The Kansas City Star

September 29, 2006

Steppingstone takes step up; Busch Series at 25

The same can be said about most of NASCAR's brightest stars. Established as a stepping-stone for young drivers to gain experience for competing at the Cup level, the Busch Series is celebrating its 25th season. It's never been more competitive.

"It gives young drivers an opportunity to prove themselves," said Bowyer, who vaulted from obscurity in Emporia, Kan., to the powerful Richard Childress Racing team two years ago. "These owners are giving younger drivers an opportunity of a lifetime."

Back in 1982, the series was known as the NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series. It evolved into the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series two years later and has matured into simply the Busch Series.Some of the greatest talent in stock-car history came through the series, including Mark Martin, whose 47 wins are the most in series history, and Dale Earnhardt, who won 21 times.Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards are former Busch Series rookies of the year.

Jimmie Johnson raced for St. Joseph-based Herzog Motorsports in 2001, and Kevin Harvick, the 2000 Rookie of the Year and 2001 series champion, this year has a chance to become the first driver in history to win both the Nextel Cup and Busch series championships.

"The reason the Busch series is so important is only 43 drivers can race in the Nextel Cup series, yet more people still get the same opportunity on Saturday to race on the same track as the Cup drivers do," said Kenny Wallace, the series' inaugural rookie of the year in 1989 and runner-up to Bobby Labonte for the 1991 championship.

There was a time when the Busch series had its own stars. Jack Ingram and Sam Ard each won two of the first four championships, and Larry Pearson who also won two titles.

"That's where I got my first opportunity," said veteran Joe Nemechek, the 1990 Busch Series rookie of the year and 1992 series champion. "It made Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip and some of the superstars back then take note of who I was.

"In 2004, Nemechek pulled a NASCAR first when he won the Nextel Cup pole at Kansas Speedway on a Friday, won the Busch series race on Saturday and won the Nextel Cup race on Sunday, calling it "one of the best days of my life.

"Such double-dipping is commonplace now as an increasing number of Nextel Cup drivers - or "Buschwhackers" - are competing in both Busch and Cup events. That may put more fans in the seats and helps television ratings, but it slows the growth of the young drivers the series was intended to develop.

"I think it's going to be great when we show up at the NASCAR Busch series banquet, that eight of the top 10 Busch drivers are going to be from fully funded Nextel Cup teams," said Wallace, who is 12th in the Busch standings. "That will send the strongest message in the last 25 years of the Busch series that it is no longer an entry level sport. It is a miniature Nextel Cup series."It's not just good for drivers, but the live television is big."

People are indeed watching the series - the television ratings for the Busch series are second only to Nextel Cup among motor sports. Busch Series races on network television (FOX, NBC) saw a 19-percent increase from 2004 to 2005; and a 21-percent jump on cable (FX, TNT). The series' 1.7 cable rating in 2005 trailed only the NFL (7.1) and Nextel Cup (4.8).

How valuable is that television exposure? It's been worth nearly $1 billion since 1988.

Joyce Julius & Associates, an Ann Arbor, Mich., firm that monitors and calculates the value of on-air exposure for products mentioned and seen on telecasts (excluding commercials) estimates the Busch brand received $779,095,550 worth of exposure from NASCAR telecasts during 1988-2005, said Eric Wright, vice president of research and development.