drumcat Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 So I'm not some big car junkie, but I do see that NASCAR's secondary circuit, the "Busch Series" does pretty well. As far as I can tell, it's the same as regular NASCAR. Can anyone shed light on why their "Division 2" is so popular? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PioneerWebmaster Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 It hasn't always been so popular. Attendance, popularity and success for the Busch series has come at a significant price. The easiest explanation of why it is so popular now days is almost half the field on any given weekend in the Busch series is made up of Nextel Cup drivers. For example, for the Busch race coming up this weekend at Dover, there are 17 Nextel Cup drivers entered. It's essentially the equivalent of 17 Division I corps showing up at Division II/III prelims. In any event, many people watch & attend Busch races for the opportunity to see these Nextel Cup drivers at somewhat of a discount rate. Not to mention, at many of the tracks you can get a much better seat than you could for a Nextel Cup event. And of course it's a benefit to the Nextel Cup teams/drivers because they get extra practice/notes to work off of for the Nextel Cup race the next day. (Not to mention another paycheck!) The down side to the situation should sound strangely familiar... Many of the smaller, under funded teams that previously competed in the Busch series have been forced out of the sport by the surge of Nextel Cup teams/drivers competing in the Busch series. They simply can't afford to compete with the giants of the sport such as Penske, Hendricks, RCR, etc... You can't attract quality sponsors when you're consistently running 25th on back. Eventually, the money runs out and the team folds... The promoters don't care about the small teams... Their concern is making sure that there's a handful of Nextel Cup drivers in the field so they can sell tickets. And oh yeah, that there's enough small teams there to make a full starting field of 43 cars. Unfortunately, there have been several Busch races this year where they fell short of the 43 car field because too many small teams have folded up or can't afford to come to the track every weekend. So all may look good on the surface, but I think that there are a lot of underlying problems with the Busch series that will surface in the coming years. But for the meantime, it's successful because of Division I/Nextel Cup... Not because of anything that it's doing on its own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brace Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 It hasn't always been so popular. Attendance, popularity and success for the Busch series has come at a significant price. The easiest explanation of why it is so popular now days is almost half the field on any given weekend in the Busch series is made up of Nextel Cup drivers. For example, for the Busch race coming up this weekend at Dover, there are 17 Nextel Cup drivers entered. It's essentially the equivalent of 17 Division I corps showing up at Division II/III prelims. In any event, many people watch & attend Busch races for the opportunity to see these Nextel Cup drivers at somewhat of a discount rate. Not to mention, at many of the tracks you can get a much better seat than you could for a Nextel Cup event. And of course it's a benefit to the Nextel Cup teams/drivers because they get extra practice/notes to work off of for the Nextel Cup race the next day. (Not to mention another paycheck!) The down side to the situation should sound strangely familiar... Many of the smaller, under funded teams that previously competed in the Busch series have been forced out of the sport by the surge of Nextel Cup teams/drivers competing in the Busch series. They simply can't afford to compete with the giants of the sport such as Penske, Hendricks, RCR, etc... You can't attract quality sponsors when you're consistently running 25th on back. Eventually, the money runs out and the team folds... The promoters don't care about the small teams... Their concern is making sure that there's a handful of Nextel Cup drivers in the field so they can sell tickets. And oh yeah, that there's enough small teams there to make a full starting field of 43 cars. Unfortunately, there have been several Busch races this year where they fell short of the 43 car field because too many small teams have folded up or can't afford to come to the track every weekend. So all may look good on the surface, but I think that there are a lot of underlying problems with the Busch series that will surface in the coming years. But for the meantime, it's successful because of Division I/Nextel Cup... Not because of anything that it's doing on its own. So by this NASCAR logic, Pioneer, Troopers, Mandarins, and other lower tier Div. Is should join Div. II to help bing more attendance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcat Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 So by this NASCAR logic, Pioneer, Troopers, Mandarins, and other lower tier Div. Is should join Div. II to help bing more attendance. I think it goes even higher up the chain than that -- imagine D2 is open to all non-top-6... that would seem to be more accurate. Boston Crusaders vs BDB, etc. I did know that teams get ground up and spit out. Hell, the money people want to throw at it is crazy. But it sounds to me like the main difference is no one is worried about more teams coming along... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brace Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I think it goes even higher up the chain than that -- imagine D2 is open to all non-top-6... that would seem to be more accurate. Boston Crusaders vs BDB, etc.I did know that teams get ground up and spit out. Hell, the money people want to throw at it is crazy. But it sounds to me like the main difference is no one is worried about more teams coming along... so we really get back to a one division kind of feel. Saturday's Busch race features some of the same drivers as Sunday's Nextel race, but in different cars, with different colors and cheaper tickets. I still think a Saturday Busch race is cheaper than the Sunday Nextel race. Also, do they still do the truck series? Wow...a NASCAR thread in dcp....who would have thunk it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PioneerWebmaster Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 The truck series on the other hand has created its own identity by racing a truck instead of the typical "stock car". Yes, there are occasional Nextel Cup drivers that enter the truck races, but no where near as many as in the Busch Series. There are fans, however, who come simply because they like trucks. However, attendance is much lower than the Busch series and ticket prices are even cheaper. Yet, by all means it is generally a successful series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoHmempho04 Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I think it's comparing apples to oranges. The only thing I could compare Div II/III is MLB to Minor leagues (without the rehab starts and sending people from the bigs to the minors and back type situations). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodigal bari Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 There is the one thing NASCAR does with the Busch/Truck series that in a way DC used to do: They tag these races onto Nextel Cup weekends (for the mot part). It has become DCI's manner to completely seperate D1 from most D2/3 shows (with token participation by the lower division corps). With too many shows with only 4-6 corps why not add several D2/3 corps to fatten up the shows...and to also show off these corps as well? They used to...until DCI become sooooo D1-centric. And you can link that DIRECTLY to the slide in those divisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayre Kulp Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I think it's comparing apples to oranges.The only thing I could compare Div II/III is MLB to Minor leagues (without the rehab starts and sending people from the bigs to the minors and back type situations). It's EXACTLY like the minor leagues!!! Think about it... You have younger, less experienced corps. As the younger corps develop, they tend to aspire to move up to the bigs. When the older corps fall on hard times, they dip into the minors till they get back on their feet. So how is it any different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brace Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 There is the one thing NASCAR does with the Busch/Truck series that in a way DC used to do: They tag these races onto Nextel Cup weekends (for the mot part).It has become DCI's manner to completely seperate D1 from most D2/3 shows (with token participation by the lower division corps). With too many shows with only 4-6 corps why not add several D2/3 corps to fatten up the shows...and to also show off these corps as well? They used to...until DCI become sooooo D1-centric. And you can link that DIRECTLY to the slide in those divisions. I don't think DCI ever did. It was the regional affiliates, DCM, DCE, DCW (who still puts together quite a few shows like what you speak of.) Typical early show on the West Coast BD SCV BDB BDC SCVC Gold Fever Impulse etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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