Will COT phase-in phase out the Buschwhackers?

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- The legacy of the Car of Tomorrow (if there can be such a thing after two races and a third qualifying session) may not have anything to do with increased safety, decreasing costs or even improved competition.

If Jeff Burton is correct, the Car of Tomorrow may save the Busch Series.

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"If I can't get benefit from running the Busch car and the Busch car becomes apparent that it isn't helping the Cup team, then I will be much more reluctant to run the Busch car," Burton said.

"I haven't run both cars on the same weekend. I will tell you this, I went to Richmond to test both cars and it's the least amount of back-and-forth information that we've been involved with to date. At any Busch test that we've gone to with the Cup car with the same test, it's been the least amount of information traded back and forth."

Like mosquitoes in Minnesota, Buschwhackers swarm around every companion event, taking big chunks out the purse and points. Ways to solve the perceived problem are as plentiful as the number of lakes in Minnesota, too.

Limit the number of races that Cup drivers can enter. Eliminate them from earning any Busch points. Make owners choose to run races in one or the other. The list goes on and on.

None of those solutions has been very palatable to either NASCAR or the track owners. But if Burton's thoughts become the norm and not the exception, we may see the eventual extinction of the Buschwhackers without resorting to rules changes.

Surprisingly, it's all about "cost vs. benefit." Who knew anything from Economics 101 would actually come in handy?

"What is the benefit for Richard Childress to be running an Impala SS on Sunday and a current car on Saturday when there is way less crossover?" Burton asked. "What is the benefit in doing that? The reason we do it today is because our engineering support, a lot of it helps the other. There are things that we can cross over. The fewer amount of things we can cross over, the less willingness there will be for the car owners to be involved."

As Frank Cicci can attest, running a Busch Series team can easily become a losing proposition. Burton agrees.

"Contrary to a lot of belief, it's very difficult to make financial ends meet with the Busch programs," Burton said. "The Cup car owners are pushed to the very limit with the amount of sponsorship dollars that you can get for a Busch program and the amount of money it takes to run it effectively, it's difficult to make money doing that.

"The reason to make money is to buy new technology so you can do all those things. If you can't do all those things, then why be involved? At some point it will become a distraction."

So what about all that talk that drivers "just love to race." Well, Burton says that's true for him, up to a point.

"[My] main goal is to win the NASCAR championship. That's goal No. 1," Burton said. "If running the Busch program steps in the way in any form or fashion and it's no longer a help to do it, then I don't want to be involved in it.

"Because if it gets in the way -- if anything gets in the way -- of me winning the Cup championship, then it's out of my life."

That may be the best reason yet for speeding up the Car of Tomorrow phasing-in process.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.