Statistically Speaking: Mini-Cup

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Whether you call them Buschwhackers or simply drivers, Nextel Cup regulars are doubling down in the Busch series more than ever this season.

Set aside, for the moment, whether you agree Cup regulars should be able to race in the support series at their current level. Rather, consider whether this extra track time is effective for the Cup drivers.

The answer to that depends on one's definition of effective. There is no question that Cup drivers have dominated the second series. So far in 2006, every winner of the first 11 Busch races has been a Cup regular, and the pole position for all but three was won by a senior series driver.

There have been nine companion events so far in 2006. On average, Cup regulars have earned eight of the top 10 finishes in these, and twice (at California Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway) drivers who were also entered in the Cup race swept the top 10.

Ask the drivers if they found out something about the handling of their cars or the condition of the track on Saturday that they can use Sunday, and you will get a variety of responses ranging from absolutely to absolutely not. The proof, however, is in their records.

Some drivers have a knack for parlaying Busch success into a strong run in the Cup series. Those drivers make big headlines when they sweep the weekend, like Kevin Harvick did at Phoenix. His victory Friday night on that flat track gave him the extra boost needed to win Saturday's starlight affair. He almost repeated the feat last week at Richmond when he won Friday night and dominated Saturday before errant pit strategy and a rapidly tightening car relegated him to a third-place finish. At Bristol earlier this spring, Harvick finished second in both races as proof that he can be strong in dual divisions.

At Bristol, the driver who followed him across the finish line on Friday was right on his bumper again Saturday. Matt Kenseth sat out both Busch restrictor-plate superspeedway races this year, but he started every other companion event. In five of those seven races, he finished in the top 10 in both, driving a Jack Roush-prepared Ford. At California Speedway, he was part of the Cup convoy (finishing sixth), and he turned that into a victory in the big show the next day. At Vegas he finished second in both events. He was fourth in Busch and 13th in Cup at Atlanta, third in both Bristol races, fifth in Busch and second in Cup at Texas, and seventh in Busch and third in Cup at Phoenix. The only track where he failed to back up a strong Busch run was Richmond, and the only reason he failed to do so was because of a broken brake rotor that punctured his oil pan.

Kasey Kahne has tipped his hand both to the good and bad. Ignoring Daytona – because so much is out of the driver's control on the restrictor plate tracks – he took the lessons learned winning the Las Vegas Busch race and turned them into a fourth-place finish in the Cup series. He was second in the next companion event at Atlanta and won the Cup race. In his next attempt, Kahne finished 11th in the Texas Busch bash before wining the senior event. He then gave up his ride for a couple of weekends before reemerging at Richmond. On the short track, he crashed on lap 192 to finish 40th on Friday, but fate was not finished with him, as he broke a plug wire at Richmond to finish outside the top 30.

For the remainder of the field, however, the results have been far less conclusive. In nine companion races, Greg Biffle has been stellar in the Busch series, finishing with an average result of 9.4, but he has been snake-bit in Cup, averaging a finish of 22.6 after experiencing trouble in most events.

Michael Waltrip has been mediocre in Busch with an average finish of 21.1, but he falls eight spots back in the Cup series to 29.4. Jeff Burton has a similar drop in production from the support event to the Cup races: In five combination events he's fallen from 8.6 in Busch to 16.6 in Cup.

Whether or not you enjoy watching your Cup heroes bully the Busch boys, they are here to stay – and one thing is certain: when a driver like Paul Menard finishes seventh at Richmond in a race where the other nine spots in the top 10 went to Cup regulars, he knows he had one heck of a ride.