Kevin Harvick kinda Messed Up NASCAR's Feeder System for a Decade

[@DennyDeliversYT]

Kevin Harvick reigned supreme on the Busch series so much that Busch would ended up sponsoring him rather than the second tier series…

[@christopherlucas4620]

Wow. I’ve never thought of that. That’s actually DEEP.

[@sulphurous2656]

Top kek

[@patrickracer43]

It's really a Galaxy brain move

[@christiankallio8586]

Reminds me of his 2020 throwback where he had "2001 and 2006 Busch Series Champion" on his car

[@P8nda]

damn

[@LionManatic]

5:55 Richard didn't only had multi-millions in sponsorships and thousands of employees to pay. He had a promise to keep, that he made to Dale. Where during a mountain trip, Dale made Richard swore that no matter what happened to him, that he'd keep going, as Dale made the same promise, that if anything were to happen to Richard, that Dale would keep going to the track.

[@furioussherman7265]

Not only that, but the two of them made that promise after Childress had nearly died falling off the mountain they were on. Dale and Childress were essentially brothers in every way but blood.

[@JohnSmithJr67]

Thousands of employees? Lololol No…. 329 employees working for him. Stop being dramatic

[@codeman99-dev]

@@JohnSmithJr67 Dramatic? Stretching the truth (unintentionally) is not dramatics. Your comment is dramatic. If they close up shop, that's 329 FAMILIES that are losing a very important income.

[@RailsofForney]

@@codeman99-devNever seen someone who also has the balls to say that 👍

[@crippledcrusader1321]

What breaks my heart most about Richard and Dale’s friendship is that in the documentary “The Day”, Richard says “I lost my hunting buddy”

[@badbooking3221]

An unsung villain to everyone that was completely missed is the Cup owners making Busch rides starting with Jack Roush and the 60 car. Up until 1992, while Buschwhacking was a normal practice, the quality of the cars was as such were reliability was still an issue and Cup guys didn't win as much. Jack was an exception not the norm until about 1999. As soon as Roush, Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Roger Penske, etc., started making Busch teams on the regular, it completely smashed the full-time Busch teams to bits.

[@caseysmith544]

Yes, I agree, this bit was forgotten, it was why Mark Martin could run both, but the schedule was so different for both series that Mark Martin could not easily run 90%+ of the races that Cup and Bush did. Once the schedule was the same for both series with the cars of the era becoming, more similar, the Cup guys saw this as an opportunity to race both using Bush as practice for Cup especially when their race teams in Cup started having teams in Bush at first to do an easier feeder transition system, that got broken by the racers. So, one can say that both the teams and the NASCAR schedule is to blame.

[@CVTaxi]

Wasn't the 60 car/team Mark's? I'm pretty sure that Jack didn't take over that team until the early-mid 00's.

[@caseysmith544]

@@CVTaxi If not then the reason for the success was partly due to Mark Martin who did his own work on the cars.

[@badbooking3221]

@@CVTaxi Nope, Jack had the team in the 90s as odd as that sounds.

[@modasher]

@@CVTaxi it was a Roush Racing car. They ran it and the 9 for Jeff Burton.

[@DepravedCoTApologist]

The other problem with the lack of talent being developed was the Open Wheel Invasion happening at the same time. I think this era deserves more attention, because basically every problem modern NASCAR has currently, can be found having it seeds being to sprout in the late 2000's and early 2010's

[@josephbettano2569]

