Numbers Don't Lie: Cup Drivers Disappearing From Nationwide

(Originally published on March 14, 2008)

If you're noticing fewer Cup drivers hogging purses in NASCAR's No. 2 series, it's not your imagination.
Some quick math shows that for the Daytona then-Busch season opener last year, 24 Cup regulars (drivers who drove at least the majority of the year for a team) took the green flag. In 2008's Nationwide debut, that number was down to 17.
From there, the gap just widens. At California, the difference between '07 and '08 was 21-12. At Las Vegas, 25-15.
And 16 Cup drivers competed at Atlanta last weekend. Last year, there were 26.
There are a lot of reasons. Jack Roush and Joe Gibbs are running fewer cars that would largely feature Cup regulars due to the dearth of sponsorships. Jeff Burton is running fewer races in the No. 29 Chevy, leaving more of the schedule to Scott Wimmer. That's largely a byproduct of less information being gleaned by a Cup driver running Nationwide races due to the difference in the cars.
And there are talented drivers (Johnny Sauter, David Stremme, etc.) with Cup credentials who are available for Nationwide duty because they were locked out of available Cup rides due to the open-wheel invasion.
It's early, but you can say that the Nationwide Series, as NASCAR hoped, is starting to regain some of its own identity because its events are resembling something other than poor man's Cup races.
Sure, a lot of the Cup drivers are still finishing upfront. But so far in 2007, there have been seven top-10 finishes by Nationwide-only drivers. That's up from three for the same four tracks last year.
There are still enough Cup drivers with name cache to sell tickets. But there aren't so many that the purpose of racing on Saturdays is defeated, which had begun turning off fans.
Increased Cup television ratings have to be the No. 1 thing NASCAR is happy about. But the return of a true developmental series can't be too far behind.