Monday, March 14, 2016

COMMENTARY: It's A Kyle Busch Problem

Kyle Busch did it again Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, leading 175 of 200 laps on his way to victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Axalta 200. Busch has made a cottage industry out of thumping the Xfinity Series regulars in recent seasons. Saturday’s win was his ninth in 20 career PIR starts and the record 79th of his career. 

In three starts this season, Busch has now led 493 of 563 laps, and some people are not at all happy about it. You see, in addition to being the all-time leader in career Xfinity Series wins, “Rowdy Busch” is also a full-time competitor in NASCAR’s headline Sprint Cup Series. The defending series champion, in fact.  

Some people don’t like that. And honestly, some people just don’t like Kyle Busch. So in an effort to balance the competitive scales, a growing chorus of fans and media members are suggesting that Cup drivers be banned – or at least severely restricted – from the Xfinity and Truck Series garages, leaving Victory Lane vacant for younger drivers and less-established teams.  

Track operators are against the idea, fearing that the absence of Sprint Cup drivers will adversely affect their Saturday ticket sales. Take the star out of the movie, they say, and fewer people will watch the movie.  

Team owners seem split on the idea. Some would love a chance to race closer to the front of the pack without Busch, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski to hinder their efforts. Others, however, sell established Cup stars to their sponsors, allowing them to remain in business and field additional cars for those young, up-and-coming talents.  

Drivers have strong opinions on the topic, as well. Guys like Busch enjoy racing on Saturday afternoons. They enjoy winning, and often use the knowledge gained from their Xfinity Series outings to better prepare for Sunday’s headline Sprint Cup event.  

Not long ago, drivers were allowed to compete simultaneously for multiple series championships. Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards won the Nationwide (now Xfinity) title in 2006 and 2007, while also competing full-time in Cup; a practice that prompted NASCAR to put a stop to so-called “double dipping.” But while they are no longer eligible for title consideration, Sprint Cup Series drivers continue to raid the Xfinity and Truck Series vaults, seemingly at will. 

Despite what you may be hearing, that’s not a new phenomenon.  

Sprint Cup drivers have competed – and won prolifically – in what is now the NASCAR Xfinity Series for decades. In the 1980s and `90s, the late Dale Earnhardt, Sr., was the man to beat in Busch Series action at Daytona. He won the season opener in 1986, then reeled off five consecutive victories from 1990 through 1994. “Big E” actually swept the first two races of the season in `86, following his Daytona win with a checkered flag at Rockingham Speedway the next weekend. 

More recently, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. have dominated Xfinity Series Victory Lane at Daytona. Stewart has seven career Speedweeks Xfinity victories, while Earnhardt, Jr. prevailed in three consecutive seasons; 2002-2004.  

In all, Earnhardt, Sr. accumulated 21 Busch Series wins in 136 career starts, running between five and 14 events each season from 1982 to 1994. He won at least one Busch Series race in 11 of those 13 years, while simultaneously ranking as the most dominant Cup Series driver of his (or arguably any) era. 

And somehow, nobody seemed to mind. 

Maybe that’s because it was Earnhardt. Or perhaps it was because his fellow Winston Cup drivers were diverting fan focus by winning dozens of Busch Series races of their own. 

Mark Martin’s resume includes 49 Busch Series wins in 236 career starts. He ran at least one (and often as many as 15 or 16) races each season for a couple of decades, while simultaneously ranking as a perennial title contender in the Cup ranks. 

Harry Gant won 21 times in 128 career Busch starts; also while a full-time Cup driver. “Handsome Harry” padded his schedule with 13-17 Busch races each season (roughly half the annual schedule) from 1987 to 1994, without ever drawing the ire of the grandstand faithful. 

Cup Series invaders like Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Joe Nemechek, Terry Labonte, Geoff Bodine, Michael Waltrip and Bobby Allison have all purloined Xfinity Series purses over the years, without ever seeming to tick anyone off. 

