Buschwackers, Gordon and Jr.

[NAPAFISH]

I am going to post two questions here. Lets see what people say.

Are the Buschwackers ruining the chances of up and coming drivers by taking cars that could be used by them?

The other is the flip side. Why dont Gordon and Jr run more Busch races? With the problems both teams have expierenced, Why not get more track time??? Could they not learn from it???

[JohnMickish]

1, yes and no. I think the cup drivers are good for ratings so it you look at it from the business side it's great. I also feel that there is no way teams like the 38 can win (unless its a fuel milage finish) or even be competitive against the likes of Roush, DEI, Gibbs and so on. I do feel bad that they take all the money but in racing or business, you either have to stay competitive or you race for 10th. I'd put a cap on the number of cup drivers at maybe the best 8-10 qualifiers unless you are running the full schedule.

2, I wonder that myself. I don't know if it's because they already get pounded by the media that way it is, maybe they don't want anymore attention. I will say they both could use more track time though.

[lawdog]

I used to think it was OK when Cup guys ran Busch races, but back then there were just a few and they'd run just a handful of tracks and I thought it was good for the Busch regulars to get to run against Cup guys to gauge where they were at compared to Cup guys. NOW, I think its just ridiculous how many Cup guys are running the Busch races and I think its wrecking that series. There really isn't much of a Busch series anymore, its just a race for Cup guys and non Cup guys. The points race is all screwed up because the Cup guys who mostly aren't running the full schedule take the top spots and points and its just all screwed up. I think a Cup regular (after their rookie season) should be limited to 5-7 Busch races a year.

Jeff used to run Busch races in the Pepsi car but he felt it distracted from and not enhanced his Cup program. He quit running them and won his third championship the next year. You really think a four time Cup champion needs more seat time??? Come on... It probably would have helped some last year when they had all this impound garbage, which I think hurt Jeff, but not under normal circumstances.

[JohnMickish]

Gordon is still getting back on track and I feel they really fell behind last year and are not 100% caught up, yet.

What do you mean impound garbage? I loved the run whatcha brung and hope you brung enough stuff from last year. It really separated the men from the boys, team wise. It wasn't good for the fans or the revenue that is generated because of that but I liked seeing who was ready to race and who wasn't.

[eyepatrol]

This is just me personally, but I don't like the cup guys running the Busch races one bit, unless they retire from cup or are running the Busch schedule full time. I look at the Busch series as the AAA Minor leagues in baseball, which is what Helton said in an interview a week or so ago too. It should be a farming series/system for up-coming drivers in my opinion. Now days, when you watch the race and see the results, many times 8 of the top 10, or sometimes all of the top 10 finishers are cup drivers. How does a new-comer or up-and-coming driver get noticed for his racing when he's already put at a disadvantage?

I will agree to some extent that it's good to have a few cup drivers race in the Busch just to give the Busch guys a sense of where they're at compared to the cup guys. Otherwise, I'm pretty well against the Buschwackers. I think too though that the almighty dollar is ruling the roost with Buschwackers being allowed.

I don't know about Jr., but for Gordon, he's said on a number of occassions that his schedule just doesn't allow for him to race in any other series during the season. If he's not at the track, he's somewhere doing promotions, commercials, movie spots or tv appearances. I think he's right in not running the Busch series though as Lawdog mentioned, it would take away from his concentration and focus on the big prize, which is the cup series.

Just my $0.02 worth.

[Sifty]

I dod'nt like to see the cup guys running in the races as some of you have said it seems the points race gets all screwed up with the cup guys finishing in the top of the field. I do see why they do it, the younger guys need the time in the car and the help on the track.

As far as Jr. and Gordon I think alot of it has to do with time and some of it with focusing on the cup races.

Sifty

[lawdog]

Quote:

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What do you mean impound garbage?

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In reality its whoever guessed right on the set up, rather than who was able to get the car right after knowing how the track changed from the last year they were there and the rule package and the other variables too. It also gave the Buschwhackers a huge advantage because they got more track time that weekend which I think is wrong to promote that.

Besides I'd rather have everybody have the time to tune up their cars to the best they can get them in practice and then we'll race with everybody bringing their "A-game"... The true measure of a team to me is more how well they can adjust their car and fine tune it to run right, not just who guessed right with what they showed up with without being on the track enough to know. I guess I'd rather see the driver and crew chief make it right in practice rather than an engineer in the shop guessing right on what to bring based on computer records and test results.

[JohnMickish]

IMO, the impound showed which teams where better organized at the shop. The 48,20 and all Roush cars did their homework and showed up ready to race, not practice.

Don't you basically run a "impound" style race. You qualify (heat race) then the feature. You and all local dirt racers have to show up ready to race or you run in the back. Would you like to have a practice or two before the feature or would you rather out think the competition and be ready to run?

Like I said, it's my opinion which dosen't make it right.

Question, if there where no cup drivers in Busch or the trucks, do you think be where they are on TV or would it be like ARCA?

[lawdog]

It's different though because we run the same tracks weekly vs. going to a different place and different type of track each week. The first few races with a new car or at a new track I'd love to have more practices before racing, but by the end you pretty much just try to figure out what the track will be like and go to the setups you have, no practice needed because we've been there, done that... Nothing worse than having no clue if your car will do what you want when you slam it into that first corner under green! I just know that we scale a car and think we are right and you get to the track and the seat of the pants adjustments from there always make the final decisions even if its slightly different than what the scales and the computer show...

I definitely agree that the Cup guys running those Busch races brings the attention and coverage to the series. But that hasn't seemed to translate to money to the real Busch teams to help them or the series, just the Cup guys as they take all the top paying spots anyway...

[JohnMickish]

The purse is pretty small in Busch anyways, do you think the cup guys would race there for free and if so do you think that would stop the complaning?

[harvey lee]

I dont even watch the Busch series any more.I can watch the same race the next day with the same drivers.

The impound races are fine but I believe the new teams do need the extra work and pratice as thier notes if any dont help.

Its one way of keeping the top teams towards the front.Rousch and Hendrick especially.I would rather have notes for 5 teams than 1 new one.