Is the ‘new look’ Nationwide Series working for you? Thought not.

I have to admit it, I’m frustrated with the Nationwide Series. Not that it is any different this year than in recent years but I approached this racing season with high optimism for the second tiered division of NASCAR. My optimism was not just because of the new look ‘70’s styled pony cars from both Ford and Dodge but also because of NASCAR’s new rule changes about driver declarations in which series they will run in for the Driver’s Championship.

Not since the Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) ran V-6 engines has this series enjoyed its own identity. Those V-6’s had a ton of torque and you could rev the snot out of them and they just wouldn’t break. And the distinct high-pitched sound they made at the end of the straightaways was also something to enjoy.

To be honest, I love the fact that there are Mustangs and Challengers out there racing each and every week. I think that by having those cars in the Nationwide Series gives the series its own identity again. You look at a picture in the newspaper or on the internet and you see a Mustang you know its the Nationwide Series they’re talking about and not Cup.

But where is the Camaro? Ford and Chrysler ‘ponied up’ why not GM? It just doesn’t seem right having Challengers out there facing off against its 40 year old foes Mustang, and ... Impala? I’m sure GM has its reasons for not putting the Camaro in the series but the way the cars in NASCAR are built now all of the manufacturer’s makes/models are interchangeable with one another (i.e. the Mustang has the same engine as the Focus) so why not have the Camaro in the Nationwide Series?

I don’t know about you but I think they would be able to generate even more interest in the Nationwide Series if GM had its own pony car in the mix.

But I took the absence of GM’s pony car in stride when I found out this past winter that NASCAR drivers now have to declare which series they’re going to run for points in before the start of the season thus eliminating the possible chance of having a driver win more than one series Championship in the same season. I was ecstatic that we would have a true Nationwide Champion this year with all of the double dipper Cup drivers not being able to run for the Championship.

Problem is, the double dipping Nationwide poachers from the Cup Series didn’t go away - they’re still racing in the Nationwide Series and so far this season we still haven’t had a Nationwide-only driver visit victory lane. All of the Nationwide races they’ve run so far have been won by invading Cup drivers. If this continues it is quite possible that our Nationwide Champion this year may also be victory-less.

Granted the Cup guys aren’t racing for Driver Points so they can’t win the Nationwide Championship but they are still racing for Owner Points and that is why they are still in the Nationwide Series, because their car owners want to win the Owner’s Championship. Of course this comes at the risk of devaluing the Nationwide Drivers Championship and the Nationwide-only teams those Nationwide-only drivers race for.

In the last ten years there has been a notable ‘performance’ decline in Nationwide Series-only teams.

If you look at the first ten races of the Nationwide Series from each season combined from 2001 - 2005 inclusive you would find that Nationwide-only drivers won seventeen of those races. By comparison, if you look at the first ten races from each season combined from 2006 - 2011 inclusive (with 2011 having only 8 races so far) you will find that Nationwide-only drivers have only won two of those races.

Don’t believe me? Check for yourself (via nascar.com) - 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.
In fact, in 2006, 2007, 2009 and so far in 2011 there were no Nationwide-only winners in the first ten races of each of those seasons. Interestingly enough you didn’t see the first Nationwide winner in 2006 until the thirty-first race of the season while in 2007 the first Nationwide-only winner emerged in the sixteenth race of the season and in 2009 in the eleventh race. By comparison, from 2001 - 2005 you had more frequent Nationwide-only winners and they came earlier in each season (2001: first race, 2002: second race, 2003: fourth race, 2004: fifth race, and 2005: third race).

In my opinion, the decrease in Nationwide-only winners over the last ten years is in direct correlation of the increased participation by Sprint Cup regulars in the Nationwide Series and it has to stop before the Nationwide Series goes by way of the do-do.

NASCAR has made strides in the right direction as far as trying to get the Nationwide Series it’s own identity and its own Champion but until they deal with the lack of Nationwide-only winners and the dominance of Cup regulars poaching in the lower-tiered series the interest level of the race fans will continue to decline and the Nationwide Series will never reach its potential to truly become its own series independent of NASCAR’s other series.

The Nationwide Series may have its own identity and its own Nationwide-only Driver’s Champion at the end of the season but it also needs its own winners and stars too, otherwise ... I can hear the do-do calling now and its not a long-distance call either.