Yes that is also true and with varying levels of success. Juan Pablo Montoya may be one of the most successful having won an Xfinity race at Mexico City and two Cup races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. He could have won the Brickyard twice if it was not for some speeding penalties. Sam Hornish, Jr. struggled in Cup but has numerous Xfinity wins and almost won the Xfinity Series championship in 2013. Patrick Carpentier's only real NASCAR success came on the road courses in the Xfinity Series, particularly Montreal. Dario Franchitti had a leg injury and hardly any success in NASCAR outside of a few top-10's, including a fifth palce finish at an Xfinity race at Watkins Glen in 2008. Then of course you had Danica Patrick, and we know how she turned out. The only driver left from this period still racing in NASCAR is AJ Allmendinger. Allmendinger has two road course wins but limited success in Cup. He has however established himself as a legitimate title contender in the Xfinity Series with numerous wins on road courses but also wins on ovals at Atlanta, Las Vegas, Michigan, and Bristol, thereby silencing any critics deeming him only a road ringer. Nowadays, you have a much less pronounced open-wheel invasion in the top divisions of NASCAR. For example, James Davison has run numerous Cup and Xfinity races. Jack Hawksworth once ran an Xfinity race at Mid-Ohio. Conor Daly has run an Xfinity race at Road America and some Truck races. Katherine Legge has run Xfinity road course races for JD Motorsports. Santino Ferrucci has run Xfinity races for Sam Hunt Racing. Also, Sage Karam has run Xfinity and Truck races primarily on road courses. While these open-wheel men have run NASCAR, they have not done so in a way that hinders driver development.

[@jordanberube7305]

@@josephbettano2569shit i completely forgot he almost won the Nationwide championship

[@crystaljon]

@@josephbettano2569 Don't forget Scott Speed.

[@imrustyokay]

God that 2006-2012 period must be one of the biggest "what if's" in NASCAR history...Great video as always, S1ap!

[@josephbettano2569]

At least 2012 saw an exciting battle between Ricky Stenhouse, Elliott Sadler, and Austin Dillon and did not have Kyle Busch racking up all the wins because he was driving for his own team in the series that year and had growing pains! I say 2013 was worse when Busch switched back to Joe Gibbs and was back to his dominant ways. Because of the level of Cup driver domination that year, of course, Austin Dillon won the title without winning a single race.

[@jamesbraun9842]

In his defense Kevin Harvick was brought in under extreme circumstances. Kevin was originally scheduled to run a few cup races in a 30 car as a preparation for his cup ride in 2002. He had but had to be brought up a year early so he was still obligated to run the 2001 Busch season.

[@xSoccerxCorex]

not just that but if he said no, rick mast was gonna be put in that car until the end of the year. if that happens, RCR might've shut down at the end of 2001 anyway.

[@Mentally_Will]

@@xSoccerxCorex Where'd you hear that from?

[@KyleLeeuw]

@@Mentally_Will Kevin Harvick flat jack said on the Dale JR show that RCR talked to Rick mast about driving the car, in case Harvick didn’t wanna run for SRs team!

[@Maverick33]

Then Jeff Green got put in the 30 car. Then Steve Park got in the 30 car in 2003. Then after the Jeff Burton/Jack Roush fiasco of 2004, Jeff Burton was placed in the #30 since Jeff Green went to the #43. Slap could make a whole video about all the musical chairs during the 2004 Cup Series season.

[@needsmetal]

@@xSoccerxCorex wonder what would RCR be if that happened, espically with his carbon monixide poising that would force to retire by the 600

[@tannerbuckley8126]

The way that the 2000/2001 spring Atlanta race finishes mirrored eachother still amazes me. Goosebumps

[@lostinrabbithole12]

And then 2024 left both of their margins of victory in the dust

[@austinemms9772]

Kevin Harvick may be very unlikeable to some people but there’s no doubt that he is a legend in any era of NASCAR.

[@patrickracer43]

Harvick is only unlikable now because he had beef with Chase Elliott and the Chase Elliott fans are a tiny bit crazy... also it kinda doesn't help that Harvick has become the cantankerous old man in the garage who is clearly going to be retiring in a few years (probably once his current contract at SHR expires)

[@dennisbowen452]

I don't like him because he did spingate 2.0 and got no repercussions for it at talladega 2015.

[@patrickracer43]

@@dennisbowen452 spingate 2.0?

