FanHouse Busch Series

I read a good line the other day by David Poole of The Charlotte Observer. In one his postseason columns, he made the point that NASCAR needs to be looking out the other window. Instead of looking out of the back of the tower at the business side Poole says, they need to take a glimpse at the track out front.

Doing that, he says, will naturally and positively affect the business side of the sport.

To me, NASCAR looks to be taking a step in that direction, as numerous articles over the past few days have indicated that the NASCAR Nationwide Series -- formerly known as Prince the NASCAR Busch Series -- is going to sport a much different race car in 2009, despite moving to the "NASCAR" (next-generation Car of Tomorrow) body style.

That same body style will be in full-time use for the Sprint Cup series in 2008.

Many complained, including myself, that NASCAR was simply going too far in keeping the two series the same, and not allowing any real definition.

Joe Balash, the director of the Nationwide Series, said that was not the intended plan, and talked about the two cars needing to drive different. The key? Suspension differences.

"We want the car to drive different.We've gone down the path of having two very similar cars and very easily taking the technology that makes the car turn both aerodynamically and with suspension interchange between the garages.

"As we go forward, we want more difference there. We want to have our cars use a more conventional spring setup. We're not going to use the bump-stops on the cars."

That's a nice step -- and there's more.

It's been quite a year for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, and with that comes a nice collection of crash clips splashed across the ends of the internet.

NASCAR rolled out the Car of Tomorrow for part-time use in 2007 in anticipation of full-time use in 2008 with safety as a top priority. That was indeed a good idea because even though the now-defunct body style was a mostly safe model and the tracks keep adding SAFER barriers, one thing is still the same.

The drivers are still crashing, and crashing hard.

From the last-lap pile-up during the season-opening Daytona 500 to the Chase-changing crash at Dover in the fall, here's a look back at the biggest hits from the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Season.

Enjoy.

Click on the video to watch full size.

Dover Fall Race Kurt Busch Starts a Mess

Daytona 500 Finish Harvick Wins, Bowyer Flips

Click for more NASCAR crashes after the jump.

That didn't take long.

NASCAR confirmed Sunday morning at Atlanta Motor Speedway that they will switch to the new generation race car in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The new car (I'm tired of calling it the Car of Tomorrow when its here today) will be raced full-time in the top NASCAR series next season.

"We're working on an '09 [Nationwide] car," Bodine said. "[Having it ready for] '09 is tentative. It's not set in stone but we're working on it. We've informed some of the Busch owners and we've got a prototype at the R&D center."

"There will be a different body style and different aerodynamic package," Bodine said. "We're working on all that stuff. We're just not there yet, still working through all that process.

Sporting several new safety features, a rear wing, and a front splitter, the next generation chassis and body style brought hope that NASCAR would finally apply some clarity and definition between the Sprint Cup Series and the Nationwide Series.

Instead, NASCAR will revert back to the old thinking of running two series that are hardly different, which will continue to lead to insane amounts of Cup regulars parading the Nationwide Series (formerly Busch).

The safety additions are without a doubt a good idea, but let's hope Bodine is right in that they will use a different body style and aerodynamics.

What happened to this fun idea?

Continuing with less experience is more theme, Robert Yates Racing pulled Kenny Wallace out of the #88 this week at Talladega and replaced Ricky Rudd with Wallace's brother, Mike, instead.

It's not obvious to me why ... Kenny has more Nextel Cup experience and a better record at Talladega. RYR might have done better to put Warren Loren Wallace in the car, considering NASCAR doesn't require experience or anything to run at the super speedway.

Speaking of Mike's third cousin, once removed ... since NASCAR is naming an insurance company as the new title sponsor of the Busch Nationwide Series, does that mean no more Geico sponsorship and no more commercials starring Warren Loren?

Say it ain't so!

And what does this mean for Allstate, the insurance company formerly known as the Official Insurance of NASCAR?

It wasn't a bright and shiny day after all for Hendrick Motorsports Saturday at Kansas.

Kyle Busch won Saturday's Busch race at Kansas Speedway over Matt Kenseth by about a car length in his No. 5 Chevrolet. While the victory was nice, it could turn out to haunt Busch for the rest of 2007 season in both the Busch and Nextel Cup series.

Busch's car failed post-race inspection in a major sort of way Saturday evening. And by major sort of way, I mean like Michael Waltrip-type way, not the Carl Edwards-type way.

The intake manifold on the No. 5's engine -- a piece long thought as one of the steepest of infractions when out of bounds -- was deemed illegal in the eyes of NASCAR. The sanctioning body has since taken the part into their possession.

