Jeff Owens: Nationwide Series needs a Chase and some new stars

By Jeff Owens

Friday, July 30, 2010

Justin Allgaier races Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski at Bristol.

Sam Cranston
NASCAR Illustrated

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COMMENTARY

The NASCAR Nationwide Series will hold one of its biggest races of the season Saturday at sparkling Iowa Speedway and you already know who will win.

Kyle Busch, who already has eight Nationwide wins this season, likely will win again.

If Busch doesn’t win, points leader Brad Keselowski, the defending race winner, probably will.

Or Carl Edwards. Or Kevin Harvick.

Outside of those four Sprint Cup stars, no one else has a chance. Unless those four all get in a wreck, blow engines or have something bizarre happen, one of them will win at Iowa Speedway.

Denny Hamlin or Joey Logano might stand a chance, but they aren’t running this week’s race. So that narrows it down to four.

It’s a foregone conclusion, like every other Nationwide race and like the series championship.

With 15 races remaining, Keselowski already has a 205-point lead and practically has the championship in the bag. Barring a major meltdown, the Sprint Cup star will win his first NASCAR title.

If he doesn’t, Edwards, an even bigger Sprint Cup star, will win his second Nationwide championship.

No one else has a chance.

Jason Allgaier, a young, development driver for Penske Racing, is third in the standings but already 498 points behind.

Paul Menard, yet another Sprint Cup driver, is running the full Nationwide schedule, but he is sixth in points, 684 back.

Steve Wallace, the next Nationwide Series regular, is seventh, 851 points out.

This, of course, is nonsense.

The Nationwide Series, NASCAR’s Triple-A division, should not be dominated by Sprint Cup drivers.

They should not win every race – they have won all but one this year – and they should not monopolize the championship race every year.

This is one of the oldest hot-topic debates in the sport, one that has lingered for years.

NASCAR officials finally are considering putting a stop to such injustice by limiting the number of Nationwide races Sprint Cup drivers can run and possibly even creating a playoff-style Chase for the Nationwide title.

Presumably, such a Chase would include only regular, full-time Nationwide Series-only drivers, not Cup stars trying to cherry pick another championship.

NASCAR should make both moves ASAP, implementing them for the 2011 season.

That would turn the Nationwide Series into what it should be – a competitive series for young, up-and-coming drivers and veteran NASCAR stars who can’t quite cut it in Sprint Cup or who can’t find a competitive ride in NASCAR’s top series.

You would then have an interesting Nationwide Series, with talented, young future stars battling veteran drivers that still have some name recognition and that fans can enjoy watching and pulling for on a weekly basis.

It’s not as if the Nationwide Series is hurting. TV ratings have been up in recent weeks. Attendance is OK. And the series needs a few Sprint Cup stars to give it some star power and help track promoters sell tickets.

But it could get a big boost with more competitive races and a compelling championship battle.

If NASCAR took this year’s Nationwide standings, eliminated the Sprint Cup drivers from championship contention and created a 12-driver Chase, it would have a fascinating race for the series title, one that might create some new stars for the sport.

It would feature Allgaier, Wallace and Trevor Bayne, all young, up-and-coming drivers, battling veterans Brendan Gaughan and Jason Leffler, both former Cup drivers who now race full time in the Nationwide Series.

Former Cup drivers Reed Sorenson, Tony Raines and Mike Bliss might be in the mix, as would lesser-known youngsters Brian Scott and Michael Annett.

And filling out the Chase would be popular veterans such as Mike Wallace, Kenny Wallace, Joe Nemechek and Jason Keller.

Wouldn’t that be much more interesting than watching Keselowski and Edwards battle for the championship each week while the rest of the field is just also-rans?

NASCAR should also encourage its top teams – Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing and others – to field full-time Nationwide Series teams, using either young drivers or veterans that are not racing full time in Cup.

If Busch, Edwards, Harvick and other Cup stars want to run a handful of Nationwide races, fine. They just shouldn’t run them all and should not be eligible for the championship.

There are plenty of solid Sprint Cup drivers currently toiling with mid-pack or back-marker teams just struggling to survive. Put them in competitive Nationwide cars and they become stars.

Travis Kvapil, David Gilliland, David Stremme, Dave Blaney, Scott Riggs and Bliss have all had success in the Nationwide Series and could add some spice to the series with competitive teams.

Casey Mears and Reed Sorenson flashed potential in the Sprint Cup Series but can’t find full-time rides. They could be stars in the Nationwide Series.

And what about a popular veteran like Elliott Sadler, who has struggled in recent years and whose Cup future is suddenly uncertain?

He would be the most popular driver in the Nationwide Series. And in a competitive ride, he could be a big winner and a serious championship contender.

How many of those drivers would rather be winning races and racing for a championship in the Nationwide Series than running in the rear of the field in Cup?

Those are the types of drivers, coupled with the rising stars, that would make the Nationwide Series significant and more compelling.

NASCAR and Nationwide need to make it happen.