[@icykhan32]

@@patrickracer43 his engine was blowing up and he caused the big one in at talledega so he could advance to the next round of the playoffs

[@TsukiCondor]

As a native from his area, he's kind of a local legend. Even though when he visted his High School in 2014. Mostly nobody recognized him

[@SiVlog1989]

I'm in awe of the work ethic of Kevin Harvick in 2001 in particular, being thrust into one of the most iconic seats in NASCAR at the same time as his preplanned second season in the second tier series, not only that, but to win the second tier series and win rookie of the year in Cup in the same calendar year, very impressive. The closest modern day equivalent I can think was Michael Schumacher in 1991. Although he made headlines in Belgium in 1991 with his F1 debut (courtesy of jailing of Jordan Grand Prix driver, Bertrand Gachot), what's often forgotten is that while he was getting his feet under the table in F1, he was also finishing his second full season with Mercedes in the World Sports Car Championship (including scoring wins towards the end of the season). He didn't race in Sports Cars again after 1991, instead focusing on F1 and the rest is history

[@SiVlog1989]

*when I said modern day, I meant the closest equivalent that I have heard of in F1, I don't know why I put "modern day" in there

[@TheMrtgamer]

"I'm not sure what the rules are to change sports" JR Smith, the guy who blew a championship for LeBron James, retired, went back to college to finish his degree, and made the varsity golf team and has already won events while still being sponsored thanks to the court case against NCAA, so LeBron could change sports and go back to college

[@asdfreii]

Brandon Weeden played professional baseball for 5 years, went back to college, then got drafted by the Browns

[@markjackson6431]

@@asdfreii and Chris Winkie went to play minor league baseball and subsequently went back to college to play football. and won a Natty and the Heisman in his late 20s

[@TotoDG]

I think this may be the first video S1ap has made that specifically discusses the Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity Series. Now all we need is someone who "kinda ruined" the Truck Series, and we'll have the Top Series Trifecta!

[@official_9101]

kyle busch kinda ruined the xfinity series and the truck series

[@caseysmith544]

I think this goes to that one driver that raced this as their top division dominating most years in the 2000's and never moved up. I forget the name but I remember seeing him and it was never fun to watch except the few tracks done that were not in Bush or Cup when he was just going to dominate the series.

[@DepravedCoTApologist]

Kyle Busch starting his own Truck team? The Legend of Truck Regulars such as Ron Hornaday, Mike Skinner, and Matt Crafton? How did the Trucks Become NASCAR's 3rd Tier Series? Lots of ideas here...

[@official_9101]

@Farkle8000 i did but kyle busch still ruined it

[@Mentally_Will]

@@caseysmith544 There were several guys like that

[@kieffler288]

There's 2 comments I want to make regarding this: 1. Harvick was the first driver to run a full Cup Series schedule and a full Busch Series schedule in the same season, but we should take note of another driver who came VERY close to doing the same thing a few years earlier. Dick Trickle ran the 28 of the 32 races on the Cup Series schedule in 1997 while driving the #90 Heilig-Myers Ford for Junie Donlavey and 28 of 30 races Busch Series schedule that same year driving the #64 Schneider Trucking Chevrolet for Dennis Shoemaker. Now, Trickle was never really a threat to win a championship in either series (he failed to qualify for 3 Cup races and didn't drive in two Busch races over the course of the season), but there were weekends that season where he was competing in a Cup Series race in Daytona on Saturday and a Busch Series race in Milwaukee the following day. He also won a Busch race that year, and an additional one in 1998 doing nearly the same thing. So 4 years before Harvick did double duty, Trickle proved that it was at least feasible to do. 2. A big reason why I believe Buschwhacking got as bad as it did in the late 2000s was because Harvick and the other guys were driving for the same teams as they did in the Cup Series. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, when Cup Series regulars would compete in the companion Busch Series races, a majority of the time they'd do so while driving for their own teams: -Dale Earnhardt Sr drove for DEI in the Busch Series up until about 1995 -Terry and Bobby Labonte drove for Labonte Motorsports, owned by their dad Bob Labonte -Joe Nemechek drove for NEMCO Motorsports in the Busch Series while driving for Felix Sabates, Andy Petree, and Rick Hendrick in the Cup Series -Dale Jarrett, Ernie Irvan, and Morgan Shepherd won Busch Series races while driving for their own teams The exception to this was the person you mentioned, Mark Martin. He, and Jeff Burton later, both drove for Jack Roush in both the Cup and Busch Series in the 90s. And by the time we got to the the late 2000s, pretty much everybody who was doing double duty was driving for the same owner in both series. This meant that the Cup Series owners weren't developing talent like they were in the previous decade like Steve Park and Dale Jr with DEI, Tony Stewart with Joe Gibbs, Greg Biffle with Roush, and Harvick had originally been scheduled to do with Childress.

