Winston v Busch?

[Diabando]

I have watched a fair bit of Nascar over the years, but as we did not get any sort of regular coverage, I am still as much of a "rookie" in terms of knowledge, as I was the first time I laid eyes on the sport.

Finally, we now get all the races covered on TV (thanks to Foxtel) and my interest has peaked enormously!!

So I have a question for you all!

From my uneducated point of view, I much prefer to watch the Winston Cup Series - it just seems more professional and entertaining.

Am I wrong? What are the differences between the Winston Cup series and the Busch series? How do they compare to eachother? Why are there actually two different series?

[NASCARWidow]

Which series you prefer is a personal decision. A lot of people prefer to watch Busch because normally (Darlington was the exception) there is more racing whereas the Winston Cup Series rides around and then races the last 100 miles.

The Busch Series is a stepping stone for many drivers into the Winston Cup. It is like the Minor Leagues in American baseball. You start there and hope to move up to the top league which in stock car racing is the Winston Cup Series.

There are a few difference in the cars. The Busch cars have a 5 inch shorter wheel base. They use a smaller carberetor and weigh 100 pounds less (without the driver) At most tracks they are slower but at the restrictor plate tracks they are sometimes faster. They have a tire rule for race weekends that the Winston Cup doesn't have. In Winston Cup you can use as many tires as you want during the race but in the Busch Series you are limited to a certain number of sets. (Usually 2 or 3) Winston Cup racing costs at least $10 million a year to stay in the game and Busch costs about 3.5million.

[Lars]

The busch series is more of a feeder series. Generally a driver will come up through the Busch and/or Craftsman Truck series before they go into Winston Cup.

As far as the car goes and I know, they are exactly the same except for the engines. Cup cars will get around a 100 more HP than the Busch cars. A few years ago they changed the compression ratio on the Busch cars and now it's closer to the cup cars...but I'm not sure of the exact numbers? Thinking cup is 14:1 and busch is 12:1 from 10.5:1? The busch cars used to be 6-cylinder too, not sure how far back that goes...think they have been 8-cyl since I've been following Nascar.

Are far as the racing goes...I've found the Truck series to more competive and a funner race to watch the past few years than the busch. Should try to convince the TV network by you to show a couple of those too.

[Lars]

Thkx...Widow, didn't realize the wheel base was shorter on the busch cars.

[Lars]

The tire rule for busch only applies to pit stops on yellow flags don't it? Thought they could use as many sets as needed on green flag stops?

[Joe Fan]

Lars, last year BGN went to the same compression ratio as Winston Cup because they wanted it to be closer and a better training ground for Winston Cup. I am not sure what this ratio is because I cannot remember since it has been changed several times over the last seven years.

[Ax Slinger]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the Busch tire rule is they can use as many sets of tires as they want on green flag pit stops, but only 3 sets for caution periods.

[Flintstone Flyer]

I think they are limited to 2 tires under caution and 3 or 4 sets total for the race. They amend this rule based on the track and or track conditions.

Typical NASCAR rules that can be loosely understood.

[RaceFanStan]

I think the compression ratio is 12:1 in Winston Cup, JoeFan said Busch runs the same cr (I didn't know that, Thanks Joe).

[marcus]

I with you on this one Diabando , im also a rookie in terms of Nascar stuff but I enjoy it alot and watch whenever I can.

But i seem to watch more Busch races and think its a great series, always entertaining thats for sure , I like Winston Cup races as well , but I just seem to enjoy the Busch series more for some unkown reason.

[Diabando]

Marcus - for us, the Busch v Winston series seems to be similar to the Konica v V8Supercars. So, it is not surprising that the racing is just a bit more busy in Busch, in the same way that Konica is exciting compared to V8Supercars (how many more times do we have to see the red cars spoil everything?)

[StuiE]

I STILL WANT FOXTEL!!!!!!!!!

I NEED MY OWN PLACE !!!

[marcus]

yeah I agree Diabando , damm red cars are out to wreck the whole damm thing , but thats another forum

and GT dude , its a shame that we only get Nascar on cable over here , but if you like Nascar and live bike racing , get out and get it you wont be dissapointed .

[NASCARWidow]

The tire rule is sets under caution. It is either 2 or 3 sets depending on how hard the track is on tires. Teams can change tires under green but it doesn't happen very often. Most Busch teams probably have only one extra set of tires in their pits for the race. Cup teams can change as often as they like and may use as many as 14 sets of tires during a race.

Both the Busch and Winston Cup have a 12:1 compression ration. Winston Cup cars weigh 3400 lbs without the drive and Busch cars weigh 3300 lbs. The body length is the same 200.7 inches but the wheel base is 110 inches for Cup and 105 for Busch. Cup cars have to be a minimum of 51 inches high (roof height) and Busch cars 50.5 inches. The spoilers are different by series and by make.