Jeff Gluck: Cup stars in the Nationwide Series leave young drivers on the sidelines
NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers compete at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
JOLIET, Ill. – The first column I ever wrote about NASCAR posed the following question: Why are Sprint Cup drivers allowed to compete in the second-tier Nationwide Series?
At the time, I was new to the sport, but I figured following it for a while would cure me of such ignorance.
Years later, I still have no idea.
It has never made sense to me. Alex Rodriguez doesn’t go play AAA baseball in the minor leagues on his days off from the New York Yankees. Tiger Woods has no interest in leaving the PGA Tour to dabble in a Nationwide Tour event.
But until recently, the big-leaguers-playing-in-the-minors situation has been almost bizarrely funny to me. It certainly wasn’t worth getting upset over.
Now, things have changed. One of the sport’s most marketable young drivers, Michael McDowell, will start tonight’s Nationwide Series race in the backmarker No. 81 car after sponsorship for his primary ride, the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing entry, dried up last week.
It seems almost criminal. McDowell is 11th in the series standings but is left to find a ride on a week-to-week basis, if he can find one at all.
But given that he has made all 17 starts in the series this year, he’s actually one of the lucky ones.
In his place at JTG Daugherty tonight will be Kelly Bires, a talented young driver who deserves a chance but has driven in just seven races this season after running the full schedule last year.
And those are seven more races than the combined total of reigning Rookie of the Year Landon Cassill and runner-up Bryan Clauson, who have driven a combined ZERO Nationwide events this season.
Brad Coleman, another young driver with seemingly a world of potential, has two starts. Former Truck series driver Erik Darnell (six starts) should be full-time in Nationwide, too.
How about Stephen Leicht (four starts)? Chase Austin (one)? Marc Davis (four)? Cale Gale (one)? Josh Wise (zero)?
All of these drivers should have Nationwide rides, yet none do.
Silly me. Here I thought the Nationwide Series was supposed to be a proving ground for young drivers like these to race against one another to see who was worthy of making it to the next level.
Clearly, that’s not happening now. It’s easy to blame the economy, since sponsorship has dried up everywhere and made it difficult to find funding.
And the sponsors who do participate in the series would rather promote a Cup driver than a no-name youngster.
But that’s precisely the problem. By allowing Cup drivers to run in the Nationwide Series, NASCAR has stunted its No. 2 series’ growth, losing a chance to bring along new and exciting stars, create new rivalries and run a secondary circuit that truly has its own identity.
Cassill, Clauson and Co. can’t find sponsors to fund their rides because they aren’t household names. Yet if there were no Cup drivers in Nationwide, all these young drivers would have a chance to win races and become more familiar to race fans.
Sadly, given the current state of the economy, it’s too late now. NASCAR missed the boat a couple years ago, when the departure of longtime sponsor Busch provided an opportunity to institute real change.
Series officials could have worked with Nationwide to create a series without Cup drivers at all. Maybe Nationwide and TV partner ESPN balked at the idea – if it was ever presented – but NASCAR has always been strong enough to make decisions on its own.
But whoever gets assigned the blame, everyone loses. Because as a truly unique series with unique drivers, the Nationwide Series could have been must-see television for race fans every week.
Currently, it’s not.
The Camping World Truck Series has been successful and appealing to fans because it’s so different than Cup racing – it gives them another NASCAR product to consume on the weekends.
But Nationwide is and has been Cup Lite, which fails to excite as many people as it should.
There has been talk lately of perhaps not allowing Cup drivers to run for the Nationwide title, which makes a mockery of the series. And former champion Carl Edwards suggested that Cup drivers be forced to start in the back of every race.
Why not go a step further and tell Edwards and Kyle Busch that they can’t race Nationwide cars at all? Get rid of situations like the one at JR Motorsports, where it seems like half the Cup garage is taking a turn in the No. 5 car this season while Cassill sits on the sidelines, twiddling his thumbs.
There are 12 Cup regulars on the entry list for tonight’s race. Couldn’t those 12 spots have been filled by drivers who need and deserve an opportunity to prove themselves, rather than Cup guys just showing up to earn an extra few bucks and a possible trophy?
It’s frankly embarrassing for the sport to have young and talented drivers unable to find rides in the series that should be meant for them.
Though years have now passed since I first wondered how Cup drivers can be allowed to race in the lower levels, I still haven’t been able to figure it out.
But someone at NASCAR or Nationwide should.
