Buschwhacker
The original coinage of the term "Buschwhacker" refers to Anheuser-Busch's longtime title sponsorship of the second-tier series through their Busch beer brand.
The practice is controversial due to Cup drivers, such as Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick (numbers one, two, and three all time in wins in the Xfinity Series),[1] Darrell Waltrip, and Dale Earnhardt, entering a large portion of races over the course of the season and dominating the races in superior equipment, taking good finishes, competitive rides and sponsorship, and exposure away from both development drivers and veterans who are regulars in the series.
[2][3] Many NASCAR experts, however, contend that without Cup drivers and the large amount of fan interest and sponsorship they attract, the series would cease to exist.
[9] The presence of Buschwhackers is seen as problematic by some regulars in the lower series, who complain about more accomplished Cup drivers taking the top prize money and thus leading to loss of sponsorship for their efforts.
[2][4][11] In 2010, for example, Kelly Bires was forced to sit out the Daytona season opener due to contractual obligations with JR Motorsports' sponsor Unilever stating that Dale Earnhardt Jr. drive a certain number of races for the team.
[2] Many fans, as well as longtime series regular Kenny Wallace, also note the increased focus given to Cup drivers during the broadcast and promotion of the races.
[20] All eight drivers of the 2014 Sprint Cup Rookie class (Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier, Cole Whitt, Alex Bowman, Michael Annett, Ryan Truex, Parker Kligerman) had significant experience in the Nationwide Series, with six of them running at least one full season.
[11][21] The series also continues to provide an outlet for former Cup drivers (such as Elliott Sadler, Regan Smith, Sam Hornish Jr., and John Hunter Nemechek) to rebuild their careers, or as a way to race a limited schedule in semi-retirement (as practiced by Dale Earnhardt Jr.),[11] as does the Truck Series for drivers such as Ron Hornaday Jr. and Johnny Sauter.
In 2003, Richard Childress Racing set out to win the Busch Series Owner's Championship with their 21 car sponsored by The Hershey Company's PayDay brand.
[25] Several other non-rookie Cup Series drivers, including Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, J. J. Yeley, Denny Hamlin, and Reed Sorenson, began running the entire Nationwide schedule while also competing in a full season of Sprint Cup, even though on some weekends the two series competed at venues hundreds of miles apart.
Despite the loss in track position due to the driver change, Hamlin got back to the front to take the checkered flag after 250 laps.
[2][15][29] In late 2010, media reports began to indicate that NASCAR would respond to the critics of "claim jumping" by effectively splitting the difference between the two extremes of unrestricted presence of Cup drivers and none at all.
The NASCAR license application form now includes a check box requiring drivers to select the series in which they wish to compete for the championship.
Witkowski was especially critical of Martin using his Winston Cup team and resources to beat up on the drivers in the lower Busch Grand National Series.
[1] The term continued in use among the regulars on rasn, referring now to any driver whose primary ride is in the Cup series and cherry-picks Busch races.
Joy gave credit on the air with 57 laps to go in the Fox telecast of the Koolerz 300 Busch Series race at Daytona International Speedway in 2003.
