Kevin Harvick, who also hoisted the Busch Series championship trophy in 2001, posted an average finish of 4.6. Credit: Autostock

Harvick turned Busch into his own playground

The 2006 Busch Series points battle was over before it really started. Kevin Harvick's fifth-place finish in the season opener at Daytona proved to be a speed bump; it was the only race after which he did not lead the driver standings.

The only race.

Harvick, who won his second Busch Series championship, dominated the competition this year like no one before. In fact, he clinched the title with four races remaining, faster than any other driver in the series' 25-year history, and his 32 top-10 finishes eclipsed the record of 30 held by Sam Ard since 1983. Harvick ended the season with a series-best 18 consecutive top-10 finishes, including six wins and 14 top-fives.

When the checkered flag flew at Homestead, Harvick had an 824-point advantage over runner-up Carl Edwards -- the largest margin of victory in the series' history.

One of eight Buschwhackers in the point standings' final top 10, Harvick said the team's success helped buoy Richard Childress Racing's Nextel Cup Series program, too. After failing to earn a spot in the two previous Chases for the Nextel Cup, RCR drivers Harvick and Jeff Burton made the playoff field this season.

"Our Busch teams have always been good at RCR year after year," Harvick said at Homestead. "Obviously, this year they are exceptional. I think when the Cup cars got better, the Busch cars got even better. As we went through Saturdays and things were going good, that momentum carries over to Sunday a little bit.

"However, I really think that the Cup cars getting better made the Busch cars that much better, because a lot of things we do bleed down to the Busch cars. They have put a tremendous effort into the engine program. The engines have gotten better, the cars have gotten better, and everything has gotten better."

Harvick, who also hoisted the Busch Series championship trophy in 2001, completed an amazing 6,758 of 6,759 laps this season. His average finish -- 4.6 -- was key to a 116.2 Driver Rating, tops among all three major NASCAR series.

Nonetheless, Harvick admitted Buschwhackers may be taking a toll on the series.

"I think the Busch Series is kind of in the middle of its midlife crisis. The sponsors and the drivers are all a lot of Cup drivers, and a lot of sponsors want that to put in their cars so they get the most bang for their buck," Harvick said.

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"I mean, from another standpoint, I think it would be good for the [Busch] series to be able to have the guys that are racing week in and week out that aren't in the Cup Series be able to have a story behind them, to have something that everybody can talk about on TV and the sponsors are interested in. It's a little bit tough right now from a Busch team owner's standpoint to sell that to a sponsor and understand that completely.

"But from a driver's standpoint, it's great for me because I can race both schedules and race as much as I want to, and I've been fortunate to be successful at it. I think it's what the people want to see in the grandstands, and the race tracks love it and everybody likes it, but I don't know it's the best thing for the series in the long run."

In 35 starts this year only two non-Cup regulars won a Busch race -- David Gilliland at Kentucky and Paul Menard at Milwaukee.

Gilliland made two more Busch starts for Clay Andrews before being chosen as the replacement for Elliott Sadler as driver of the No. 38 Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the Nextel Cup Series. Menard is expected to drive the No. 15 Chevrolet for DEI in the Cup Series next year.

With the Car of Tomorrow making its Nextel Cup debut in 2007 -- as well as Chevrolet introducing the Impala SS -- Harvick said the Busch Series could take another route to having its own identity.

"Right now we have the Monte Carlo on Sunday, so the Monte Carlo on Saturday isn't as appealing to everybody as it would be as if you had another brand to support. I think it would add a little bit of spice to the Busch Series to have another brand in there just from a manufacturer's standpoint to help support it."

Head scratcher of the year

Regarding Buschwhackers -- the best thing to do is ... Let 'em race Limit their starts No Cuppers in Busch

Danny O'Quinn won the Busch Series' Raybestos Rookie of the Year award ... but doesn't have a ride for 2007. Roush Racing has not secured sponsorship for O'Quinn for next season.

The point system is convoluted -- including points earned through entry, and competition points based on finish, top 10 bonus points, plus bonus points based on three segments of the season and a panel of voters at the completion of the season -- but for the first time in the history of NASCAR's three national series the rookie points were deadlocked heading into the last event of the year at Homestead; John Andretti and O'Quinn each had 199 points.

In the season finale O'Quinn finished 35th, the result of a broken transmission, while Andretti finished 16th. Still, O'Quinn won the rookie award by one point -- 235-234.

"I had a great time in the Busch Series this year," O'Quinn said. "I would love to take the knowledge I have gained this year and use it to really run well in the series in 2007. Honestly, I am up for anything."

In case you missed it ...

The pit crew for Johnny Sauter's No. 00 Team Yellow Chevrolet also clinched a championship with four races remaining -- the 2006 Checkers/Rally's Double Drive-Thru Pit Challenge, a weekly NASCAR contingency award which goes to the lead-lap team that tallies the least amount of time on pit road during an event.

The Team Yellow pit crew: jackman Mike Casto; front tire changer Kelly Kellis; front tire carrier Paul Chodora; rear tire changer Josh Gibson; rear tire carrier Joe Kluttz; gasman Nick Deal; and catch can Casey Lund.

Sauter finished eighth in the point standings and had two top-five finishes and nine top-10s.

Looking ahead to 2007

BUSCH SERIES •   By the Numbers •   Driver Standings •   Race Results •   Loop Data Stats •   2007 Schedule

• The 2007 schedule features a second international event on Aug. 4 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. For a third consecutive year, the schedule also includes a race at the Autodomo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in Mexico City, Mexico on March 4.

• The 2007 season also will see the return of a non-U.S. automaker -- Toyota, which will run the Camry in the Nextel Cup and Busch series. Toyota has run trucks in the Craftsman Truck Series since 2003. The last non-American car to run in a major series was the British-manufactured Jaguar -- the only foreign firm ever to have won a NASCAR race: Al Keller in a Jaguar XK120 on June 13, 1954, at the 2-mile road course at Linden (N.J.) Airport.

• Homestead marked the final Busch Series race for sponsor ACDelco. During the past 10 years, a Who's Who of talent has piloted the ACDelco Chevrolet, including Steve Park, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Johnny Sauter, Ron Hornaday and Clint Bowyer. From 1997-2006, ACDelco drivers earned an unrivaled three Busch championships, two rookie of the year titles and 30 victories. ACDelco drivers also chalked up at least one win in each of the last 10 years, including Bowyer's victory at Dover in September.

• ESPN 2 will be covering the entire Busch Series in 2007 as part of the new television package. The commentators for ESPN/ABC will be Jerry Punch, Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree. Dale Jarrett also will be in the booth for select races.