Oscar Gamble Society

Kevin Harvick started the 2007 Busch season the same way he spent most of last season - in first place, after winning the first race of the season, the Orbitz 300. Look, I like Kevin Harvick. He’s a good guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously, and everyone respects the dignified way he took over Dale Earnhardt’s ride six years ago this weekend. But in finishing 800-odd points ahead of Carl Edwards last year, he is emblematic of what is killing the Busch series - full-time Nextel Cup drivers competing in what is ostensibly NASCAR’s developmental series. In today’s race, 12 of the top 15 drivers were guys with Nextel Cup rides. I can understand why sponsors would prefer to have their Busch cars driven by guys like Harvick and Tony Stewart instead of actual up-and-comers, but to me, as a fan, it undermines the credibility of the series. It’s as if Peyton Manning still spent his Saturdays quarterbacking Tennessee, or Lebron James pulled double duty with his old high school when not playing for the Cavaliers. If it were up to me there would be a window of, say, 2 or 3 seasons, after which guys who move up from Busch to become Cup regulars are barred from competing in the Busch series.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 17th, 2007 at 10:56 pm and is filed under Sports, Auto Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.