[@mrwest231]

Everybody overlooks that fact that the Cup drivers that made Busch starts were doing it in independent equipment until Mark Martin started racing Roush cars in the Busch series. Those guys not running every race also made a difference. Kevin Harvick is my all time favorite driver, but I started to feel SOME embarrassment in the 2006 season. I still loved all those wins though.

[@duffman18]

Imagine literally having the name Richard Trickle, and then deciding to use the nickname "Dick" despite that. Legend

[@johnsmith-ko8vq]

@@mrwest231 yah it got pretty bad around that time. Kyle Busch Edward's Hamlin were racking up wins. I was still deep into nascar at time so it sucked seeing those guys drive in best equipment winning every race. Probably would have another favorite driver to root for now. Reed Sorenson was my guy then Jeff Gordon.

[@ivertranes2516]

A fact about the #60 Winn Dixie team which is constantly overlooked. Although Jack Rousch supplied the equipment and personnel, the team was run by Mark Martin himself. Mark insisted on this because he felt he had no input in the operation of the #6 team. Source: Mark Martin's podcast.

[@tangydiesel1886]

Didn't Dick Trickle pretty much race in any series he could? Not just the cup and second tier.

[@CYMotorsport]

2:39 Weinke lost like 3 games in his college career as a full time starter and grabbed a Heisman after a perfect season at the ripe age of 28 following a stint in the blue jays farm system. I don’t even think Lebron can top that 😅

[@gaffneyrailroading1982]

But then Weinke got drafted by a garbage team and got his ass kicked.

[@verververververver]

Please make more videos.

[@bwedd3772]

Ol Chris yankme 😂

[@bwedd3772]

@@gaffneyrailroading1982 weinke was in his prime in college anyway lol

[@papadragon695]

Kevin was also the main driver of the RCR #21 in 2003 that won the owners championship in the Busch Series that year. Not to mention he also had the most wins out of any driver in the Busch Series in 2007 with the same team. And in the Truck Series he was the main driver of his own KHI #2 in 2011 that won the owners championship. Plus he has 2 other owners championships with Ron Hornaday Jr driving his KHI #33 in 2007 and 2009. Definitely a legend in the 2nd and 3rd tier series.

[@Azeria]

Kevin Harvick is third on the all-time wins list across the top three series with 119. The only drivers with more are Richard Petty (200, obviously), and Kyle Busch (223). The real scary thing is if you took all of Kyle Busch’s 102 Xfinity series wins away from him, he’d still have more than Harvick.

[@therobbinsnestAutosport]

Petty at 200 will always be the most impressive considering its cup races and he didn't need to run the lower divisions to pad his stats

[@bambino0238]