I get it. Kyle Busch wins a lot. 

His 25.2% Xfinity Series winning percentage is far better than that of Earnhardt Sr. (15.4%), Martin (20.8%) or Gant (16.4). Waltrip and Earnhardt are already enshrined in the NASCAR Hall Of Fame, with both Martin and Gant sure to join them in due time.  

This is not a “Cup drivers in the Xfinity Series” problem. It is a “Kyle Busch problem,” as evidenced by the fact that nobody complains when Austin Dillon or Landon Cassill double-dip in NASCAR’s secondary series. Apparently, Sprint Cup drivers competing in the Xfinity Series is acceptable to the vast majority of NASCAR fans. Winning, however, must be done sparingly, lest we grow tired of your success. 

Solutions to this problem are difficult to pinpoint, and even more difficult to implement. 

Cup drivers competing in the Xfinity Series is acceptable to the vast majority of NASCAR fans. Winning, however, must be done sparingly, lest we grow tired of your success. 
 
Limiting the number of lower-division starts a Sprint Cup driver can make may not have the desired effect. Joe Gibbs is a savvy team owner, and if Busch is allowed to run only 10 Xfinity Series races next season, Gibbs will almost certainly slide Denny Hamlin or Matt Kenseth into the seat, in his place. JGR will continue to run the entire Nationwide schedule, they will continue to win more races than they lose, and fans will continue to bemoan the fact that the Xfinity Series regulars can’t keep up. 

Handicapping Cup drivers – technologically or through procedural means – goes against the spirit of fair play and sportsmanship. Every competitor deserves to have the rules fairly and evenly applied, and “different rules for different players” crosses the line between sport and hucksterism. 

Banning owners like Gibbs, Richard Childress and Roger Penske from the Xfinity Series garage seems short-sighted, as well. They have pumped years of hard work and millions of dollars into the series, and deserve better than to be sent packing, simply for being too good at what they do. We also cannot afford to remove a half-dozen of the most competitive cars from the starting grid.  

The Xfinity Series is much more than the motorized equivalent of AAA baseball. It is North America’s No. Two form of motorsport, ahead of IndyCar, NHRA, IHRA, IMSA Sports Cars and SCCA. Its in-person attendance and television ratings are the envy of every motorsports entity this side of Sprint Cup, and those who see it as nothing more than “Cup Lite” are simply not paying attention. 

The people entrusted with charting the future of the Xfinity Series have important decisions to make in the months to come. Job One in that process is to determine whether there really is a problem, and if so, what the specific problem is. 

“Kyle Busch wins too much” is not an issue that needs addressing. Great drivers and great teams win races. Lots and lots of races. That’s what they’re paid to do, and stinking up the show with a dominant performance like Busch delivered Saturday in Phoenix should be applauded, not outlawed.

46 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:49 AM

    Respectfully Dave, I disagree. It's not a Kyle Busch problem in and of itself. It's a NASCAR problem too. For myself, I watch 2 Xfinity races and 2 truck races a year. The season openers at Daytona because that's when racing starts, and I'll watch the season finales at Homestead because that's when the champs are crowned. The other races I don't make time to catch due to the fact I would rather watch the stars of the Sprint Cup series run in Sprint Cup, not XFinity of Trucks. I don't care if it's Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, or any other of the Cup stars, if they are running the support races, it kind of diminishes it in my eyes, because barring crash or part failure, you know who is going to win it. No real point to watching at that point, is it? And while I get the owners and sponsors want to win, sponsor a big named driver, etc, what's the ROI if no one is watching or at the track? Television ratings drive EVERYTHING entertainment these days, and if people aren't watching, the sponsors aren't going to stick around and then the guys trying to move up to Sunday action aren't going to be there either. I don't have a quick fix, or any type of fix for this. I just know for myself, I'd rather watch my racing heroes race in the pinnacle, Sprint Cup Racing. Thanks.

