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| - The presence of Busch Whackers is seen as problematic by some Nationwide regulars who complain about more talented Cup drivers taking the top prize money and thus leading to loss of sponsorship for Nationwide teams with no Cup affiliation. Also, in some cases, Cup regulars have better equipment thus taking away the regulars chance to win and score much needed championship points. Other Cup drivers will run equipment independent of the Cup Series; in recent years, Tony Stewart, Joe Nemechek and Jamie McMurray have raced with Nationwide teams entirely separate from their Sprint Cup ones. While most Buschwhackers cherry-pick which Nationwide Series races to drive in, a few non-rookie Sprint Cup drivers, including Greg Biffle in 2004, Carl Edwards in 2005, and Biffle, Edwards, JJ Yeley, Denny
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| abstract
| - The presence of Busch Whackers is seen as problematic by some Nationwide regulars who complain about more talented Cup drivers taking the top prize money and thus leading to loss of sponsorship for Nationwide teams with no Cup affiliation. Also, in some cases, Cup regulars have better equipment thus taking away the regulars chance to win and score much needed championship points. Other Cup drivers will run equipment independent of the Cup Series; in recent years, Tony Stewart, Joe Nemechek and Jamie McMurray have raced with Nationwide teams entirely separate from their Sprint Cup ones. While most Buschwhackers cherry-pick which Nationwide Series races to drive in, a few non-rookie Sprint Cup drivers, including Greg Biffle in 2004, Carl Edwards in 2005, and Biffle, Edwards, JJ Yeley, Denny Hamlin, Reed Sorenson, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick in 2006, attempt to run every Nationwide event while also competing in a full season of Sprint Cup, even though on some weekends the two series race at venues hundreds of miles apart. Still, the presence of Sprint Cup drivers in Nationwide races increases the exposure for the series and raises the attractiveness of the series for potential competitors as well as potential sponsors. It also increases the level of competition, and accelerates the development of non-Buschwhacker Nationwide Series drivers. In 2006, only two non-Sprint Cup regulars won during the 36-race schedule: 1) David Gilliland, a former short-track star from Bakersfield, California driving for a part-time unsponsored team, Clay Andrews Racing, broke the streak with a huge upset victory at Kentucky Speedway on June 17. It was his first career Nationwide Series win. The win also opened up an opportunity for him to drive for Robert Yates Racing in the Sprint Cup Series later that same season. When Gilliland left to drive for Yates, Andrews shut down his team. 2) In the next race at The Milwaukee Mile, Paul Menard also won his first career Nationwide Series race, this time, in front of a hometown crowd. Menard has occasionally raced in Sprint Cup for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., but was not considered a Buschwhacker because of his limited Cup schedule. His team will move up to the Cup series for 2007. One of the Buschwhackers, Kevin Harvick, clinched the 2006 Busch Series championship with four races to go, holding a 775-point lead over second-place Carl Edwards, finishing with an 824-point lead over Edwards. In 2007, most drivers who had been seen as Buschwhackers, such as Harvick, Bowyer, and Hamlin, will only run part-time schedules, although it is believed Carl Edwards will run the entire 2007 schedule.[1] Furthermore, the new television schedule for the Busch Series will reduce the series' exposure on national television; in 2006, nine races were on broadcast network television. That number will drop severely, as potentially only four Busch races will air on network television because of the new ESPN2 television contract. The O'Reilly 300, Sharpie Mini 300, and Aaron's 312, all of which aired on Fox in the last television contract, all move to ESPN2.
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