@@therobbinsnestAutosport eh I gotta politely disagree. The Petty’s were just one of the first to actually pour resources into the racing program. They ran way more races back then too. That miraculous 27 win season came when they could run as many as 60-70 races every season. Richard deserves his credit as one of the greatest of all time, but it’s hard to ignore the steep drop off in his success once NASCAR began to shift away from being a more regional sport. Once the money started flowing, Richard starting to fall by the wayside. And please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying by bringing that up. That’s not necessarily meant to discredit what he accomplished. You don’t win 7 championships and 200 races by just being some regular joe out there. But I think it’s important to consider what NASCAR looked like during the 20-25 year period Richard was running. When that is taken into consideration, I just don’t necessarily think you can easily say that 200 Cup wins before NASCAR became a true giant of the sports world is much more impressive than what guys like Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick have accomplished in the last 20-25 years

[@randymessick2986]

You've all lost your minds. Richard Petty won so many races because of having 200 more horsepower then the rest if the field. And Kyle Busch is an asshole little prick that don't thinks he should get touched on the track. But yet he can knock the hell out of whoever he has an issue with. And then like a baby just a t like a fool on the interview afterwards.

[@justinkrizenesky]

@@therobbinsnestAutosport Petty was literally the LEAST impressive

[@fatpatlives1998]

@@bambino0238 dale earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie imo are the big 3

[@ShadowWolfe]

On Dale Jr's podcast, Harvick had said he was actually going to run Atlanta regardless, I believe in the 30 car.

[@ShawnMcClurg]

Good call, Jeff Green ended up taking the ride, though he only made 7 races that season with it. He would also start first and finish last at Bristol that year

[@DepravedCoTApologist]

It was originally going to be his debut

[@BANGITSME87]

Yes. Harvick was going to drive 7 races in that car in 2001, and go full time in the 30 in 2002.

[@Mister_Matt_X]

That’s right! If Dale Sr didn’t pass he would’ve been in the 30 AOL car... Heck there’s even an article before Dales untimely passing talked about how RCR got AOL as a sponsor... This article is found at us.Motorsport from February 15 just three days before Dales passing... originally he was going to run at Atlanta, Texas, Charlotte, Sonoma, Chicagoland, the Bristol night race and the fall race at Richmond... until full time in 2002 It’s still mind blowing and trust me I’m still wondering what could’ve been... trying to add up all the events and articles prior Dales passing and see what could’ve been to solve the puzzle that we’ve been trying to answer after all this time... I’m sure somewhere in the alternate timeline or alternate universe Kevin Harvick would’ve been in the AOL car and his performance on the track would’ve been decent and Dale would’ve liked him as a teammate and Dale tells the press he’s a good kid or other positive comments to get Kevin some light... Think about who would’ve been Rookie of the year in 2001 if Dale didn’t pass... We have Kurt Busch, Casey Atwood, Jason Leffler, Ron Hornaday, Andy Houston and Bobby Hamilton Jr... My theory is that if Sr didn’t pass Kevin would’ve been rookie of the year in 2002 competing against Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson and Hermie Sadler but if Sr didn’t pass in 2001 my theory is that Kurt Busch would’ve been rookie of the year in 2001...

[@CitySlicker34]

"So what's your impact on NASCAR" "I replaced Dale Earnhardt and invented modern Buschwhacking"

[@benbrown2119]

Thank you for making the effort to properly refer to each series by its historical name consistently throughout your videos. Nothing burns my biscuits like some commentator referring to Richard Petty (for example) as a [insert current series corporate sponsor name] champion. Some of the big trophies in his museum have Winston etched on them.

[@trizlet]

But that's the point. If Dale Jr. can talk about his dad running Xfinity races in the 70s, then I'm pretty sure that's how it's meant to be referred...

[@Mentally_Will]

I agree it's annoying, but I think it might be a legal copyright thing...

[@VSautomotive]

@@Mentally_Will Also, if it's a new fan, they can place it better. When I started watching in about 2010, I had no idea what the Busch series was, because it became the Nationwide series.

[@BarryJowers]

I absolutely loved that white Goodwrench car with the black numbers and black stripes Harvick drove his first two races after Dale died.

[@Dannyedelman4231]

at the championship race in Phoenix, Kevin will step away man it's been a long time but so worth it

[@affandi99]

1:19 and the music is VA11-Hall A OST - Every Day is Night, one of my favourite, a man of cultured as well indeed, keep up the good work as usual S1apSh0es!

