How to Fix NASCAR: 2. Revamp The Nationwide Series

by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

If OnPitRow.com was a NASCAR team, I’d be the development driver of the bunch. In the same way that young hotshots like Joey Logano have been driving since they were in grade school, I’ve been following and writing about all forms of motorsports since I was barely old enough to talk.

December 16, 2008 8:32 pm CST 1 Comment

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Two weeks has gone by pretty fast, but here I am again with another installment of How to Fix NASCAR. Perhaps I shouldn’t have just jumped into the idea without giving a proper introduction, but sometimes one can make a mistake like that, and regardless of the negative reaction to some of my suggestions, it’s time to move on.

(You’ll all remember me when the contract-ripping party ends, by the way. Bobby Labonte and Petty Enterprises kicked it off last week…)

This week, we look at NASCAR’s awkward teenager stuck between the adults of Sprint Cup and the old men of CWTS, the Nationwide Series. I call it the “awkward teenager” because this series and its teams have no idea what it is - a step on the development ladder to Sprint Cup, or “Cup Lite,” as it used to be. With only wins by Scott Wimmer, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ron Fellows, and Marcos Ambrose standing between a “claim jumper” sweep for the year, I’d say it’s becoming Cup Lite.

That needs to change.

I think the developmental failures of drivers like Joel Kauffman, Tracy Hines, and the like a few years ago may have put off teams and sponsors from wanting to take a chance on full-season developmental drivers. But at the same time, one must remember that that era of the series also produced stars like Greg Biffle, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers, and Kasey Kahne, along with mid-pack drivers David Stremme, Jamie McMurray, Scott Riggs, and Wimmer.

A quick note: All of the aforementioned “stars” drove for top teams like Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing, or teams that had been on the top of their game, like Yates Racing and Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. The mid-pack drivers all drove for the best of the independents, such as Brewco Motorsports and ppc Racing.

Kauffman and Hines drove for the less-than-stellar Fitz Bradshaw Racing. Mark McFarland drove for the still-fledgling JR Motorsports. Auggie Vidovich was employed by a Biagi Brothers Racing on its last legs. Todd Kluever and Danny O’Quinn Jr.? Yeah, they were Roush drivers, but they’re like the 2001 Roush CWTS class of Nathan Haseleu and Chuck Hossfeld. (I know what you’re saying… “Who?”) It happens.

That’s no excuse for the entire series to degenerate into a Cup heat race. If you want to do that, award Cup points. Personally, I like the idea of Nationwide being a driver development series, as it used to be. If sponsors and teams are whining down the road about a shortage of quality drivers, it’s their own fault for ignoring their commitment to developing future stars now. So let’s fix that, shall we?

1. The “all-or-8″ rule: If you’re a full-time Cup driver, you either run every race, or you run a maximum of 8. I’m sure that enough Cup drivers will show up every week to keep ticket sales-a-goin’, and you can have some interesting combinations of guys running for the owners’ championship. Imagine Vickers sharing a Toyota with Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Logano and running for the owners’ title against Biffle, David Ragan, McMurray, and Matt Kenseth in a Ford. NASCAR’s already becoming all about the teams anyway… we can work with this.

Two protection clauses: First, if a driver misses a race, like a Nashville or Kentucky one, for any other reason than inclement flying weather, his season stops there. Period. This ensures that some hot prospect can have a chance at a top-tier ride at least once in their lifetime. Second, if a driver gets dumped from his Cup ride, the rule no longer applies to him, as long as he’s out of Cup full-time. I know, it’s complex, but so was the scorecard I used to keep track of the No. 5 Chevrolet last year.

This keeps super teams from entering four or five Nationwide cars some weeks. It also frees up some seats for the guys who really need them. Which brings me to my next point…

2. At least one single-driver car for every “team” car: This way, if Jack Roush wants to enter that super team, he has to commit to a full-season car that runs for the drivers’ championship. I know, it’d suck if that driver was Carl Edwards, but Roush has the means to run Erik Darnell for a full season too, I’m sure.

Marc Davis lucks out and gets a full-time ride with Gibbs, if they don’t run Kyle Busch full-time. Stephen Leicht goes full-time with RCR, Justin Allgaier moves up with Penske, Brad Keselowski sort of has the same relationship as he did before with Hendrick/JR Motorsports… in short, the future superstars of the sport get more time to hone their skills.

This is where I address the sponsors. We all know that a company would rather sponsors a Sprint Cup guy for a limited schedule than a rookie for a full year, but that’s only because NASCAR and the teams have allowed it to be so. If you institute rules limiting what drivers can participate, two things can happen: either it could backfire and we dump the system in one year, like the 1974 Cup points system was, or sponsors could realize that the future means just as much as the present in regards to brand association, and make lasting commitments to drivers that truly turn them into the “faces” of their brands. I’m willing to bet on the latter.

3. Limit the field to 28 cars: Now that we’ve limited the powerful teams, how do we keep the field-fillers from, in effect, stealing money? Limit the field significantly. We don’t need 43 cars to run an amazing race - Champ Car had some of my favorite racing of all-time between 1999 and its demise, and they rarely had more than 20. Cut out the guys like MSRP Motorsports, for one. There would be other casualties, for sure, but hopefully, with less places for sponsors to land on big teams, the teams like Davis Motorsports might land a lucrative contract.

4. Development cash prize: In 2006, Simon Pagenaud won the Toyota Atlantic Championship, earning him a $2 million grant towards a full-time ride in the Champ Car World Series. For the top non-Sprint Cup driver, award a significant cash prize towards moving them up, at least part-time, for the following year… at least $5 million, anyway. It’s just another incentive to encourage teams to develop drivers.

At this point, any bit of money helps…
5. Postpone the Car of Tomorrow indefinitely until economic conditions improve.

6. Shorten the schedule: How could I forget? Hasta la bye-bye, second Auto Club race, second Texas race, second Nashville race that occurs under two months after the first Nashville race, Chicagoland race, and first Dover race (which will be replaced by moving the Gateway race). That’s a 30-race schedule, equal to that of the Cup Series. Everybody hates me for suggesting these cuts, but don’t worry: I won’t touch the Camping World schedule. Promise.

The problem with such a dramatic overhaul lies in the extent of the reform - what I’ve suggested is a nearly 180-degree turn from the direction in which the series is currently headed. However, besides the Car of Tomorrow in Sprint Cup, I hear more complaints about the Nationwide Series as a whole than any other. Most of it deals with the “claim jumpers,” if you will (the only term I’ve heard to replace “Buschwhackers” with any staying power), and their picking and choosing the races they’ll go out and dominate, taking money and exposure away from the little guys. However, I respect the guys who commit to running two full schedules, because it’s so much harder to be competitive in two different series over ten months… even if that puts me in the minority.

If I learned anything after my first set of ideas, it’s that I probably always will be.

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Comments

One Response to “How to Fix NASCAR: 2. Revamp The Nationwide Series”

Steve Wronkowicz on December 22nd, 2008 9:21 am

I can’t believe Charlie hasn’t ripped you on this one Chris. He believes that Sprint Lite doesn’t have enough Cup drivers. The more the merrier. I’m with you on this one–severely limit the number of appearances by individual Cup guys unless they are running for a championship. I like you thinking.

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