.

This topic can be looked at many ways, but to me the bottom line is Cup drivers make the Busch Series far more attractive to those that spend money in this sport -- fans and sponsors.

Now we need to crusade to get the Busch Series purses raised.

The Last Lap appears every Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET. The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.