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  2. Anonymous10:56 AM

    Xfinity Series drivers always say they welcome Busch and the others because they learn from them. First off, is any of them really going to say that they don't want them if they want to advance their careers ? Second, only the top five ever really race against them. The only times the others ever see them is when they get lapped. Then on top of that, it makes for some of the most boring races when they are leading 90% of the time. So why not allow all the others to race against them AND put on a show for the spectators ? (puts on flame suit) Beginning of race, SorinttCup drivers on tail.

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    1. Yeah, put Kyle at the tail of the field, then he will only lead 240 of the 250 laps instead of all of them.

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    2. Lol I think it sucks for all the other racers.Who wants to watch Kyle all the time.Not me 😨

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  3. This is a very good opinion. I think sponsors play a big role in who races in the NNS. Look at JR. Motorsports number 88 it is packed with elite drivers. How do you fix this? Could you limit number of races per year? I think it is good for the sport. If a Rookie can win against the best it puts them on the map and has sponsors looking at them. I personally Would like the seat shared with development drivers, Maybe share with other sports champions. Ricky Carmichael brought a lot of fans to the truck series, but again sponsors couldn't keep him in the seat. Travis Pastrana also Brought HUGE numbers too the NNS series, again sponsors didn't stick with him, but again you have a Danica Patrick who has brought big numbers of female fans into the sport, but sponsors stick with them. I would like to see NASCAR expand to Diesel and Road racing series. We have 1/2 ton trucks with oil burners (Ram in production & Ford in development) I would like to see a NASCAR road course series. The United states has tons of Road courses around and a big name NASCAR could bring those tracks into the lime light.

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  4. Charlie11:14 AM

    I don't think it is as much a Kyle problem as it is more a Joe Gibbs Racing issue. They are so far ahead of everyone else in the Xfinity series that even Danica could get in those cars and dominate.

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    1. Anonymous6:26 PM

      Let's not get crazy.

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    2. Obviously you're some kind novice NASCAR observer and not a Old School Die Hard Race Fan... Dale JR has 3 Cars and Hires Driver's to Race... He Doesn't use His Multi Million Dollar Race Shop to Dominant a Field of Teenage and Single Car Teams...All Kyle is Doing is Taking The First Place Money and Stealing All the Trophies He Doesn't Really Deserve

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  5. I think the Cup folks should have a very limited presence in Xfinity. I see Xfinity as a development series not only for drivers, but for crew members, team owners, and new sponsors. The path should be upwards toward the Cup series.

    Maybe with the advent of Cup's Charter system there should be "guidelines" placed on Charter holders as to their activities in non-Cup series. Note that NASCAR has recently restricted track owners from running alternate stock car series races so change is possible, and possibly needed.

    dms

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  6. Maybe they should place a limit on each team (by car #), that they cannot run Cup drivers in more than half the races or something like that. That way they could still get the sponsorship dollars that Cup drivers bring, but they would also have to give opportunities to developmental drivers in the other half of the races.

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  7. Does the Xfinity have a problem with their fan base? Let's not look at this so-called problem from a Sprint Cup fan perspective. Maybe Xfinity fans enjoy seeing Kyle Busch come in and spank their favorite regular Xfinity driver. Maybe not. I think forcing a driver to choose the series championship they want to run for made sense. Perhaps limiting the number of Xfinity races a Cup TEAM regular (JGR for example) can run makes sense. After all, JGR does want to see its developmental driver actually develop. But they also need money coming in (wins do that) as an organization to stay alive. Kyle Busch ran his own truck for years and still couldn't earn enough to keep the lights on.

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    1. Kyle still has a truck team. Kbm. Eric Jones won the title last year. Yes they ran xfinity and they closed that down.

