Busch blues: NASCAR's junior circuit at crossroads

Juan Pablo Montoya's historic win in Sunday's Mexico City Busch Series race brought some much-needed attention to NASCAR's junior circuit.

In order to survive, it's going to need much more.

NASCAR started the Busch Series in 1982, as an evolution of its old Late Model Sportsman Division.

Juan Pablo Montoya celebrates his somewhat controversial win in Mexico. (AP)

The new circuit was created as an option for short track stock car drivers and teams to race at the national level. The inaugural season consisted of 29 races with a field of drivers that mainly consisted of short track standouts, with names like Tommy Ellis, Jimmy Hensley, Sam Ard, Jack Ingram and Tommy Houston grabbing the headlines.

But times have certainly changed.

Today's Busch Series is nothing more than a "Nextel Cup Lite" circuit, dominated by drivers and teams from NASCAR's top division.

NASCAR needs to be thinking of ways to fix the Busch Series.

Rather than serving as its No. 2 circuit, a developmental training ground for drivers and teams with Cup Series aspirations down the road, today's Busch series is a glorified Nextel Cup test session.

With a limit on testing, the Cup side has invaded the Busch Series like never before, using it as a way to gleam information and data Saturday that can be transferred over to Sunday's race.

While the cars are different, the characteristics of the track are the same from day to day, and what better way to learn how to tweak your Cup ride than to run in the Busch race the day before.

The infiltration of Cup drivers into the Busch Series has gone on for some time. Promoters and television networks want the top stars in the preliminary show to sell tickets and raise ratings.

But it's now way out of hand.

The number of team owners who are committed solely to the Busch Series is dwindling as the powerhouse operations of Roush, Hendrick and RCR dominate.

And the list of Busch-only operations has shrunk to only a handful for the 2007 season.

NASCAR likes to call the Busch tour the second-most popular motorsports series in the country, but that is probably more a reflection of what else is out there than it is the current product.

There are a couple of ways to fix the problem and help the series grow into its own niche, as it once held nearly 20 years ago: Limit the number of starts for regular Nextel Cup drivers and schedule more stand-alone events.

There was some talk that more Busch races would be aligned with IRL weekends, giving a jump start to the struggling open wheel series while at the same time getting the Busch circuit out of the Nextel Cup spotlight. This year's schedule has a whopping 27 combination events with the Cup Series. That makes it pretty easy for the Cup interlopers to drop in.

The circuit's new television deal with ABC/ESPN is supposed to help create its own identity, much like the truck series did when the entire schedule moved to SPEED.

The majority of races will air on ESPN2, and with the mighty promotional power of ABC/ESPN behind it, the Busch tour has gotten more exposure. But so far that hasn't translated into better ratings. Sunday's Mexico round was down dramatically from Fox's telecast a year ago.

NASCAR's introduction of the "Car of Tomorrow" on the Nextel Cup side could have a ripple effect and help the Busch Series develop a personality of its own. Currently the Busch machines are the same makes and models that run on the Cup side, with a smaller wheelbase and less horsepower.

But with the COT most likely being phased-in full time next year, the cars on both circuits will be very different, which would help differentiate the two.

One thing that will definitely change next year is the name of the series, with Anheuser-Busch deciding to pull the plug on its 26-year sponsorship. NASCAR has been trying to find a replacement to the tune of $30 million a season, roughly three times what Busch puts into the pot, and is working with television to market the series. So far, names like Wal-Mart, Subway and Samsung have been mentioned, although the Wal-Mart Series doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

NASCAR is at a critical point with the series, and the decisions made will determine whether it grows or slowly fades into the sunset as a memory, like drive-in movies, roadside diners and a gallon of gas for less than three dollars.