Coming away from Daytona it was difficult enough to determine who is driving what but now you have to take into account what day it is. Yes… Cup drivers have been running in the Nationwide Series for some time but it seems to be even more so. However, NASCAR has a rule about declaring which series a driver is running for a potential championship so why all the crossover?
Well… Kyle Busch owns a team so he is building something for future growth as an owner. His brother Kurt will share driving duties. He is in Nationwide for experience as an owner.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is also a Nationwide owner. Three cars are currently running for JRM including one driven by Danica Patrick.
Brad Keselowski is running in Nationwide. He also is fielding his own team in the Camping World Series and is going for the Truck championship in 2012.
Kevin Harvick… He has essentially turned the keys to his operation with the Nationwide Series over to Richard Childress Racing. Harvick drove the #33 at Phoenix and future races will share that ride among RCR drivers. Elliott Sadler drove the #2 to Victory Lane at Phoenix and is slated to run it into the season.
Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin are in some kind of musical chair thing with Joe Gibbs Racing in the Nationwide Series. Both ran at Phoenix with Hamlin on the pole for that race. Hamlin also drove the FedEx #11 Toyota to victory for the Cup race.
Kasey Kahne is running a limited number of Nationwide races for Turner Motorsports with up and coming Rookie of the Year contender Brad Sweet rounding out the schedule.
Mike Bliss is sharing laps in Sprint Cup and Nationwide. As is J.J. Yeley, Joe Nemechek, and Trevor Bayne. Bayne is driving a limited number of Cup races in the #21 Ford for the Wood Brothers.
It is very possible we missed other crossover drivers. The point was to put “Nationwide” out there as much as possible in an effort to gain some kind of policy discount. It is all about sponsors, right…?
Is there an advantage to running both series…? From race to race there may be some crossover insight as to setups and track lines to take to the “big dance”. As a Cup car owner, is there any concern for being distracted from the larger Cup event as drivers run Nationwide as well? Do Cup drivers in the “developmental” series eliminate chances for new blood to get a shot? Does having Cup stars in the Nationwide races increase attendance at the tracks?
Do the Phillies’ Roy Halladay or Rangers’ Josh Hamilton drop to the minors just get some more field time…? Would they if asked to? We doubt it…
And it’s not as if we have different chairs to watch different races… Perhaps you do… We don’t.
At the end of Phoenix, five of the crossover drivers finished in the Top 10 on Sunday. (Hamlin, Harvick, Keselowski, Busch, Logano) Denny Hamlin had the pole for the Nationwide race and won the Cup race.
Five of the Cup drivers finished in the Top 10 for the Nationwide race. (Keselowski, Harvick, Bayne, Logano, Hamlin)
Perhaps there is something to it.