NASCAR Series??

[SHADOWFOX]

K, folks I just started watching NASCAR on TV mainly because of Juan Pablo Montoya because I am a huge CART & F1 fan and used to watch him all the time. I can't understand the Saturday "Busch Series" race and Sunday "Nextel Cup Series" race. Why do they have these two series and why do drivers drive different cars?? How does the points system works on these two series?? Does the driver that have the most points for both series wins? or Does each series have their own points system? This NASCAR thing is more confusing than I thought. Learning a lot of stuff here..

Last week I just learned that NASCAR also has road racing.. I thought they only race on oval courses and thought that the cars in NASCAR only turns left but I saw last week that they do turn right as well .

[softop41]

Chris,
Welcome to the BEST forum on the 'Net.
Most of your questions can be answered at www.nascar.com which covers Nextel Cup, Busch, and Craftsman Truck Series information. Prowl around that site a bit and you'll find lots of info to help answer your questions.
Other members here will probably offer you additional sites they like for NASCAR info but nascar.com will get you started.

Jerry

[DUD]

You can go to msn.com then to sports, then Nascar and find out a lot of what is happening. I am a Mark Martin fan and have been for years. I am getting ready for My trip to Bristol for the Spring Race. Bill

[SHADOWFOX]

Chris,
Welcome to the BEST forum on the 'Net.

Jerry

Took you almost two years to give me the greetings?? Oh well better late than never I guess

Kind of reminds me of my experience at home depot this morning, stood at the customer service waiting line for about 15 minutes and by the time I got to ask my question, I got the usual greeting "Welcome to home depot, oh that, you might have a better luck finding it at Menards, Ace, or Lowes."

Thanks for the info!

[Black wallnut]

Busch series is like Jr varisity and Nextel, formely Winston Cup is like Varsity. For each series as I understand it drivers have to prove themselves in lower divisions before being allowed to compete. Nextel cars IIRC have more available HP and the cars are somewhat different. Championships are based on points throughout the season and are somewhat complicated. I do not have a good enough understanding of the overall point structure to explain it.

As far as the welcome to the forum I don't get that either as you have a bunch more posts.

[Richard in Smithville]

Just cheer for that #17 car and everything will be fine
(It's dewalt tools!)

[TheRic]

The Busch series, and the NEXTEL Cup series are two totally different series. Some drives from the one will drive in the other. Not much difference then you use to see (about 30+ yrs ago) drivers in Indy Cars, and Winston Cup (NEXTEL today) driving in the other for a few races (normally big races).

The points for each series is separate, no mater how bad good you do in one, don't mean Sh!t in the other. The cars / rules / sponsors / owners / etc are different since they ARE different. There are many NEXTEL drivers that will drive a couple of races in the Busch Series to get some experience on that track, since there is something new there.

You will see some Busch Series drivers in the NEXTEL Cup series every now and then. Normally a team is looking to see how they handle the NEXTEL Series, or are looking to move them into the NEXTEL Series full time. Sometime the NEXTEL Series team needs a driver for a race, or a couple of races for one reason or another.

Some people look at the Busch Series as the minor league to the NEXTEL series, OR the AAA Farm team, etc. There is SOME truth to that. The better drivers are normally in the NEXTEL Series, but that is not ALWAYS the case. Some Busch drivers don't want the hassle that goes with the NEXTEL series.

Points are not easily explained here, there is a sliding scale on how well you do, laps led, most laps led, etc. Checking out NASCAR.com for correct info is your best bet. There are points for the car owners, and points for the driver, those are two separate things. I think the the points given out for Busch and NEXTEL are on a different scale.


Oh and welcome to the forum, again!!

[Mrs. Wallnut]

I have found that by listening or watching SPEED TV that I hear a lot of things. There are different shows on there and they explain points systems and other differences between the two series.

There are also some shows that you can email questions to and they will try and answer them. And like some others have said NASCAR.COM is a good place to go for that kind of stuff.

[mpc]

Chris,

Ric pretty much explained it. I can offer a few more details though.
In theory... The upper levels of NASCAR are somewhat analagous to the old Toyota Atlantic Series vs. the Champ Cars. Craftsman Truck series and Busch are supposed to be the "junior" leagues where new drivers & teams learn the ropes. Nextel Cup is the top-level.