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    2. Couldn't keep the lights on??.. is that why Kyle Busch Racing had 4 trucks at Daytona & usually have at least 2 or 3 in every truck race?... lolol

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  8. Anonymous12:56 PM

    Nobody really gets it. Real drivers on the way up need a bench mark, no driver worth his salt would want thier first win without cup drivers there to beat! Ryan Blany is where he is today because of Kyle Busch as are Eric Jones and a host of others! If you watched all the races you would see two inportiant facts! Kyle is handicaped with bogus yellows, without Nascar's interuptions he would be over a hundred at this point! two if you see the empty seats on saturday's you can figure it would be half without the stars of cup!

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  9. Anonymous1:01 PM

    I don't think there is a problem at all, except in the minds of a segment of the sissy wussy participation trophy type fans that our country is raising these days. The rules are the same for everybody. Level playing field. Equality of opportunity does not guarantee equality of outcome. Since when is it a crime that the best driver shows up at the track with the best car and actually wins a lot? Isn't that the entire point of racing? Why in the world would a fan pay for a ticket or tune in on tv to watch a race where you know the best drivers are sitting out? That would be akin to telling the Patriots they are not allowed to play football this year because they have won too many games. I know I don't bother to watch the lower series unless there are some interesting drivers to watch in the race. Otherwise you have a field consisting of about 5 drivers that the shills in the booth are touting as the "next big thing", about 30 field fillers of guys you never heard of or washed up drivers that couldn't make it in cup, and about 5 start and parks. That's the way to sell more tickets! Give me the top drivers any day.

    Dave in Ohio

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  10. Anonymous1:21 PM

    Charlie, You could have said A Monkey could drive those cars! Why be sexest? At least Danica has a Valid Nascar Licence to do what she does! You on the other hand have to ask for permission from the DMV! I don't think that qualifys you to judge her. By the way she finnished ahead of Biffle, Kahne, Bayne, Regan, Smith, Keselowski, Buescher, Bowyer,Mears,Stenhouse,Menard, And Newman Sunday.

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    1. Anonymous4:15 PM

      He will get four stright this weekend, plus a sweep!

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  11. The only reasonable fix I can see is to limit Cup drivers from driving in lower series for teams that have Cup teams. This would have two benefits, first, it would open seats in highly competitive cars. It would also even the competition by allowing Cup drivers to bring bigger sponsors to non affiliated teams.
    Cup drivers need to be in Xfinity and Camping World races to help keep the series and the tracks healthy.

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  12. I watch Daytona, Homestead, and the handful of standalone event that won't be overrun by KyBu/JGR. Just usually doesn't make for a good enough race the rest of the time to warrant sitting and watching it, i've even stopped listening on the radio. I don't mind cup drivers winning...i just don't like when there's not at least a handful of cars from at least 2 if not 3 manufacturers with an honest chance of winning in anything but a fluke...and right now that's really not the case. But it's not an issue for me...I have enough of things to do...but I was someone who went to LOTs of Busch races in person just to see cup practice and enjoyed them. So i've gone from going in person to not watching or listening... if cup hadn't improved the racing this year it would be trending same direction.

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  13. It is and isn't a Kyle Busch problem, what is he at in the past 3 race's, something like 88 percent laps lead, that is kind of taking something away from watching the race. You know who's going to win, and as a good driver Kyle not going to do something wrong, so there go's my interest to watch the race, and do I want to go to a track spend money to watch it in person, sorry but no, money comes by to hard now days. Should we ban the cup drivers? No. It's a double edge knife, they do bring in sponsors, and the teams JGR, Jim ECT. They put millions into the Xfinity for the future Cup drivers, our drivers of today will not be here tomorrow, look, they all are going to retire one day, Gordon last year Stewart this year, who is next to hang up their helmet? Cup drivers winning in the Xfinity level is life. If you don't like it, don't watch or attached the race. That's my opinion a I will do the not watch or attend the Xfinity race.

