Kyle Busch Is On Fire At Bristol, But Should He Be?

"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
08/24/2013 at 13:45 • Filed to: NASCAR

Some would say that winning the first of three races in a week is usually the start of an amazing weekend, and if you're Kyle Busch you're certainly hoping that come Sunday there's a big trophy to go with your two little ones. But then again, should Kyle Busch even have his two little trophies to begin with?

I used to kart as a kid/teen (until dad realized college was probably a better investment) and every season the upper division would always come and have a race with some of the best of the division below it to show the younger kids how "real racing" was done. It was a motivational tool, work hard and train and you'll be like those guys. It's akin to the Varsity/Junior Varsity games at every high school. And, on those rare occasions when NASCAR deems us worthy enough to have such a Nationwide/Sprint Cup interleague race, it's generally pretty good fun. But even back when I was karting, there was always that one kid who raced in both divisions. Naturally he was better than most drivers and as such he always tended to finish top 5, if not podium. He was a bully, he knew how to drive with the bigger, more powerful karts, so he used the lighter ones to work on his turns and aggressiveness (on a circuit he knew most drivers probably wouldn't challenge him).

Kyle Busch (and the other Sprint Cup drivers) is that bully.

Now I know it is perfectly within the rules for drivers to cross-race and race in every NASCAR sanctioned race all the way down to CASCAR and Toyota Series in Mexico (or hell the iRacing.com series online even, which I hear a lot of drivers actually do!), but when you're as seasoned a racer as Busch, and when you're as good a pure driver as Busch, do you really need to?

The way I see the Camping World and Nationwide series is simple, it's the minor leagues. Ask any driver in Camping World and they'll probably (other than Todd Bodine maybe) say that they want to be in Nationwide, and ask a NNS driver and I know they'll say they want to be in Sprint Cup. That's the way it works, you drive trucks, you succeed and you drive the hot rods, you succeed there and you get into the majors and the money. Now if you watched either of the races so far at Bristol this week (and you should have watched last nights, it was amazing) then you'll have noticed one glaring fact: Kyle Busch was head and shoulders above every other drive on the track!

It wasn't really a contest in the trucks, his Toyota was by and large the fastest in the straights and quickest on the corners and in Nationwide he put on a clinic in his short wheel Camry. Bristol racing is one of the more exciting courses (along with the road courses) in NASCAR because it's half a mile and 40 cars: no where to go, no where to hide, and Busch made it look effortless. In fact, the top 5 drivers all made it look easy and surprise, surprise it was two Sprint Cup drivers and three Nationwide drivers who are all but in their last year as hot rod drivers. Kyle Busch is a great driver and a professional; he mentors his Nationwide teammates and that is a great thing. But he's one of the best _Sprint Cup_ drivers, does he really need to prove that to a bunch of young whippersnappers too?

I actually really like Kyle Busch and root for his yellow M&Ms car (one of the few cars that doesn't change every week...though he's running Wrigley's Double Mint this week) in the Sprint Cup but half the fun of the Nationwide Series is to watch the future of racing and to see whose going to be in the Majors soon enough (the other half is to see the crazy driving, wanna see some risky driving? watch someone trying to prove their worth), what's the point in winning races that don't impact your career in any significant way but take away precious few chances some of these Nationwide drivers have to impress owners and get to the Cup? It's always a cool story on Sunday when a driver "sweeps" a track, but you know what's an even cooler story? When that same driver wins the cup.

So here's what I propose instead. Instead of letting Cup drivers run in Nationwide, have a short series where the best Nationwide drivers, let's say the top 15 at any given time, and 15 Cup drivers, let's say we rotate them weekly or we have a lottery like draw (only drivers who want to be in it of course), it could be a chance for the best of NNS to see how Cup driver's run and a chance for Cup drivers to practice before their race. Winners would get a wild card win but no points. Hell they could even have a whole new series sponsor, so money would be abundant. Lastly, there needs to be a way to make sure that the competition is always good in the Sprint Cup and thus, I propose that the two series have a promotion and relegation factor. I know the older, more established Cup drivers probably wouldn't like the possibility of getting sent down to NNS but it not only gives the NNS driver's a real reason to finish top 5 (5 up, 5 down) other than pray an opening happen's in Cup and the boss chooses them, but it also gives the fan's what they really want: the best racing possible. NASCAR series are pretty awesome race's, they're fun to watch and never boring, little changes could make them even more popular than they already are. Oh, and NASCAR, one more thing...more road course's...just saying.

DISCUSSION (18)

99TandC > The World of Vee
08/24/2013 at 14:04

"...it could be a chance for the best of NNS to see how Cup drivers run and a chance for Cup drivers to practice before their race". That's what the Nationwide series is already, basically.

For Sweden > The World of Vee
08/24/2013 at 14:05

I have no trouble with drivers driving in a lower series, now that NASCAR only allows the driver to compete for a championship in one series. However, I would like to see a ban on teams entering cars with their drivers in lower series. Looking at you, Joe Gibbs Racing Nationwide Toyota Camry driven by Kyle Busch.

