Busch Series

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Busch Grand National Series)
Jump to: navigation, search
Busch Series
Current season or competition 2007 NASCAR Busch Series
Busch Series
Sport Auto racing
Founded 1981
No. of teams 25
Country(ies) Flag of Canada Canada
Flag of the United States United States
Flag of Mexico Mexico
Most recent champion(s) Carl Edwards

The NASCAR Busch Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's "minor league" circuit (often compared to Triple-A baseball), and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organization's "big league" circuit, the NEXTEL Cup. However, in recent years, participation by Cup Series drivers has increased, and they have increasingly dominated competition. Busch Series races are frequently held in the same venue as, and a day prior to, the NEXTEL Cup race scheduled for that weekend, encouraging fans to attend both events.

In December 2006, NASCAR officials confirmed that Anheuser-Busch, parent company for Busch Beer, would not renew its sponsorship of NASCAR's No. 2 series after the end of the 2007 Season. On October 3, 2007, it was announced Nationwide Insurance would become the title sponsor beginning with the 2008 season.

Contents

The Busch Series field following the pace car at Texas in April 2007.
The Busch Series field following the pace car at Texas in April 2007.

The series emerged from NASCAR's old Sportsman division, which was formed in 1950 as NASCAR's short track race division. It was NASCAR's fourth series (after the Modified and Roadster series in 1948 and Strictly Stock in 1949). The sportsman cars were not current model cars, and could be modified more (but not as much as Modified series cars). [1] It became the Late Model Sportsman series in 1968, and soon featured races on larger tracks, such as Daytona International Speedway. Drivers used obsolete Grand National (now NEXTEL Cup) cars on larger tracks, but by the inception of the touring format in 1982, the series used older compact cars. Short track cars with relatively small 300 cubic inch V-8 motors were used. Drivers used smaller current year models featuring V6 motors.

The modern-day Busch Series was formed in 1982, when Anheuser-Busch sponsored a newly reformed late-model sportsman series with its Budweiser brand. The series switched sponsorship to Busch in 1984. It was renamed in 1986 to the Busch Grand National Series.

By that time, teams were switching from the General Motors 1971-77 X-Body compact cars, with a 311-cubic inch engines. Later, teams were using General Motors 1982-87 G-body cars. Ford teams used the Thunderbird cars consistently.

In 1989, NASCAR changed rules requiring cars to use current body styles, similar to the Winston Cup cars.

logo of series (effective 2008)

However, the cars still used V6 engines, which were legal until 1995. The cars gradually changed to cars just like Cup cars. Grand National was dropped from the series' title in 2003 as part of NASCAR's brand identity (the Grand National name was now used for the Busch East and Winston West series as part of a nationwide standardization of rules for NASCAR's regional racing). Following the 2007 season, Anheuser-Busch, makers of the Busch brand of beer, said they would not renew their contract with NASCAR. Nationwide Insurance will be the Title Sponsor of the No. 2 Series becoming the "NASCAR Nationwide Series" beginning in 2008.[2]

The Nationwide insurance company sponsorship is a seven-year contract, which coincides with NASCAR's current broadcast contract with ABC/ESPN. The Nationwide sponsorship does not include the banking and mortgage departments of Nationwide. The sponsorship reportedly carried a $10 million commitment for 2008, with 6% annual escalations thereafter[3]. In addition to the direct cost of sponsorship, Nationwide has made an additional commitment of between $4 million and $5 million in advertisement buys on ESPN.

On March 6, 2005, the Busch Series held its first race outside the United States, the Telcel-Motorola 200. The race was held in Mexico City, Mexico at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a track that has held Formula One and Champ Car races, and was won by Martin Truex Jr.. On August 4, 2007, the Busch Series held its second race outside of the United States, at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, another road course. It was won by Kevin Harvick, while Quebec native Patrick Carpentier finished second.

Beginning in 2007, ESPN2 became the exclusive carrier of all Busch Series races, replacing FOX, FX, TNT and NBC. Some sponsors have cricitized the new television deal, noting only six races will appear on broadcast network television (through a branding deal on ABC), and none in prime-time; in recent years, as many as nine races in the Busch Series have aired on network television, with two 2005 races ending up in prime-time television. Most of the races on ABC were chosen so ESPN2 could air major sporting events.

Since 2006, 'SPEED Latin America' has had live coverage of all events. The races are also shown on Fox Sports, some of them live and some tape-delayed depending on the network's schedule.

Televisa Deportes broadcasts a 30-minute recap every Sunday morning in Mexico.

Starting February 2008 Channel Tens New HIGH DEFINITION ' TEN-HD ' Will be broadcasting every single race every morning on sunday of the Busch Series after ESPN And Foxtel lose the rights, TEN-HD is a new Multichannel station, one of 3 being released free to air in Australia.

Main article: Buschwhacker

Since the early days of the Busch Series, many Cup drivers have used their days off to drive in the Busch Series. This can be for any number of reasons, most prominent or often claimed is to gain more "seat time", or to familiarize themselves with the track. Examples of this would be the first ever winner of a Busch Series race, Dale Earnhardt, and the winner of the most races in Busch Series history, Mark Martin. In recent years, this practice has been termed "Buschwhacking" by those that criticize the practice, claiming that Cup drivers racing in the Busch Series takes away opportunities from the Busch Series regulars, drivers that are usually younger and less experienced. Many fans claim that without the Cup "superstars" and the large amount of fan interest they attract, the series would not improve.