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  14. Chelsea2:25 PM

    I think it was felt less acutely in the eighties through the early 2000s in part because the Busch Series (at the time) schedule was significantly different than the Cup schedule, so it still had more of a distinct identity. Through the early 2000s, the series ran a LOT more short tracks (and intermediate tracks without the infrastructure or demand for Cup. Hickory was on the schedule until 1998. South Boston was on the Busch schedule until 2000; Pikes Peak until 2005.

    People didn't mind it so much because the schedule was different, so you typically had the younger guys and the older guys who couldn't/didn't perform well in Cup racing the solo dates, then they'd get together at common tracks and they'd try to show their stuff against the Cup guys.

    The secondary series had it's own identity - the periodic addition of Cup drivers was more of a special attraction.

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  15. Yes, agreed. But it's because he's there every week. If he skipped a few and only ran every 3rd or 4th race nobody would care. It just gets tiresome seeing the same guy win every week.

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    1. He is only running 16 races this season. Less than half

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    2. Anonymous4:02 PM

      He skipped Daytona, and will miss all races that are not at the cup race that same weekend.

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  16. Keep it the way it is. I think its fine. The xfinity drivers enjoy if and when they can beat those cup guys. Do you really think they just want to beat xfinity regulars? Its a big accomplishment to beat those cup guys

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  17. Anonymous3:49 PM

    The truck series more often then not puts on
    the best show of the weekend. No cup drivers.

    People watch the truck series, and companies
    sponsor trucks. So people who say people wont
    watch, and the teams who say, "we have cup
    drivers so we can get sponsors" isnt necessarily
    the truth.

    We would have 3 drivers locked in the chase
    for the Xfinity series. But we have none.
    Say one of them has a bad rest of the season.
    Is it fair they are left out of the championship
    hunt because a cup driver took their win away?

    The entire chase field and who ends up being champion
    could be completely different without the cup
    guys in the field winning. Is that really
    a fair way to have the series end each season?

    The truck series has its identity. The cup series has
    its identity. Whats the Xfinity indentity? Glorified
    cup practice session?

    Long story short, Cup drivers need to stay in the cup
    series. They are helping the lower series, they are
    hurting it. I for one will not waste my money to go
    to an Xfinity race where I already know whos going to
    win. Its not worth it.

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  18. I think its fine the way it is.

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  19. Why do people hate excellence? Try to invent new rules to make it an uneven playing field? In no other sport do you hear this talk, if a football team has a few good years do you hear, make them play with 10 guys instead of 11 or they should always start at the goal line on offense. Nascar has never said the Xfinity series it it's AAA series. It has rules in place, you follow the rules and you get to race. I would think Xfinity the sponsor appreciates the Sprint Cup regulars dropping down and enhancing their series. But, I guess, making a Sprint Cup driver run on 3 wheels, backwards, from last place using 6 in tires and a quart of gas would make it interesting for a lap.

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  20. Anonymous4:30 PM

    I don't agree with limiting anything. I go to nascar races to see kyle busch race his ass off. I watch races on tv to watch kyle race. If he's not racing, I don't watch. .....if he's not racing in the trucks or xfinity races, I don't but those tickets. ....and I'm not the only one.

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  21. Douglas Hansen5:12 PM

    Ask NOS energy drink if they want Kyle Busch banned from running the series? Like it or not a sponsor wants their product advertised and when the Nos energy #18 is out front it's maximum exposure for the sponsor. Take the cup driver's out of the series and say goodbye to nos dollar General discount tire etc.no profile driver no exposure for products and no xfinity series at all.

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  22. How about less conjunction races? Make only about half the races conjunction races. Then if a cup guy chooses (which they most likely wont) to run the nonconjunction races they have to fly across country and start in the back since they wouldn't have been there to qualify the car.

