The Busch Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is NASCAR's second division, and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organization's top level, the Nextel Cup.

The series emerged from NASCAR's old Sportsman division, which was formed in 1950 as NASCAR's short track race division. It became the Late Model Sportsman series in 1968, and soon featured races on larger tracks, such as Daytona International Speedway.

The modern-day Busch Series was formed in 1982, when Anheuser-Busch sponsored a newly reformed late-model sportsman series with its Budweiser brand. It switched sponsorship to the Busch brand in 1984, and in 1986, was renamed from the Sportsman series to the Busch Grand National Series. Grand National was dropped from the series' title in 2003.

Busch Series cars are slightly smaller versions of their Nextel Cup counterparts. In the past, the Busch Series used makes of cars not used in the Cup series, as well as V-6 engines instead of Cup's V-8s, but now the cars used in the series are more similar.

The series has become a minor league series in recent years, but is frequently populated with Cup regulars, especially on the weekends where a Busch race is run on a Saturday prior to a Nextel Cup race being run at the same track on a Sunday, which is common. Seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt was the first winner of a Busch Series race, and the winningest driver in series history is Mark Martin, who won most of his races while driving in Winston Cup at the same time. Cup regulars that race in the Busch Series (often referred to as "Busch-whackers") are sometimes criticized for racing against inferior competition, but many NASCAR experts contend that without Cup drivers in Busch, and the large amount of fan interest that they attract, the series would cease to exist.

On August 5, 2004, NASCAR announced that the Busch Series would hold a points-paying race in Mexico City at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on March 6, 2005. Martin Truex Jr. was the winner of the race.

The track has hosted a Champ Car race since November 2002, and will do so again this November.

Busch Series champions:

• 1982 - Jack Ingram
• 1983 - Sam Ard
• 1984 - Sam Ard
• 1985 - Jack Ingram
• 1986 - Larry Pearson
• 1987 - Larry Pearson
• 1988 - Tommy Ellis
• 1989 - Rob Moroso
• 1990 - Chuck Bown
• 1991 - Bobby Labonte
• 1992 - Joe Nemechek
• 1993 - Steve Grissom
• 1994 - David Green
• 1995 - Johnny Benson
• 1996 - Randy LaJoie
• 1997 - Randy LaJoie
• 1998 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
• 1999 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
• 2000 - Jeff Green
• 2001 - Kevin Harvick
• 2002 - Greg Biffle
• 2003 - Brian Vickers
• 2004 - Martin Truex, Jr.

External links

Article on Busch Series going to Mexico City