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[Normi]

NASCAR Busch Series: One Route
to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series

A lot of drivers, including me, ended up in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series via the NASCAR Busch Series – a place where drivers can train themselves by getting experience, making mistakes, and learning from those errors. NASCAR Busch Series races are usually held on Saturdays, while NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races are most often on Sundays. But that’s not the only difference.

NASCAR Busch Series racers drive stock cars and follow the same on-track rules (see Chapter 5) as in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, but the cars have a couple fundamental differences. Here are some unique aspects of each car:


GARAGE TALK

• Size: Although both NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series cars are nearly the same height (51 inches and 50.5 inches, respectively), the wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear axles) is slightly different. On NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series car, the wheelbase is 110 inches, while on a NASCAR Busch Series racer, it’s 105 inches. NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series cars have an advantage here: their longer wheelbase gives them more stability.
  
• Horsepower: The biggest difference between the two cars is how powerful their engines are. NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series cars have significantly more oomph to them, producing about 790 horsepower. Horsepower is a unit of measurement representing how much power an engine generates. The more horsepower, the faster the car. NASCAR Busch Series engines generate around 660 horsepower. Which means NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series cars should be faster than Busch cars, correct? Yes – and no. One hundred pounds lighter than NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series cars, NASCAR Busch Series racers do reach speeds that are nearly as fast. Though they have smaller engines, NASCAR Busch Series racers don’t to lug around as much weight as a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series car.
  
• Compression ratio: All three major series in NASCAR racing now use the same compression ratio (12 to 1), which is the volume inside a cylinder compared to the volume it compresses to when the piston is fully extended. The higher the ratio, the less space the mixture of fuel and air is shoved into, so the greater the potential for energy. (For more details on the technical aspects of stock cars, see Chapter 4.)

The NASCAR Busch Series – not bush league

Even though the NASCAR Busch Series, which evolved from the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series, is considered a stepping for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, many drivers bristle at that image. Some, like two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion Randy LaJoie, love racing in that series and have made a career out of it, saying it has the same intense competition as the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and isn’t just a stepping stone. LaJoie especially likes the fact that, even though he doesn’t get paid as much as NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series drivers do, he doesn’t have to deal with nearly as much pressure.

The NASCAR Busch Series began in 1982 and has grown from races at small, unknown tracks to competitions at large, well-known facilities and includes nearly as many races as the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series does. Many races are companion events to NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races and are held on Saturday of a race weekend at a particular track. That gives NASCAR NEXTEL Cup drivers a chance to drive, as I do, in both races in one weekend. Are even though NASCAR Busch Series drivers themselves are quite popular with fans, having NASCAR NEXTEL Cup drivers in the race lures even more people to the racetrack. But even witout those well-known drivers competing, NASCAR Busch Series races have become popular events in their own right.




MARK SAYS

The NASCAR Busch Series was a valuable training ground for me, and I haven’t turned my back on those races now, even though I have been successful in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series for more than a decade. I still compete in a limited number of NASCAR Busch Series races every year, mostly because I love to race – and win. In fact, I’ve won more NASCAR Busch races than anyone in history, 45 times as of 2004. Because the cars are different, some technical information on how to set them up isn’t the same. But overall, running in a NASCAR Busch Series race prior to NASCAR NEXTEL Cup competition gives me hints of how my NEXTEL Cup car will handle on a particular track.



MARK SAYS

Although winning a NASCAR Busch Series race on Saturday gives me more confidence for Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series events, racing twice in one weekend is tough. I hardly have any time to stop and take a breath. I get to the garage early to check out the Saturday car and talk to my Saturday crew chief, then hop over to my NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series car. Then I have to juggle NASCAR Busch Series practice with NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series practice and then qualify for both races. Sometimes I’m so busy with that and signing autographs on my way from one garage to the other that I forget to eat!