[@liltwizz_07]

I still believe that 2001 Xfinity championship is deserved because he was only gonna go part time in Cup and full time in Xfinity. And then Dale died. But obviously, you can't strip the whole original schedule in Xfinity. That's unfair.

[@JReaLBiz86]

The playoff system in NASCAR is still a sore subject for some people. But besides the way points are earned, NASCAR deciding to limit Cup driver participation in the lower series' was one of the best moves they've made since the 2000s. I remember when I started watching weekly again and seeing Kyle Busch in both Nationwide and Trucks, and just knowing that he was leaving with at least one victory that weekend. I'm not a Rowdy hater or anything, but that makes for boring race weekends when your only thoughts are "which race will he win" and "how many seconds will he win by. I'm glad that now drivers are able to either make their careers in the lower divisions, or actually work their way up to the Cup series due to seats being open for Xfinity and Truck races.

[@Mister_Matt_X]

Kevin Harvick definitely had shoes to fill to take over for Dale Sr. without a doubt... He went to Dale Jr.s podcast and talked about his original plan in 2001 7 Cup races in the 30 AOL car to develop his talent for Richard Childress and he could’ve been given a full time ride in ‘02 and due to Big Es passing he took over the 29 in Dale Earnhardts car Richard didn’t sleep for 3-4 days according to Harvick Richard was trying to figure everything out it’s surprising that Kevin did all the testing for Dale and Richard. Kevin talked about how he met the Intimidator only three times... but by 2002 everything came “secluded from the reality of the situation” because every sponsor endorsement Dale made Kevin didn’t want it to be the way Dale did things and we may never know how “street-smart” Dale was to sponsorships going into 2001 and probably into 2002 all I heard from the stories was he was good at public relations... I almost constantly go back to the Dale Jr. podcast episode with Kevin to find every once of hidden material trying to figure out what could’ve been and doing research of my own to try to see every article and every hidden message that could fit in a much clean way possible... like the sponsorships that Dale had going into 2001 Sonic, Hershey’s, Oreo there’s so much to speculate including Dale Srs appearance on NASCAR Thunder 2003 till NASCAR 07 the video games... my theory is that Dale would’ve retired in 06 since he last appeared in a NASCAR game in 2006 (aka NASCAR 07). Like what was the original plan for Dale Sr being in the NASCAR Thunder 2002 game but due to his death we only see a black number 3 before the EA Sports logo... what I’m trying to point out is how that became such a daunting task and there’s no archives of video game magazines and articles about it... that’s something to speculate as well... keep that in mind. I think if Dale Sr. didn’t pass we would’ve seen Kevin debuted in 2002 and I think that Kevin would win a race here and there... but also keep in mind that if Dale Sr didn’t pass in 2001 Kevin wouldn’t been Rookie of the Year in 2001 probably in 02. My theory is that Kurt Busch would’ve been Rookie of the Year in 2001... Sure he operated his own race team Kevin Harvick Inc. and grabbed a couple of wins for both Truck and Busch series which had a good run by Kevin and his wife DeLana. I’ll give them credit for that. But also since Kevin is currently now becoming a Co-Owner of the CARS Late Model Tour we’ll see what happens...

[@IyaTaisho]

I liked the story of one of those meetings with Dale was where they (Richard and Kevin) went in to find Dale sitting in only his underwear and racing gloves, lol.

[@Mister_Matt_X]

Dales office at DEI when Kevin met him for the first time face to face and Ron Hornaday went to shoot some skeet and when Dale had his glasses on looking down looks up sayin “What do you two idiots want?” and went to the deerhead shop to sign a release waver for the gun who had it and that was when Dale had the Remington sponsorship at DEI and he had cases of Frost Cutlery hunting knifes! Speaking of Frost Cutlery I have one and I was like “One for the collection of Frost Cutlery hunting knives for me! This is gonna be sweet!”