In the Champ Cars & Atlantics there is a lot of difference between the cars. Until a few years ago, the Champ Cars weren't even "spec" cars (everybody runs identical stuff) like you see today. In NASCAR, nothing is "spec" just yet: Craftsman Truck, Busch, and Nextel Cup cars vary slightly from team to team and from Dodge/Ford/Toyota/GM. Just like Champ Cars though the rule book is a VERY TIGHT box - there really isn't much difference overall other than stick-on decals. Busch cars are almost "Cup Light" cars - they are just a tad smaller, run slightly smaller carburetors (!) on the same engines, and run the same tires as the top-tier Nextel Cup cars; there is much much less difference between Cup and Busch than Champ Car and Atlantics.

To limit costs (supposedly) the powers-that-be in Nascar have started limiting the number of test sessions a team has each year. So many Nextel Cup teams race in the Busch series too - because the difference between Busch cars and Nextel Cup cars is rather small. So you can "test" by driving Busch. Just like Champ Car events that have support Atlantic races, many Nextel Cup events have support Busch races one day earlier. Many Nextel Cup teams run a Busch car to practice on the track and get a feel for what setups work and don't work in preparation for the "real" race on Sunday. Of course, the Busch-only teams (small teams, small budget) are getting somewhat screwed by this; having to compete against the big-buck top-tier teams. Then again, their drivers get to follow/learn from those same top-tier drivers.

Points: the series are separate as Ric already noted. Generally Nascar's points system rewards "consistency" - i.e. finishing most races in the top 10 is better than winning a few races and crashing out of the rest. Drivers also get 5 bonus points for leading 1 or more laps in a race... and whoever leads the most laps gets an additional 5 points. Points for finishing positions are fairly close - something like 5 points between 1st and 2nd, 2nd and 3rd, etc for quite a ways down. That's one thing many folks want Nascar to change: make a bigger spread between 1st and 2nd so winning carries more weight in the points... but this goes against Nascar's goal of "consistency."

Then, to mimic other pro sports (not racing, things like football, basketball, etc.) Nascar has instituted a "playoff" system of sorts. The season is 36 races... the first 26 are the "regular season" if you will, the hightest 12 points-ranked drivers after 26 races (and any within 400 points of the leader if the season is really close) are the only ones eligible for the championship 10 races later. All teams still run the final 10 races - unlike real "playoffs" where you get eliminated before the playoffs. The points for those "top 12" teams are jiggered after the 26th race: whatever lead you had is wiped out. So the top team is now 5 points ahead of the 2nd best, etc... and all 12 teams then go at it in the final 10 races... with all the other teams still on the track still trying to win races too. This happens only in Nextel Cup right now; the Busch and Craftsman truck series don't have the "playoff" 10 races; the teams just collect points for the whole season and whichever driver ends up with the most points is series champion.

Most Nascar races are limited to 43 cars... because that's how many pit stalls there are. To "reward" teams that run all races, Nascar has a "35 car" rule too: the top 35 cars in the points are guaranteed a starting spot in the race - even if the car blows up during its qualifying run. So the backwater teams are fighting for just a few remaining starting spots... and Nascar has a "provisional" too: if a former series champion driver doesn't qualify for an event, he can take the "provisional" and start last. There is only one of these per race (lots of former champions still drive... most qualify normally though) and each former champ has only 5 or 6 of these per year he can use. Right now Dale Jarrett, driving for a brand new team driving brand-new equipment (i.e. a team that's way behind) has used this past-champion's provisional to get his Toyota into the field.

