Buschwhacker

Not to be confused with bushwhacker.
2009 Nationwide Series car of Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Busch, who won the Nationwide Series championship that year

Buschwhacker (alternatively spelled Buschwacker) is a term for NASCAR drivers who are regulars in the top-level NASCAR Cup Series but who also compete on a regular basis in the second-tier Xfinity Series. The original coinage of the term "Buschwhacker" refers to Anheuser-Busch's longtime title sponsorship of the second-tier series through their Busch beer brand.

The practice is controversial due to Cup drivers, such as Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick (numbers one, two, and three all time in wins in the Xfinity Series),[1] Darrell Waltrip, and Dale Earnhardt, entering a large portion of races over the course of the season and dominating the races in superior equipment, taking good finishes, competitive rides and sponsorship, and exposure away from both development drivers and veterans who are regulars in the series.[2][3] Many NASCAR experts, however, contend that without Cup drivers and the large amount of fan interest and sponsorship they attract, the series would cease to exist.[2][4]

Due to NASCAR rules changes that took effect in 2011, drivers must now select one of the top three touring series and be eligible for the driver points championship in that class only. This prevents Cup Series regulars from also competing for points in the lower series.[5] Before these changes, the last series regular to win the Nationwide Series points title was Martin Truex Jr., winning in 2004 and 2005.[6] Despite these changes, Cup drivers continued their dominance by shifting their focus to winning the owners' championship (from 2011 to 2015, the owner's championships were won by Cup-affiliated teams whose cars were driven in majority by Cup drivers), until NASCAR further curbed down on the practice by limiting how many Cup drivers can start lower series races per year.[7][8]

  1. ^ "Nationwide Series All Time Wins". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on 20 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference AP-BunchofBuschwhackers-2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Weaver, Matt (March 2, 2013). "NASCAR Phoenix 2013: Cup drivers should start in back of Nationwide Series races". SB Nation. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fox-NNSRegs-Cup-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference NASCAR-OneChamopinship-2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ESPN-NASCAR-BestandWorst-2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference limit16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference limit17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).