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  23. Anonymous5:44 PM

    Dave, whenever I hear someone gripe about Kyle or Brad or any other Cup regular spank the field in an Xfinity or Truck race, I think back to an interview from a few years ago between Kyle and Claire B. Lang on Dialed In after a Truck Series race which Kyle won. As Claire sometimes does, she let Kyle talk to several callers. One caller was irate that Kyle was driving that day over a developmental driver (Brian Ickler at that time I think) and Kyle explained it well. His explanation was "I can't sell sponsorship for Brian Ickler. I can sell it for me. I'd love to have Brian in the truck full time, but that won't pay the bills. I have to pay my employees and my bills. To do that I need money coming in. Me driving provides that." I'm sure it's the same deal, companies sponsoring would rather put their money on a Kyle Busch or a Joey Logano than a Jeb Burton or John Hunter Nemecheck. Justin from Nebraska.

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  24. Not sure what the answer is, but I do know that when I tune in and see he's in the race and in the lead, I'm changing the channel. That would go for him or Harvick or Edwards or any of those guys.

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  25. People seem to have the idea that the Xfinity and Camping World Series are development series simular to AA and AAA in baseball. This isn't true, they are their own individual divisions. I am no longer physically able to attend races, but when I went to Xfinity and Camping World races it was to watch cup and other drivers interact. I personally don't think the two series can survive on their own. The majority of people who attended these races go watch cup drivers because they for some reason they can't attend the cup race. But the crux of the problem is Kyle Busch. I listen to all the daytime NASCAR shows on Sirius/XM and I never heard one person complain when Jr. won Daytona in the #3 Wrangler car or Mark Martin winning constantly. It's all about fans hating Kyle Busch.

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  26. The young drivers trying to move up to the Sprint series need to show that they can run with the cup regulars. They can't do it unless they can race with them. You only get better by learning from the best.

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  27. Anonymous7:28 PM

    just one thing I can add .... If you are sprint cup champ, perhaps you don't need to drive quite so many Busch races .... for me it seems to cheapen NASCAR as a whole ...even Harvick slowed down after he won the big prize. MikefromNB

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  28. Anonymous8:42 PM

    I too believe that a good portion of Spring Cup drivers in the Xfinity series is sponsor driven. I specifically remember an Xfinity race (or whatever series it was then) where Denny Hamlin was late getting to the track and couldn't start. Almirola had already qualified the car so he started the race. After Hamlin got to the track, and after the sponsor insisted, the Rockwell crew pulled Almirola out of the car during a pit stop - while he was leading the race - and put Hamlin in the seat to finish the race. Hamlin won and Almirola got the credit for the win but after that stunt and the disrespect with which he was treated, he asked to be released from JGR. (Seems like that sponsor left the sport after that season, too. Short timer sponsor calling the shots.

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  29. Remember when Kyle Busch drove for Kyle Busch? He did not win a race but put him in a Joe Gibbs car and he dominates. The problem IMO is not KB but the cup owners who have more resources than the regular Xfinity teams.

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  30. Anonymous10:10 PM

    I wonder how many people are like me and won't even turn on the Xfinity race if Kyle Busch is in it...

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  31. What about the teams and drivers that are trying to GET sponsors. The attention given to Busch, Harvick, Hamlin, Keselowski and Logano are taking away attention that could be given to young drivers and smaller teams. If I'm a business wanting to sponsor a car, I'd be thinking twoce about it, because I feel that I would not get airtime or attention, so that driver or team would be without my hundreds of thousands of potential dollars. It hurts the smaller teams. Everyone says oh the drivers love it, well do you actually think any of the Xfinity drivers would say otherwise? Good thing is the past 2 weeks the 2nd and 3rd place cars have been Xfinity drivers that have beaten Keselowski, Logano and whoever else was double dipping. And they've been JGR drivers Suarez and Jones.

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  32. Gene from Nashville1:41 PM

    Wonder what the TV ratings and attendance figures are for the last 3 races? Eyes on the tube and butts in the seats will ultimately tell if Kyle stinking up the show is a good thing. I myself haven't watched an Xfinity race since Daytona and hevent bought a ticket to one for a few years either.

