Need for Speed

A NASCAR BLOG BY Jared Turner

Should Cup drivers be part-timers in truck series?

Mar 9
Is it healthy for the Craftsman Truck Series that Kyle Busch – the NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader entering today’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway – has started the season’s first three truck races and won two?

Todd Bodine, the 2006 truck series champ, isn’t so sure.

He thinks it’s possible the series could slowly be heading down a path similar to the one in the NASCAR Nationwide tour in which four full-time Cup drivers are running the entire 2008 schedule.

"I don’t agree with what’s happening in the Nationwide Series and how they come over and run all the races,” he said in a recent phone interview. “It takes away from the opportunity that young kids might get. The fans don’t get to see different drivers, they get to see the same ones. … Hopefully, that won’t happen to the truck series.”

With his victory at Atlanta on Friday, Busch leads the truck standings by 72 points over Bodine, a truck series-only driver.

Unlike the Nationwide Series, which has evolved into the Sprint Cup stars’ personal playground over the last few years, the truck series hasn’t witnessed the same level of dominance or participation from Cup drivers.

In fact, Busch is one of only two full-time Cup wheelmen to make a truck start in 2008. (Travis Kvapil is the other) 

But the points leader in NASCAR’s top series continuing to steal the truck show may not sit well with drivers or fans over the long run. Busch’s success could even be a factor in convincing a few other Cup regulars to make more frequent truck appearances.

If that happens, it may be just a matter of time before the truck series loses its identity, much like its Nationwide counterpart, as a training ground for NASCAR's next generation.

Average Rating: 3.5

Comments

3 responses to "Should Cup drivers be part-timers in truck series?"
  1. 1
    shirley dorrington said:
    Mar 11, 2008 at 6:59 AM

    the play ground bullies from the cup series are indeed at it again. If you are interested in watching young persons mature into top of the line professionals give up on Nascar and switch to college basketball.

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  2. 2
    Anthony Bour said:
    Mar 12, 2008 at 10:35 AM

    let them race but not for points or money

    Report as Abuse
  3. 3
    Anthony Bour said:
    Mar 12, 2008 at 10:35 AM

    let them race but not for points or money

    Report as Abuse

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