After 26 seasons, Anheuser-Busch took its final bow as Busch Series sponsor December 7th in Orlando, Fla., when NASCAR honored Carl Edwards as the 2007 Busch Series champion.

The series, which becomes the Nationwide Series in 2008, had an eventful 2007, from Edwards' domination to the series' debut in Montreal.

Notably, 2006 series champ Kevin Harvick put on another show. Running 26 of the 35 events, he still managed to finish fourth in the points standings. In addition, he won a series-high six races, giving him 32 for his career, second to Mark Martin (47) and moving him ahead of series pioneer Jack Ingram (31).

Harvick is not your typical full-time Nextel Cup driver running Busch races. He is a two-time champion, and his Kevin Harvick Inc. fields two cars in the series. Harvick says he plans on running 22 events in one of his cars in 2008 and none for Richard Childress, for whom he drives full time in the Cup series.

"This series means a lot to me," said Harvick, who won his first title in 2001. "It is where a lot of us got our start. I would rather be in a racecar on Saturday; it is a big part of my racing career and always will be."

The change in sponsor is expected to lead to other changes -- how the champion is determined and points distribution, among others. The possible upheaval is not expected to carry over into the Nextel Cup Series, which will be called the Sprint Cup Series beginning next year.

"As a driver in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series, I look forward to seeing what kind of changes will be made to the points," Harvick said.

The same goes for Bobby Hamilton Jr., who finished sixth in points and has been very vocal with his thoughts on his Cup competitors. As is with most Busch-only drivers, he's in favor of changes to the points standings under the new branding that will give the independent, non-Cup organizations a break.

"It's a big snowball effect," Hamilton said. "We could have went and sold a big sponsor. There would have been four or five races we could have won. I think we have only one more year of getting our teeth kicked in, and then I think they are going to help us with some stuff."

Jason Leffler, also a driver planted strictly in the Busch Series, finished third in points between David Reutimann and Harvick. Even though Leffler and Stephen Leicht were the only two full-time Busch drivers to take a checkered flag in 2007, Leffler's focus is not on the points system, but on the cars.

"We definitely need to have our own identity, so people can recognize it," Leffler said. "To go to a different style racecar, maybe, I think it would be a great deal."

As for Edwards, who has run full-time Cup and Busch schedules the past three seasons, he thinks the ongoing rumors regarding possible points changes for double-duty drivers such as himself are simply a waste of time.

"If you can't race for a championship but we're still racing, at the end of the year it devalues whoever is champion. That's not right," Edwards said.

Edwards also has an idea on a possible fix.

"They ought to make it harder on us somehow," he said. "I think the coolest thing for the fans; the fastest guys ought to always start at the back, in every race, all of the time."