Yesterday’s post sparked some interesting, thought provoking comments. I’ve proposed that for numerous reasons the current economic climate and falling track revenues might bring about positive change for NASCAR.
Before continuing that conversation, I want to bring to the table something that the Nationwide race at Nashville brought to mind.
Few discussions about what traditional fans of NASCAR perceive to be wrong with the current state of affairs in racing go by without numerous complaints concerning the “Car of Tomorrow”- introduced to NASCAR Cup racing on a full-time basis last season. Fans complain there’s not enough passing, and certainly the statistics do bear out that passing is down- hard to argue that.
As I’ve been recovering from running in a local 10-mile race , something interesting while I was at home pondering these issues. I happened to watch darn fine race in the Nationwide Series.
There was side-by-side racing. Kyle Busch made contact with Michael Mc Dowell after the #47 took the lead on pit road. Kelly Bires and Carl Edwards were going at it while fighting for track position. Speaking of Edwards, he made a hard charge through the field after a pit stop error on his left front tire.
We had lead changes and green flag passing; some good back and forth action
between Kyle Busch and eventual Joey Logano was intriguing, plus Michael Mc Dowell got in the leadership.
We even had a wreck the likes of which haven’t seen in a while. After contact with another car, Joe Nemecheck to a thrill ride that damaged his roof flaps. Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt. In fact, he wanted back out there.
I submit fans were treated to a good race today. It had all the elements fans say they’re looking for. In my mind it begs the question…..
Why aren’t fans disenchanted with the CoT in the Cup series flocking to the Nationwide Series?
It seems to me that in Nationwide you have NASCAR racing that resembles much better the racing of yesteryear. You’ve got your mega teams racing alongside the struggling start-ups, and in this series, it’s possible for those teams like KHI and Rusty Wallace racing to be relevant.
There’s no “CoT” here. None of those wings and splitters people complain about.
It puzzles me because if there’s anything worse than the attendance at the Cup races, the attendance at the Nationwide and truck races are even worse. I won’t even get into the truck racing, but I will at least say for the purposes of this post- some of the best racing I’ve seen has happened in the trucks. Did you see that battle last year between Ron Hornaday and Johnny Benson? How about the old-fashioned fisticuffs between the crews of Todd Bodine and David Starr?
Yeah- I’m no big fan of established Cup drivers racing the the Nationwide. In my opinion, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch need to graduate to a bigger sand box. I’m o.k. with Logano, David Ragan and Brad Keselowski there because they need the seat time. Anyway- Kez isn’t anywhere near full-time in Cup anyway. Buth having what we used to call “Buschwhackers” there doesn’t make for bad racing. You and I both know it actually elevates the quality of the product.
About the only other real complaint I have is that some of the Nationwide races are just one huge wreck fest. Some fans actually seem to like it though.
Help me understand. If you hate what the “CoT” has done to the quality of Cup racing, why haven’t you gone to the other side and supported the other series?
I’m curious.
PHOTO CREDITS- Carl Edwards #60 and Busch victory celebration by Walter G. Arce, Nationwide Series wreck by jd016,
{ 5 comments }
I don’t go there because I don’t like to watch bullies pick on the little guys. There is a reason the Varsity is not allowed to play Junior Varsity in High School.
I love everything about Truck and nationwide racing but having the Sprint Cup Established regulars taking seats away from the up and coming talent. Both series have grea tracing and I watch more of those races then I usually do on Sunday afternoons !
if owners cant afford to go racing with the big boys then buy a latemodel and go to your local track…i hate when people say cup drivers are taking seats away from the young guys…if you run a business, do you get the best available talent or do you get a young guy who knows nothing…you cant get sponsors if you have a 20 yr old constantly running 30th and then wrecking anyway…its not good business…..nationwide is very expensive to run with about 1/4 of the money a cup team gets…so do you put a 20 yr. old with no experience or a cup guy who you can potentially win with..i’ll take the latter.go run the busch north series or a late model series with your 20 yr old or have a daddy with a big checkbook….
You don’t see Tiger playing golf on the Nationwide Tour, & you shouldn’t see any driver with a full time cup ride in the Nationwide series. Any driver who needs more seat time wasn’t ready for Cup in the first place. The reason we do, is because ISC owns the majority of the tracks, & the name drivers sell tickets, & we all know that NA$CAR is ALL about the money. Between the Cup owners, & the start, & park teams. It’s a wonder there are any Nationwide owners left.
Personally I have always felt that the nationwide races and also the truck races deliver more enjoyable racing than the COT races on Sunday.
Comments on this entry are closed.