Memories abundant in 26 years of the Busch Series (cont'd)

Speaking of those boxy, Sportsman-era cars, if you showed anyone Houston's 1987 Buick Apollo Busch Grand National -- yup, there's another memory that will never go away -- car, and asked them its significance, there's no way they'd be able to tell you it's the Daytona Busch track record holder, and probably will be for time immemorial.

It was about that time Mark Martin came back to NASCAR racing, after a period back in the ASA that followed his early 1980s fizzle in Winston Cup. He came back in the Busch Series and I remember chatting with him at Daytona during a break in testing.

Randy LaJoie

Legends look back

As the Busch Series turns into a new direction, legends Jason Keller, Randy LaJoie and David Green remember the past and have concerns about the future.

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Martin, who won his first Busch race later in 1987, went on to create a lot of other Busch memories in Jack Roush's No. 60 Fords, most of which carried him to the Busch record win total. But the most compelling memory of that day was how classy and respectful Martin was -- qualities that haven't dissipated through the years.

Houston's was a family team, with sons Scott, Andy and Marty on board, along with a cousin or two; and sponsors like Roses Stores and Southern Biscuit Flower that are also the stuff of Busch legends.

So was the V6 era, when standing outside any Busch venue -- but particularly places like Daytona -- was akin to being in close proximity to an apiary in revolt, with a billion bees about to go wild.

The Houstons were only one family that made a comfortable -- and competitive -- home in the Busch Series. The Pearsons, Bowns, Jarretts, Linvilles, Thackstons, Hensleys and, in three different decades the Bodines were all families that created a lot of Busch memories.

Pearson winning his first Busch race at Darlington, a track where his legendary father David Pearson had so much success, is big; and a lot of that comes from memories of crew chief brother Ricky, who's a mainstay in the Busch Series to this day, providing a solid link to the past.

And how about the Busch legacy of the Earnhardts? Dale Earnhardt, whose image was nowhere near the magnitude it was when he was killed on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, scored the first "Busch Series" win, in 1982 at Daytona.

What a memory images of that initial series Victory Lane are, with a blissfully youthful Earnhardt and wife Teresa joyfully celebrating another win.

And as Earnhardt steamed to a career-dominant 33 victories at Daytona, one of the Busch Series' best memories is Earnhardt's five consecutive victories in Daytona's Busch season-opener, the Goody's 300. And despite only a 15-year run, doesn't that title seem like a Busch Series trademark.

As the 1990s waned, Dale Earnhardt Jr. seemingly completed the Busch Series' transition from its "own entity," marked by three consecutive titles for Busch-only team owner Bill Baumgardner in 1995-'97.

Baumgardner's BACE Motorsports entity made a Busch dominator out of LaJoie and created one of the series best rivalries of all time: LaJoie and Buckshot Jones. Buckshot was a Busch treasure, as a youngster with a lot of courage and some ability, though not enough to match dad Billy's bankroll.

But what Buckshot certainly didn't have was much sense to go messing with a certified junkyard dog like LaJoie -- and their set-to at Bristol, particularly, was another slice of Busch legend.

But Dale Jr. cutting his competitive teeth and beginning to establish his overwhelming fan base were certainly some of the best memories of that era of Busch racing, particularly his fights with Matt Kenseth, who Busch championships aside has out-stripped his more nameworthy adversary every step of their careers, since.

These days, despite having drivers whose ability and potential is the equal to anyone who ever came out of the series -- and maybe even more so considering their early starting points and level of equipment they're able to get in at a very young age; Busch action just doesn't seem as memorable.

Of late, some of the biggest memories are of newcomers such as Dario Franchitti and Steve Wallace crashing a lot -- but in time their victories may replace the rougher edges.

If Busch wins are "just another check mark" for the Cup drivers who are winning many of them these days, that's certainly a loss.

But that makes a couple of the biggest memories of late in the Busch Series: David Gilliland and Stephen Leicht's huge wins at Kentucky -- stand out so much more.

So best of luck to new series sponsor Nationwide in establishing the same traditions. If they put the same effort to that as former A-B drum beaters such as Bill Selmon and Dennis Punch once did, it could succeed.

But if they do, in 26 years, when the lucky ones meet to celebrate the latest champions, tossing shredded insurance claim forms in the air seems to be a poor substitute to clinking a couple longnecks together in salute to a history of racing excellence.

And you can only hope to have two-and-a-half more decades of excellent memories to celebrate.

The opinions expressed are those solely of the writer