In 2007, the NEXTEL Cup began racing with the Car of Tomorrow, a radically new specification different from the Busch Series. Thus far, this has not changed things much. The top three championship leaders in the NASCAR Busch Series are regulars in the Cup Series. It should be noted that the Car of Tomorrow is only being used on a limited basis in 2007, and the long-term effects on the Busch Series may take several years to manifest themselves.

The cars used today in the Busch Series are slightly different versions of their NEXTEL Cup Series counterparts, the main differences being a slightly shorter wheelbase (105" instead of 110") and a larger spoiler (57" wide x 5.75" high instead of 55" x 4.5"). In the past, Busch Series competitors could use makes of cars not used in the Cup series, as well as V-6 engines instead of Cup's V-8s, but the cars used in the series now are very similar.

While the Busch Series car is lighter, less powerful, and has a shorter wheelbase; superficially, they can appear identical to the untrained eye. The suspensions, brake systems, transmissions, are identical between each series. The Car of Tomorrow does eliminate some of these similarities. The Car of Tomorrow is taller and wider than the current generation vehicles in the Busch Series and utilizes a rear wing and front splitter opposed to a rear spoiler and front valance. The Car of Tomorrow has also been setting pole speeds slower than the Busch Series cars at companion races. [4]

Previously, Busch Series cars used fuel that contained lead. NASCAR conducted a three-race test of unleaded fuel in this series that began with the July 29, 2006 race at Gateway International Raceway. The fuel, Sunoco GT 260 Unleaded, became mandatory in all series starting with the second weekend of the 2007 series, as Daytona was the last race weekend with leaded fuel.

Once the Car of Tomorrow is fully implemented in the Nextel Cup Series, NASCAR will begin work on changing the cars run in the Busch Series. NASCAR has been approached by manufacturers about using differently shaped and named car models as the basis for the cars in the Busch Series when this change is made. NASCAR has been receptive to the idea.

NASCAR officials are using a template to inspect Casey Atwood's 2004 Busch Series car, courtesy of the U.S. Navy
NASCAR officials are using a template to inspect Casey Atwood's 2004 Busch Series car, courtesy of the U.S. Navy
  • Engine displacement: 358 in³ (5.8 L) Pushrod V8
  • Transmission: 4 speed Manual
  • Weight: 3,100 lb (1406 kg) Minimum (with out driver); 3,300 lb (1497 kg) Minimum (with driver)
  • Power output: 650-700 hp (485-522 kw) unrestricted, ~450 hp (335 kW) restricted
  • Fuel: 98 octane unleaded gasoline
  • Fuel capacity: 22 U.S. gallons (83.2 L)
  • Fuel delivery: Carburetion
  • Compression ratio: 9:1
  • Aspiration: Naturally aspirated
  • Carburetor size: 390 ft³/min (184 L/s) 4 Barrel
  • Wheelbase: 105 in (2.6 m)
  • Steering: Power, recirculating ball

Though plans are tentative, NASCAR plans to debut a Nationwide Series "Car of Tomorrow" by 2009.. The body and aerodynamic package will be different than the Sprint Cup Series cars.[5]

Chrysler
Ford
GM

Chrysler
Ford
GM

Chrysler
Ford
GM
Toyota

Chrysler
Ford
GM
Toyota

Busch Series Champions

Carl Edwards celebrating his 2007 Busch Series championship
Carl Edwards celebrating his 2007 Busch Series championship

Busch Grand National Series Champions

Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series Champions

Late Model Sportsman Division Champions

Sportsman Division Champions

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

  1. ^ The Busch Series dilemma
  2. ^ Nationwide Insurance to be sponsor of No. 2 Series
  3. ^ NASCAR Scene, October 11, 2007, Vol. XXXI - No. 24, p32
  4. ^ NEXTEL Cup race with pole speed listed Busch Series race with pole speed listed
  5. ^ COT planned for 2009 Nationwide Series debut
  6. ^ Chevy Manufacturer NASCAR News
National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR)
Chairmen and Presidents
Bill France, Sr. | Bill France, Jr. | Mike Helton | Brian France
National Racing Series
NEXTEL Cup Series | Busch Series | Craftsman Truck Series
Regional/Local Racing Series

Camping World Series': CW West Series | CW East Series
Whelen Modified: Whelen Modified Tour | Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Weekly Short Track Racing: Whelen All-American Series
Special Event: Toyota All-Star Showdown
International Series

NASCAR Canada: Canadian Tire Series
NASCAR Mexico: Corona Series | T4 Series
Former Series

AutoZone Elite Division: Midwest Series | Northwest Series | Southeast Series | Southwest Series
Other Series:ISCARS | Grand American
Television & Radio
FOX | ESPN/ABC | TNT | Hot Pass | SPEED
MRN Radio | Performance Racing Network | IMS Radio Network

Daytona 500 | Chase for the NEXTEL Cup | Current Races | Seasons in Review
Tracks | Rules & Regulations | Car of Tomorrow
Drivers | Teams | Hall of Fame | Champions | All-time Cup Winners | Rookie of the Year
Buschwhackers | Road Course Ringers | Canada | Mexico | Video Games
This box: view • talk • edit
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busch_Series"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.