NASCAR.COM - By the Numbers: Busch Series at 25 years

Anniversary for the series provides a chance to honor past

By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM
January 17, 2006
12:28 PM EST (17:28 GMT)

The 2006 schedule marks the silver season of the Busch Series, as it celebrates its 25th year.

With the Busch drivers hitting Daytona on Friday to kick off the series' 25th season of racing, we've compiled a year-by-year list of accomplishments to celebrate it and its history.

1982 -- Twenty-three of the 29 races were on tracks of less than a mile in length, including six stops at the .363-mile Hickory Motor Speedway.

1983 -- Sam Ard won the Holly Farms 200 at North Wilkesboro by finishing one lap ahead of everybody. Just 10 cars finished the race that April day.

1984 -- Only two races were won by a driver who started outside the top 10 that season, and those drivers started 11th (Morgan Shepherd) and 12th (Darrell Waltrip).

1985 -- It was the fourth consecutive season Jack Ingram finished first or second in the points standings en route to his second Busch Series title.

1986 -- Larry Pearson won the championship by seven points over Brett Bodine, although he trailed Bodine and then-leader Jack Ingram by 341 points with seven races to go.

1987 -- Larry Pearson repeated as champion, but this time he cruised to a 394-point win, partially due to three consecutive victories in August.

1988 -- Harry Gant entered 15 races and won five of them that year.

1989 -- The late Rob Moroso became the first champion to earn more than $300,000 in winnings ($346,849).

1990 -- Chuck Brown became the only two-time Busch winner at Oxford Plains Speedway, the shortest track on the schedule at .333 miles.

1991 -- Kenny Wallace won his first Busch race March 24 at Volusia County Speedway. He won his second race later that year at Loudon.

1992 -- Joe Nemechek won the championship by a mere three points over Bobby Labonte, the closest margin for the title.

1993 -- Just four races had an entry list of the standard number of 43 cars. Also, four races that season had only 30 cars enter the race.

1994 -- This season was the first in which a Buick, Oldsmobile or Pontiac did not win a race, as Chevrolet (20) and Ford (8) swept the victories.

1995 -- The Busch Series had its shortest schedule ever with 26 races. The same number appeared on the following year's schedule before it expanded again.

1996 -- There were 46 cars that started the season opener at Daytona, marking the last time that many cars started a race.

1997 -- For the first time in Busch Series history, the number of races at superspeedways on the schedule (20) doubled the number of events at short tracks (9).

1998 -- In his first full-time season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won seven races en route to the championship by a 48-point margin over Matt Kenseth.

1999 -- For the first time, more than one driver topped the $1 million mark in winnings, as the top-three finishers (Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Green and Matt Kenseth) all won more than $1 million.

2000 -- Jeff Green won the Busch Series title by 616 points over Jason Keller, the largest margin for the title.

2001 -- Eight races handed out more than $1 million in purse money, the first time any race other than the season opener at Daytona had a purse of more than $1 million.

2002 -- Jeff Burton won five races but finished 31st in the points standings because he only entered 13 events.

2003 -- April 12 was the last time a Pontiac won a Busch Series race. David Green drove his No. 37 to Victory Lane at Nashville.

2004 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his third consecutive season-opening race at Daytona, despite not competing in the series full time.

2005 -- In just nine starts, Ryan Newman collected six victories, including three in a row in August, and led more laps than any driver (800). In eight of his starts, Newman either started or finished first.

2006 -- At least six Nextel Cup rookies will run the entire Busch Series schedule in addition to the Cup schedule.

Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles dominated the series for that first season in 1982, a vast difference from today's world of Chevys, Fords and Dodges.

What hasn't changed in the series, however, is turnover. Eighteen drivers have won the Busch Series championship, as only six guys have repeated as title-holder: Sam Ard, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jack Ingram, Randy LaJoie, Larry Pearson and Martin Truex Jr.

Inside the Numbers

Busch Series champions

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Margin
2005	Martin Truex Jr.	Clint Bowyer	-68
2004	Martin Truex Jr.	Kyle Busch	-230
2003	Brian Vickers	David Green	-14
2002	Greg Biffle	Jason Keller	-280
2001	Kevin Harvick	Jeff Green	-124
2000	Jeff Green	Jason Keller	-616
1999	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Jeff Green	-280
1998	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Matt Kenseth	-48
1997	Randy LaJoie	Todd Bodine	-266
1996	Randy LaJoie	David Green	-29
1995	Johnny Benson	Chad Little	-404
1994	David Green	Ricky Craven	-46
1993	Steve Grissom	Ricky Craven	-253
1992	Joe Nemechek	Bobby Labonte	-3
1991	Bobby Labonte	Kenny Wallace	-74
1990	Chuck Brown	Jimmy Hensley	-200
1989	Rob Moroso	Tommy Houston	-55
1988	Tommy Ellis	Rob Moroso	-295
1987	Larry Pearson	Jimmy Hensley	-394
1986	Larry Pearson	Brett Bodine	-7
1985	Jack Ingram	Jimmy Hensley	-29
1984	Sam Ard	Jack Ingram	-426
1983	Sam Ard	Jack Ingram	-87
1982	Jack Ingram	Sam Ard	-47

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