This certainly isn't good news for anyone involved with Busch's Busch or Nextel Cup series efforts. Without a doubt, the penalty will be steep (as Busch Series penalties go) for Busch and Co. The significant "and Co." part of that equation includes the man who crew chiefs for Busch in both divisions, Alan Gustafson.

or Why NASCAR Is Better Than Other Racing Series ... They keep coming up with new ways to keep it fresh. We don't always like them, but they do keep it interesting.

Sources are telling Speed that the series that will cease to be known as Busch after this season is planning a major change as early as 2009--a switch to Pony cars:

If plans go according to schedule, the next-generation Busch Series cars will be Chevrolet Camaros, Dodge Challengers, Ford Mustangs and an as-yet-to-be named Toyota model, sources said. Ford overhauled the Mustang as a 1960s-retro model in 2005, to positive critical and commercial results. Chevrolet and Dodge will release similarly retro-themed Camaros and Challengers, respectively, by the 2009 model year.The Mustang, Camaro and Challenger all are two-door coupes with rear-wheel drive and available V-8 engines, a hugely popular combination in the halcyon days of 1960s muscle cars.

I imagine the difficulty NASCAR has had in securing sponsorship for the series has inspired them to shake things up. Short of limiting/excluding Nextel Sprint Cup drivers' participation in the series--and what series should prohibit racers from racing?--NASCAR needs to do something to spice up the series. Firing up the manufacturers can't hurt.

'Course, they might want to do something about the runaway point lead phenomena, too.

Brad Keselowski, the driver of the JR Motorsports No. 88, was removed gingerly from his battered race car Saturday night at California Speedway after one of the hardest NASCAR wrecks in recent memory.

Keselowski was placed on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance with noticeable pain in his legs. He was later flown to a nearby hospital for X-rays on his legs.

Keselowski, 23, of Rochester Hills, Mich. was battling with A.J. Allmendinger for 18th spot on lap 67 when Allmendinger appeared to move into the path of J.J. Yeley entering turn one. Allmendinger spun down the track and clipped the rear end of Keselowski, shooting the No. 88 Chevrolet head-on into the outside wall. Yeley then clipped Eric McClure, resulting in a four car crash.

ESPN2 telemetry the No. 88 impacting the wall at over 140mph. The impact lifted Keselowski's car into the air enough to allow Allmendinger to briefly get under the spinning, flaming race car. Allmendinger's No. 42 suffered a broken A-post on the right side of the roll cage.

NASCAR red-flagged the race for repairs to the SAFER barrier.

A.J. Allmendinger talked to ESPN2 after getting released from the infield hospital.

"I thought i was clear, but then I got clipped in the right-rear," said Allmendinger.

"I felt so bad for Brad because that was a big hit. I think he's going to be OK. I talked to him in the infield hospital, and he didn't cuss at me, so I think we'll be OK."

Fanhouse Followup
Keselowski's X-Rays Negative After Crash

TGOM is off to the races--or qualifying at least--today. Nextel Cup and Busch Series quals are today and I'll be Twittering all the way, sending updates via the mobile phone from pit road. Wanna follow me? It's gonna be a hot one - expected high of 104°. And no tank tops or open toed shoes allowed on pit road. Sigh. They're trying to kill the fans.

TGOM Tweets from California Speedway

Follow TGOM on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tallglassofmilk

Sounds like the Subway deal to sponsor the Busch Series is falling apart. Why? Keyword: exclusivity.

I'm probably optimistic, but I like to think that NASCAR, after all the grief it's experiencing with the Nextel deal, will proceed with great caution before entering into a long-term sponsorship that jeopardizes team sponsorship.

Sponsorships liks those with McDonald's, Arby's, Domino's and Jimmy John's ... wait ... Jimmy John's? Where the heck are those?

Anyway, once again I have to point out that there are enough fan dollars to go around. Obviously, I don't know all the reasons why Subway might be getting cold feet, but if it is the exclusivity thing, they're really over thinking it. This isn't like a cell phone service where you typically just have one and call it a day.

The fans gotta eat, but it would be unrealistic to expect even the most loyal of NASCAR fans to eat Subway sandwiches every day. Is it really that big a problem for Subway executives if we want to mix it up and throw down a Big Mac every now and then?

Kasey Kahne has had a pretty darn good Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Friday afternoon, Kahne topped the Nextel Cup Series in qualifying and will start out front for Saturday night's Sharpie 500. Later Friday night, Kahne took home his first Busch Series short track victory with a win in the Food City 250.

And boy did the 250-lapper set a tone for the weekend.

Kahne won Friday night after battling three-wide with Ryan Newman and Jason Leffler with less than 15 laps to go, just before Newman blew a tire after contact and fell out. At the line, it was Kahne crossing first, Leffler spinning sideways, and David Reutimann third -- all of them close enough to fall under a blanket.

The finish, though, only tells half of the story.