The case to send “Buschwackers” to the back of Nationwide and Truck Series fields

Following Brad Keselowski’s Nationwide Series trouncing at New Hampshire, I’m going to suggest that all Sprint Cup Series regulars start at the back of field of every Nationwide or Camping World Truck Series event.

This isn’t the first time I’ve pitched such an idea. I conceived it after attending last July’s Truck Series event at Kentucky, a race that saw Kyle Busch march from last-to-first to win after a prerace penalty started him in the back. Kentucky is notorious for lackluster racing, and sending the fastest qualifier to the back made for the best race of the weekend.

The same rule should be applied to any Nationwide or Truck Series race to help improve the racing.

Brad Keselowski led 131 of 200 laps and could have led wire-to-wire if not for differing fuel strategies that gave Kasey Kahne the lead for a brief period in the middle stages of the race. I’m tired of seeing the Sprint Cup teams, with their more experienced drivers and bigger budgets qualify up front and dominate.

It’s not good for attendance and it’s not good for television ratings.
Beyond that, NASCAR fancies the Nationwide Series as a proving ground where the stars of today and tomorrow do battle for race victories. That’s not the case as long as Cup stars lead and win a majority of the races. Stick them at the back of the field and give the Nationwide Series regulars a chance to lead laps, battle amongst their peers, and ultimately try to fend off their Cup Series invaders.
This, combined with the shorter Nationwide Series race lengths, should provide Saturday afternoon shootouts, more exciting finishes, and a better overall product.
Traditionalists are groaning at the suggestion, but something has to be done. The cars are way too easy to drive, and the proliferation of intermediate courses does not lend itself to competitive racing.

In a perfect world, NASCAR doesn’t have to examine the format. The car and tracks used to be enough to provide exciting racing. But something happened to the formula. Cars became easier to drive, tracks required less input and more horsepower, and the racing has suffered.

The Sanctioning Body has a chance to fix a lot of this with the 2013 Cup Series car and further modification to the Nationwide Series car. Make them harder to drive and tell the drivers to deal with it when Kyle Busch says, “This car sucks.”
Then we won’t have to have this conversation.

Until then, stick the Sprint Cup regulars, who have no business in the series anyway, beyond marketing reasons, in the back and make them work their way to the front.