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  33. That only about fifteen drivers run all the races in the Xfinity series indicates it's not a Kyle Busch problem, it's a Cup participation problem. Cup participation isn't working anymore because we now have palpable evidence it is bleeding the series dry.

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  34. Very well said Dave...i agree 100%

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  35. Dwayne in Memphis9:55 AM

    I first got into NASCAR in 1992 when my dad got me hooked on it. We had this SAME DISCUSSION IN 1992!!! I was a newbie, and I played the "it's not fair" card. His counterpoints were VERY similar to yours, Dave, even back in 1992.

    His first point was that how would you know how well your "development driver" can actually compete against a Cup regular? Sure they can run a handful of Cup races - but I'd rather see how you do with homefield advantage. Too many nerves and eyeballs watching on Sunday to see how some wet-behind-the-ears driver can compete against Jimmie Johnson (how well did HE do in Busch?), Kyle Busch, or any other Cup regular with established teams and big budgets. Too many peripherals to get a decent feel for it. So let a few Cup guys come down to their series and see how you compete against them, then. Like Ric Flair always said, "To be the best, you gotta beat the best."

    My dad's second point was to look at the stands. Go to any...and I mean ANY race weekend that have two series racing the same weekend and look at the attendance. EVEN WITH Cup regulars, you could throw a grenade into some sections of the stands and people wouldn't be close enough to hear the boom. They're deserted. "Y'all did know there was a race today, right?" There's a reason that Memphis Motorsports Park (now Memphis International Raceway) was only built with 35,000 seats at the oval track. The track is identical to Richmond in layout, and Richmond seats nearly 71,000. Memphis ALWAYS shared its Busch weekend with the Martinsville Cup race in October. Only a handful of Cup drivers would come, and attendance was always good (when the weather cooperated). But in a stadium built for 35,000 people, 30,000 people looks great. At Bristol in 2001 - capacity at the time 165,000. It looked almost empty. So now that we have the larger venues dominating the landscape and more seats needing to be filled, you have to give people what they want. And, as Dave says, "Joe Schlabotnik" driving an undersponsored mostly-white car 15 laps down, ain't it.

    And lastly, sponsor dollars. Fans aren't the only ones that don't want to see Joe Schlabotnik in an undersponsored mostly-white car 15 laps down. "Mr. Corporate Executive, please sponsor my team." "Who's your driver?" "up and coming Joe Schlabotnik" "who?" "Oh, but he's sharing seat time with Dale Earnhardt, Jr and Kevin Harvick!" "NOW you have my attention!" Kelly Earnhardt Miller has explained this time and again on Dave's show.

    And the only rebuttal that's ever given as a counterpoint to any of this is "I don't want to watch it...it's not fair." Yeah, well neither is the disappearance of NASCAR races from Memphis Motorsports Park. Or any of the Cup tracks that have lost races. But this sport isn't about charity. It's about profit...like every business in America. So you do what you have to do to make a profit. If you don't want to see Cup drivers dominating a race, go to a nearby dirt track and watch some Saturday night races. Guys there are racing because they love to race and VERY few have been in Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup (thanks to the Tony Stewarts, and Kenny Wallaces, and Kenny Schraders of the world for ruining my chance to say "None of them have ever been...") races. But you know what they'll tell you. It takes money to buy equipment. And if fans stopped coming even to those Saturday night dirt track races, then pretty soon THOSE races would stop, too!

    It's not a Kyle Busch problem...or a minor league/major league problem...or even a fairness problem...because it's not a problem. Pay your entry fee, go race. Welcome to America. It's hardly ever fair, and it's always about the money.

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  36. I think they should limit Sprint Cup drivers with six or more years experience in the Sprint Cup series to eight races per lower series. This would allow the younger Sprint cup drivers a chance to continue to gain experience and still allow the lower series drivers a chance to race against and gain experience with the Sprint cup drivers.

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