Well That’s One Way to Cut Down on BuschWhackers
Not the preferred method of course, (allow unlimited Cup testing) but having two of them knocked out before the 10 lap mark did thin the “Whacker Brigade” a little.
Surely both McMurray and Smoke have another opinion with each ending the night with a trip to the crash house - McMurray with an aching noggin’ and Smoke a sore shoulder - but at least they can blame being competitive for their aches and pains. Unlike Elliot Sadler who started the event and finished in 19th after cracking his skull Friday jumping off a stage.
Don’t misunderstand, the Busch regulars still need the field thinned a bit more as the best any of them could do was the 9th place effort of Todd Kluever.
The top of the field held all the usual (Cup) suspects with Carl Edwards passing Casey Mears on the final restart with six laps to go to win the Carquest Auto Parts 300. Kurt Busch followed with J.J. Yeley, Casey Mears, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick in trail. Regan Smith finished 10th.
NASCAR, Lowes Motor Speedway, Busch Series, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle
Considering 19 of the top 20 qualifying spots also had cars in the 600, It seems to be getting a little excessive. Of course, a few of those weren’t full time cup drivers either. Cup drivers have always had some sort of presence in the Busch series. However it isn’t like it was even 10 years ago, where there might be a handful of Cup driver’s pulling a double on a given weekend.
Now it’s almost a necessity for some teams. Especially with those that have younger driver’s in the cup seat. Having them run the Busch race simply gives them more seat time.
It’s not hurting the fans overall, since they get to see the “stars” race on two days vice one. It’s not hurting Nascar, because it’s increasing TV viewership, and putting more butts in seats at the track. It’s not hurting the cup teams, as they also get the benefit of a little extra information for Sunday.
It is, however, hurting the full-time teams that only run the Busch series. It’s tough for them to compete with the budgets that the cup teams are bringing in.
This could be a side-effect of having the new testing schedule, sponsors wanting that “star” in the seat, or a number of other things.
I’m not sure what Nascar could do about it, or if they should do anything at all. The Busch series is a learning ground for driver’s to hopefully work their way up to the Cup series some day. It always has been. In this light, the competition has simply stepped up. Then again, if you can’t afford to keep up with the competition, you end up closing the doors. Perhaps if Nascar disallowed a driver that was in the top 10 in points the previous year in the Cup series from being eligible to drive in the Busch series the following year. Then again, that still wouldn’t take away Kevin’s 358pt lead at the moment. Then again, maybe they could limit the number of spots available to driver’s that are in full-time sup rides, and make it a first come, first served basis. In the end, I don’t think there is an acceptable answer to this. One can only look at it as that which knocks us down makes us stronger. And that even if the Busch regulars are getting beat, they still get the same learning experience as they would have 10 years ago.