While watching the final Nationwide race at Homestead in November and hearing Bobby Hamilton, Jr. actually mentioned by TV, a thought occurred to me. Imagine what a season the fans would have had if there had been no Cup drivers running in the Nationwide races every week?

Call me a curmudgeon or what you will, but I’ve been a fan of the second-tier of NASCAR since about 1990. You know back when it was called the Busch Series and most of the races were not companion events to the Cup Series. The series had it’s own identity, racing primarily on short tracks at places like Orange County Speedway, South Boston, Myrtle Beach and Lanier, Georgia. I learned to admire drivers like Bobby Labonte, Kenny Wallace, Johnny Benson, David Green, Randy Lajoie, and Jason Keller who were actually able to use the Busch Series as the “developmental series” before making the leap to the Winston Cup Series.

Sure, back in the early 90s there were a few Cup drivers who drove in selected Busch events at the companion races like Daytona or Charlotte so they could get a little extra practice on the track. During the mid-90s, a friend of mine, Craig Witkowski coined the phrase “Buschwhackers” to describe drivers like Mark Martin who would cherrypick 10 or so races a year in the Busch Series. Thankfully though after the first 3-4 races, the Buschwhackers would no longer be a factor in the championship battle. Those of us who liked to see the developing drivers or veterans who actually made a career in the Busch Series could relax and know that the year-long championship would be earned by a Busch “regular.” I enjoyed this battle so much that I travelled to North Carolina for the final, Championship determining, races of the Busch season in 1992, 1993, and 1994 (the first two at Hickory Motor Speedway and the last at Rockingham). I was able to see Joe Nemechek beat out Bobby Labonte in 1992, Steve Grissom beat David Green in 1993 and finally see Green gets his Busch championship in 1994.