The World of Vee > 99TandC
08/24/2013 at 14:15

right, Keselowski, Busch, and Kahne use the NNS to practice...but their practice is someone's livelihood. Make a short series so they can get real practice and give some of the younger faces some extreme competition

The World of Vee > For Sweden
08/24/2013 at 14:16

I'm a bit confused...isn't that the same thing?

For Sweden > The World of Vee
08/24/2013 at 14:30

No; Kyle Busch could still race for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

The World of Vee > For Sweden
08/24/2013 at 14:33

ohh ok I got it now. Sorry I had to read your post like three times to get it lol.

I see what you're saying, but Ky. Busch is just so much better than everyone else on that track...did you happen to catch some of last nights race? he was lapping drivers after 7 laps...7! He pretty much went pole to pole save for a couple restarts

desertdog5051 > The World of Vee
08/24/2013 at 15:24

Not liking Kyle, I can't really contribute much positive input. I will say that he has settled down a bit in the last year and he is a great driver. The truth teller is the Sprint Cup race.

I think that NASCAR should limit the number of Nationwide and Truck races that Sprint Cup drivers can enter per season. They tend to dominate the lower ranking classes. This takes away money from racers who really need it and who could use the spotlight to possibly elevate their careers.

The World of Vee > desertdog5051
08/24/2013 at 15:30

agreed completely. drivers abound, they just don't need it to be honest. There's practice, qualifying, practice 2 and then race..it's not race setting but you're one of the best 40 drivers in NASCAR, you should be able to handle it.

LSXforYourSuperCar > The World of Vee
08/24/2013 at 19:17

Richard Petty won 200 races because NASCAR used to race four or five nights a week and multiple locations in a single night. Full time professional stock car teams were rare and spread out.

Let's face it, at many races all Petty had to do was show up and not crash in order to win. Why did Petty race against competitors who were semi-pro at best? Because Petty was a racer, he showed up and raced at every single race that presented itself.

The World of Vee > LSXforYourSuperCar
08/25/2013 at 13:03

right but you said it yourself, fulltime professional teams were rare

now a days NASCAR is a billion dollar business, the racers don't need to go out shooting fish in a barrel

99TandC > The World of Vee
08/25/2013 at 15:03

The younger drivers face off against Kesi, Busch, and Kahne. That's extreme as it gets. They should be racing them as much as possible to learn as much as possible

DasWauto > The World of Vee
08/31/2013 at 12:32

I like and agree with the point you are making but you've got to fix your use of the letter s . It's at a point where it's difficult to read as a result. I fixed the first little bit for use in the Best of Oppo.

The World of Vee > DasWauto
08/31/2013 at 12:52

i'll fix it, but could you give me an example? I guess I don't get what you mean?

DasWauto > The World of Vee
08/31/2013 at 13:01

most notably it's when you've confused where to use an apostrophe before an s. 's is only used to denote possesive things (when it belongs to someone, eg. DasWauto's car) or as a contraction (it is -> it's there is -> there's), not for multiples (races not race's, Majors not Major's, etc).

There was one other thing that baffled me a little bit; a wa's. That one just confused me.

I've pasted a corrected version of the last paragraph below, you can compare it to the untouched version above:

So here's what I propose instead. Instead of letting Cup drivers run in Nationwide, have a short series where the best Nationwide drivers, let's say the top 15 at any given time, and 15 Cup drivers, let's say we rotate them weekly or we have a lottery like draw (only drivers who want to be in it of course), it could be a chance for the best of NNS to see how Cup driver's run and a chance for Cup drivers to practice before their race. Winners would get a wild card win but no points. Hell they could even have a whole new series sponsor, so money would be abundant. Lastly, there needs to be a way to make sure that the competition is always good in the Sprint Cup and thus, I propose that the two series have a promotion and relegation factor. I know the older, more established Cup drivers probably wouldn't like the possibility of getting sent down to NNS but it not only gives the NNS driver's a real reason to finish top 5 (5 up, 5 down) other than pray an opening happens in Cup and the boss chooses them, but it also gives the fans what they really want: the best racing possible. NASCAR series are pretty awesome races, they're fun to watch and never boring, little changes could make them even more popular than they already are. Oh, and NASCAR, one more thing...more road courses...just saying.

I can usually leave it alone but when it was that abundant, I had to say something. I generally like your posts quite a lot and don't think I've noticed you making this mistake before so it's not that big a deal. Keep up the good posts.

The World of Vee > DasWauto
08/31/2013 at 13:04

thanks bud, yeah I think I typed this a little too quickly without proofreading i'll fix it up

The World of Vee > DasWauto
08/31/2013 at 13:13

that was an embarrassing number of grammatical mistakes almost to the point where I can't even believe I made them (I like to fancy myself a good writer)

thanks for the tip, cleaned up and ready to go. Seriously, I usually read my pieces 3/4 times AFTER I post them for mistakes and I can't believe I missed all these

DasWauto > The World of Vee
08/31/2013 at 13:15

Haha, no problem, everyone has off days. I'm catching up on a week worth of Best of Oppo posts and this will be in the August 26 (monday) post.

The World of Vee > DasWauto
08/31/2013 at 13:18

sounds good thanks!