Star Power Not Exactly Welcomed in Busch Series

By JERRY CROWE

April 28, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

You don’t expect Mark McGwire to play for the St. Louis Cardinals’ triple-A affiliate.

Tiger Woods doesn’t tee it up on the Nike Tour.

And Brett Favre won’t play in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

But in a scenario that some believe is almost as incredulous, NASCAR Winston Cup drivers--stock car racing’s creme de la creme--regularly race on the Busch Grand National circuit.

Though the Busch series is supposed to be for young drivers preparing for the main event, the sport’s headliners keep dropping down to crash the undercard--and often win the fight.

Five of the nine Busch series races this year have been won by Winston Cup drivers, most recently last Saturday’s Touchstone Energy 300 at Talladega, Ala., where two-time Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte picked up his 11th Busch Series victory in a photo finish over fellow Winston Cup regular Joe Nemechek.

Jeff Gordon, winner of the last two Winston Cup championships and three of the last four, has raced in two Busch events this year and says he will race in three more.

And here, about 15 Winston Cup drivers plan to race Saturday in the Auto Club 300 Busch race at California Speedway in Fontana.

The star power has certainly helped the Busch Series thrive--NASCAR says the television ratings are up more than 10% this year--but some say the stars’ presence hinders the development of up-and-coming drivers.

Says Todd Bodine, a Busch Series regular, “The downside of having the Winston Cup guys coming in is that the younger guys--the guys who are going to be around this series for years to come--are having a hard time getting into the races. They can’t get the experience they need [to develop] if they can’t get into the races.”

In fact, whenever Winston Cup drivers qualify for Busch events, Busch teams with full-season sponsorships fail to qualify and have to sit out.

Most of the Busch drivers who do qualify, however, say that racing against the sport’s best makes them better drivers and builds confidence.

“For drivers like me who are in need of experience, the Winston Cup guys are a lot of help,” says defending Busch Series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr., who plans to launch a full Winston Cup schedule next year. “I wouldn’t be nowhere near the driver I am if it weren’t for Mark Martin and Jeff Burton and those guys. . . . I learned tons from those guys and benefited from it greatly.”

But Earnhardt acknowledges, “It’s pretty obvious that they are taking our points and taking our money and sending guys home that otherwise would be racing.”

Randy LaJoie, a two-time Busch Series champion, says the Cup drivers simply don’t belong on the junior circuit.

“Shaquille O’Neal can’t go back to college for the NCAA tournament,” LaJoie said last month before the Coca-Cola 300 Busch race at Fort Worth, Texas. “Let us have our series back.”

The issue has become more heated this year because Cup drivers are racing in the Busch Series in greater numbers.

In years past, only a few Cup drivers came over regularly when both series were at the same track, as will be the case this weekend at Fontana.

But at Las Vegas last month, 17 Winston Cup drivers were in the 43-car Busch field. At Darlington, S.C., and Fort Worth, there were 14, and at Hampton, Ga., there were 11. Only four Cup drivers made the Busch field at Talladega last week, but that number will probably triple here.

NASCAR has no immediate plans to stem the tide.

“The PGA doesn’t say Greg Norman or Tiger Woods or Fred Couples can only play in certain events,” Kevin Triplett, director of operations for NASCAR, told the Associated Press. “They play wherever they can, all over the world. That’s how they make their living. They’re golfers. Our guys are drivers. They want to drive.”

With no help from the sport’s governing body forthcoming, Bodine says the Busch regulars have had no choice but to improve.

“In years past, you’d see Mark Martin dominating every week he raced,” Bodine says of the Winston Cup veteran who has won a record 36 Busch races but last week at Talladega failed to make the field for a Busch race for the first time since 1993. “He didn’t do that last year. He was very good every time he raced, but he didn’t dominate like he usually does.

“And this year, it’s gotten better. The Busch regulars have become much more competitive.”

BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL

ENTRIES

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No. Driver Owner Sponsor 00 Lance Pearson Billy R. Jones Crown Fiber 1 Randy LaJoie Phoenix Racing Inc. Bob Evans 02 Ward Burton Bill Davis Murray Electrical Products 3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt AC Delco 4 Jeff Purvis Diamond Ridge Motorsports Lance Snacks 5 Dick Trickle Jimmy Spencer Schneider National Inc. 8 Bobby Hillin Jr. Robert Hays Clean Shower 9 Jeff Burton Jack Roush Track Gear 10 Phil Parsons Marma Parsons Alltel Communications 11 Dale Jarrett Brett Favre Rayovac Batteries 12 Jimmy Spencer Pat Spencer Zippo 17 Matt Kenseth Robbie Reiser DeWalt Tools 19 Mike Skinner David Ridling Yellow Freight System 21 Michael Waltrip Elizabeth Waltrip Band-Aid 22 Jimmy Kitchens Dave Carroll Air Jamaica Vacations 25 Kenny Wallace Edward Rensi Duralube 26 Johnny Benson Brian Baumgardner TBA 27 Casey Atwood 27 Castrol 28 Andy Kirby Larry Lockamy Williams Trackcenters 32 Jeff Green Greg Pollex Kleenex/Scott Brand 33 Jason Jarrett Barbara Baumgardner Bayer Alka-Seltzer 34 Mike McLaughlin Cicci-Welliver Racing Goulds Pumps 35 W. Lindon Amick Bill Amick Scana/Powertel 36 Tim Fedewa Cicci-Welliver Racing Stanley Works 37 Kevin Grubb Clarence Brewer Jr. Timber Wolf 38 Glenn Allen Jr. Bradly Akins Barbasol Racing 40 Stanton Barrett Doug Taylor Motorsports Channellock, Inc. 41 David Green Larry Hendrick Kodiak 42 Sterling Marlin Joe Gibbs Circuit City 43 Shane Hall Don Stegall/Mike Curb CT/Country General 44 Terry Labonte Kim Labonte Slim Jim 45 Adam Petty Kyle Petty Spree Prepaid Foncard 47 Elliott Sadler George deBidart Monro Muffler 50 Mark Green Joe Washington Dr. Pepper 53 Hank Parker Jr. Charles Parker B.A.S.S. 56 Jeff Krogh Molly Krogh Clearwater Forest Ind. 57 Jason Keller Steve de Souza Flemming/ Team IGA 59 Mike Dillon Tad Geschickter Kingsford 61 Tony Roper Stephen Coulter IWX Motorfreight 63 Chuck Bown Hubert Hensley Exxon Superflo 64 Geoffrey Bodine Shoemaker Racing Luxury Travel Motorcoaches 66 Todd Bodine Cicci Welliver Racing Phillips 66 68 Freddie Query Jr. Steve Husketh TBA 72 Hermie Sadler Ronald Parker MGM Brakes 74 Tony Raines William Baumgardner TBA 77 Ed Berrier Tony Hall Lear Corp. 78 Loy Allen Jr. Don Browder Mark III Financial 81 Jerry Glanville Jerry Glanville Unifirst Uniforms 83 Wayne Grubb Grubb Motor Sports Link-Belt Cranes 87 Joe Nemechek III Andrea Nenechek BellSouth Mobility/ Nokia 89 Jeff Fuller Meredith Ruark Heritage Consumer Products 90 Brad Loney Fred Maggio Coyne Textile Services 93 Dave Blaney Gail Davis AMOCO 98 Elton Sawyer Bradly Akins Lysol Brand 99 Matt Hutter William Papke III Redman 154 Brett Bodine Allen Cretsinger Gold Bond

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SCHEDULE/RESULTS

Feb. 13: NAPA Auto Parts 300 at Daytona Beach, Fla. (Randy LaJoie).

Feb. 20: Alltel 200 at Rockingham, N.C. (Jeff Burton).

March 6: Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas (Mark Martin).

March 13: Georgia 300 at Hampton, Ga. (Mike Skinner).

March 20: Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington, S.C. (Matt Kenseth).

March 27: Coca-Cola 300 at Fort Worth (Mark Martin).

April 3: NASCAR Busch 320 at Nashville, Tenn. (Jeff Green).

April 10: Moore’s Snacks 250 at Bristol, Tenn. (Jason Keller).

April 24: Touchstone Energy 300 at Talladega, Ala. (Terry Labonte).