Demise of the BNS

08/06/02

All right, now I’m ticked off. What in the world is this new "The BNS is a dying series" bandwagon that everyone is jumping on? It seems to be all the rage. All the local message forums and boards are buzzing with it, as are some of the regional racing publications and at least one local newspaper’s sports editor. I’ve even got a couple e-mails asking me what I thought would happen to the leftover cars next season after all the "good" drivers make a mass exodus and wind up in Pro Stock, Late Model, Modified, or Street Stock cars.

Get a grip, folks! I’ve heard the rumors that Brad Leighton, Dale Shaw, Andy Santerre and Tracy Gordon won’t be back next season too. I will believe it when I either see it (which may very well happen) or they tell me personally (my e-mail address and phone number are no secret). In the mean time I’ll go on enjoying the tour and appreciating the great racing we have.

Many of the naysayers are screaming about how great it will be when some of these drivers leave BNS for another smaller, lesser paying series that the individual supports and believes is the best series in all the land. Well guess what, the BNS is full of these talented drivers and this is what makes it the best series in all the land, if you want to see those drivers race, you better head for the next BNS show, they haven’t gone anywhere yet.

If Brad, Andy, Tracy, and Dale all leave, they will be replaced by Mike Johnson, Dale Quarterley, Mike Olsen, and Martin Truex. They, in turn, will be replaced by four others who will be replaced by four others who will be replaced by four rookies and we’ll all live happily ever after. Don’t get me wrong, these guys are my friends and I hate to see them leave, but lets be realistic. It will NOT kill the series.

Just to give you an idea of how strong our series is I have done a little research. Yeah, you’re right, research is damned uncommon for me. Don’t get used to it, it is way too stressful and time consuming to happen very often.

So far in 2002 the BNS (Who NASCAR lists on its official website as "NASCAR’s premier full-bodied touring series") has run 11 races. 19 drivers have started all 11 races. Not too darn bad if you ask me. To put that into perspective I have checked some of the other series stats.

Winston Cup has started 31 cars in all 21 of its races. Damned impressive!

The Craftsman Truck Series (who appears to be the only series sending drivers home every week) has started 20 trucks in all of its 14 races. Again, very impressive.

Busch Grand National has started 19 in all of its 22 races. The same amount as the BNS.

The ARCA Re-Max series has started 15 cars in all 14 of its races to date. So, you think all we need is TV time, huh?

World of Outlaws gets a lot of TV time, they have had only 8 cars start all of their races this season.

The NASCAR Hills Bros. All Pro series has started 19 cars in all of its 8 races, they must be on TV every week!

Remember the Goody’s Dash series? Benny Parsons, Hut Stricklin, Shawna Robinson, etc.? They have managed only 14 cars in all 10 races they have held.

Raybestos Northwest series? They are 16 for 9.

Re-Max Challenge series? Only 12 for 10.

Even Winston West, whose name sounds as impressive as any tour out there, could only muster 13 cars for all 6 of its races. Don’tcha think that if you had run only 6 races to date that you could have got more than 13 drivers to enter all of them?

The Featherlite Southwest Tour got 9 guys interested enough to go to all 10 of their races to date! Good Grief! I can get more than 9 guys to come to my house weekly and watch all the Cup races on Television!

As far as the non-full-bodied cars go, the Featherlite modified tour has only managed to drag 14 drivers out to enter all 11 of its races so far this year. Look at CART, IRL, Hooters Pro Cup, or even PASS. None of these series or tours matched the BNS statistics. So before you go and pronounce the series dead, you might want to open your eyes and look around a little. The tracks want to hold the races, the fans are going to the shows and the drivers are obviously coming out in force. We’re alive and well and don’t let anyone tell you any different!

As always, send Questions, Comments, Hate Mail, and Indecent Proposals to, Fish c/o Busch North Scene or e-mail them to fishy@cybertours.com