Something else Nascar does that few other racings series do: Nascar wants a green-flag finish. So if there is a caution very late in the race, Nascar will often "red flag" it for a while - parking everybody - rather than using up the laps under yellow. Then, they'll throw the green. To finish under green, Nascar might extend the race a lap or two as well: the "green-white-checkered" you hear the announcers talk about. Basically if the yellow flag is waving before the last lap of the race starts - and there isn't enough time to red-flag it - Nascar will parade the cars around under the yellow flag until the track is ready... even if this means extending the race by a few laps. Then they'll throw the green flag, one lap later the white (last-lap) flag, and finally the checkered. If a yellow comes out during this green-white-checkered... the race finishes under that yellow - there's only 1 green-white-checkered attempt per race.

mpc

[mpc]

Oh, one other thing about the points:
Drivers accumulate points and so do the car owners... the driver's championship is based on the driver's points - even if the driver switches team mid-season or drives for several teams during the year - as Tony Stewart does when he drives Busch cars. Car owner points are what gets used for the 35-car rule too; not the driver points.

And if Nascar's tech inspections find anything they don't like they may fine money and/or points - both driver and car owner. Right now one team has negative points because they got a huge fine at the start of the season!

Nascar also has a catch-all rule that basically lets them dis-allow anything they don't like, even if it's not specifically illegal by the regulations. The famous "actions detrimental to Nascar" rule. A driver that gets crashed by somebody else... walking back to his transporter and mugged by the TV crews has to put on a pleasant face. If that driver pushes the crew away saying "leave me alone" Nascar might fine him for that. As they have numerous times to several drivers. Whenever a car flunks something in tech inspection, you'll see multiple infractions:
* whatever was illegal (say a weight not properly fastened down)
* the ever-present "actions detrimental to Nascar." This gets added to pretty much everything.

mpc

[TheRic]

...To limit costs (supposedly) the powers-that-be in NASCAR have started limiting the number of test sessions a team has each year. ...

It's not to limit cost, the bigger teams ($$$$$$) could afford to rent more track time. They did this to even the playing field more.

... Generally Nascar's points system rewards "consistency" - i.e. finishing most races in the top 10 is better than winning a few races and crashing out of the rest. Drivers also get 5 bonus points for leading 1 or more laps in a race... and whoever leads the most laps gets an additional 5 points. Points for finishing positions are fairly close - something like 5 points between 1st and 2nd, 2nd and 3rd, etc for quite a ways down. That's one thing many folks want NASCAR to change: make a bigger spread between 1st and 2nd so winning carries more weight in the points... but this goes against Nascar's goal of "consistency." ...

The points from 1st to 2nd were changed this year. There is now a 10 point gap. The points between 2, 3, ....42, 43 varies from 5 difference down to 3 difference.

...Then, to mimic other pro sports (not racing, things like football, basketball, etc.) NASCAR has instituted a "playoff" system of sorts.

Not to mimic other sports, but to try and gain more fan interest near the end. Recently there to many winners winning in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th last race of the season.

The season is 36 races... the first 26 are the "regular season" if you will, the hightest 12 points-ranked drivers after 26 races (and any within 400 points of the leader if the season is really close) are the only ones eligible for the championship 10 races later.

Within 400 points of the 1st place car was dropped this year.

... So the top team is now 5 points ahead of the 2nd best, etc... and all 12 teams then go at it in the final 10 races...

That was also changed this year. Now all 12 cars start at the same base amount (5,000 points) then you get 10 points for each race you won that year.

Most NASCAR races are limited to 43 cars... because that's how many pit stalls there are. ...

Has nothing to do with the number of stalls, a couple of tracks only have a max of 42 (last two places have to share the same stall). Several tracks could easily add several more. The 43 number is the current number since that is the number NASCAR feels they have a good balance, without letting in just anyone, or keeping out a fair amount of good drivers. Many race series (or tracks) have a limit for basically the same reason.

...Something else NASCAR does that few other racings series do: NASCAR wants a green-flag finish. So if there is a caution very late in the race, NASCAR will often "red flag" it for a while - parking everybody - rather than using up the laps under yellow. Then, they'll throw the green. ...

Actually they would rather not Red Flag it. They try to go yellow for a few laps, then the Green-White-Checkered. If the wreck was bad enough, and it would take too long to clean up they will Red Flag it. The main reason is many cars have just enough fuel to end the race under normal conditions. If they go yellow for say 10 laps past the end cars could run out of gas. How embarrassing would it be to have 1/2 the field not finish because they ran out of gas during the Green-White-Checkered.