Grand National

From 1950 through 1971, the top tier NASCAR series was called the Grand National, not to be confused with the later Busch Grand National Series (now simply the Busch Series), the second tier division of NASCAR.

Winston Cup

From 1972 through 2003, NASCAR's premier series was called the Winston Cup Series. It was sponsored by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco (RJR) as an advertising mechanism to bring attention to its Winston brand of cigarettes. In its later years, RJR's sponsorship became more controversial in the wake of US legislation that sharply restricted avenues for tobacco advertising.

NEXTEL Cup

In 2003, RJR dropped its sponsorship of the top series, and NASCAR obtained a sponsorship from NEXTEL, a telecommunications company. Starting in 2004, the premier series was known as the NEXTEL Cup.

The merger between Sprint and NEXTEL will potentially result in the series being renamed Sprint Cup in 2007, although it is still being discussed and debated by all involved parties.

NASCAR evaluated the number of caution flags that normally occur during a 600-mile race at Lowe's, and they felt like the number of scheduled pit stops that the small cell brings into play will basically be a wash. Granted, there may be some times that drivers go the distance on a fuel run, but it isn't very often that drivers run 120 laps without a caution in a 600-mile race. NASCAR did its homework, and you won't see much of a difference.

Now the racing gods have a way of spoiling the best-laid plans and running three or four green-flag stops in a row. We will have to wait and see, but NASCAR is erring on the side of safety. Smaller fuel cells on the road courses is a great idea. It add strategy and make those races a lot more interesting, not only for the competitors, but for the fans too.

Drivers like Kevin Harvick are blemishing the Busch Series because so many Nextel Cup teams are using the Busch races for a test. I will guarantee you Friday night's race had a tremendous amount to do with Saturday night's finish.

This is how big it's become. If NASCAR says, you're a Nextel Cup regular, and you're going to run a Busch race, we're not going to give you prize money and points, they're still going to run. They're already there, and it's a free test. They'd still run because it pays dividends for the Cup race the next day. I don't think it's right.

On Friday night, where was your first regular Busch Series team? Obviously it was Jason Leffler leading the race and got wrecked by Clint Bowyer. Then you have to go back to ninth place to find a Busch team (David Green) that's not a Cup team.

What corporation is going to want to put their money in a Busch team that's a single-car effort when you're running against 15 Nextel Cup drivers in the same event with all their technology? Not very many. That's what scares me. I'm not bashing anybody here, but that's truly a fact.