[@migokblee]

I am a simple man. I see Slapshoes upload, i click.

[@KyleGMathews]

Paul Menard was actually a Busch Series regular in 2006. He didn't start running full time in Cup until 2007.

[@AlonsoWDC]

Menard's rookie Cup season was in 2007. The first and only time he pulled double duty was in 2010.

[@josephbettano2569]

He had his best Cup season up to that point and had his best points finish in the Xfinity Series of 4th that year as well.

[@ljphoenix4341]

It's been said many times before, for numerous motorsport series, but bending, stretching and finding loopholes in the rulebook is just a part of motorsport, no matter if it's NASCAR, Formula 1, Rally racing etc. It will always have a place, whether it be historical or current. Great video Slap!

[@racermac1988]

Ok, 7:32 with the "HOLY 💩 DUDE, you didn't have to flex on us THAT bad!" Comment had me laugh hard. I saw two of the wins in person at Kentucky and IRP. Should have won Milwaukee too if the 60 car wouldn't have had a fuel gamble pay off. (Loved Mark in the 60 car, but that number gave me nightmares with Biff and Carl in it... Sorry, was NOT a fan of either.) Minor edit though as I think it was 2004 Biffle ran the whole Busch schedule while being Cup full-time.

[@papadragon695]

Funny thing is that in 2011, if NASCAR had kept the rules for Cup Drivers the same in the Nationwide Series, and had never adopted the Chase format in Cup opting to keep using the Winston Cup points system, Carl Edwards would’ve won both the Cup and Nationwide Series titles that year. Of course all of the racing results would’ve had to remain the same but it’s still an interesting thing to know.

[@wadedevinney9681]

I’m going to college for sports journalism this August, and my plan is to use your videos to learn as much as I can about NASCAR. I don’t plan to just cover NASCAR, but I’d like to broaden my appeal as much as possible. Great video as always!

[@ScarletCharlotte]

Off topic but you really startled me by using a track from VA11-Hall A. Not that it's a bad fit, just that I didn't expect to suddenly be thinking about that game in the middle of a Nascar video.

[@beverlyhillbilly7914]

Every video is a good video to put in some VA-11 HALL-A ost

[@jam_plays_games]

I wasn’t expecting it either lmao. S1ap has some impeccable taste in music

[@LyrixRLife]

The throw into "Everyday is night" gave me whiplash. I was not expecting that from a video about NASCAR but I'm all for it.

[@jam_plays_games]

Same here. God Va11 Hall-A has such a good soundtrack

[@vern7424]

Can't forget when Greg Biffle ran both the full Cup and Xfintiy Series in 2004 and Carl Edwards in 2005 (save for that race at Nashville that got postponed due to rain). Felt that really got things in motion prior to 2006.

[@blueredlover1060]

I remember one year that Biffle started just 25 races in the Xfinity series and was still 10th in points that year.

[@Weezy10580]

They did. He’s just a Harvick hater

[@josephbettano2569]

Actually, something unmentioned in the video was in 2003, Richard Childress started a team consisting of Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter to run for the owner's title, a practice which up to that point had never been attempted before. This practice of course proved to be successful, and Richard Childress' Harvick and Sauter team became the first team to win the owner's championship that was not the team the driver's champion drove for in the series that year. After 2003, this practice of using a Cup team rotating a series of drivers, primarily the team's respective Cup drivers, to run for the owner's championship became more commonplace and helped cripple development in the Xfinity Series in addition to some Cup drivers outright traversing the Xfinity circuit full-time in addition to running Cup full-time. This practice made it so that in 2007, only 9 drivers ran all 35 Xfinity races that year with some drivers running only partial schedules still finishing in the top-10 even the top-5 in Xfinity points that year. Sponsorship of course played a big role in this practice happening. They probably saw this as a way of making sure their Cup drivers did not fail to qualify for an Xfinity race, thereby manipulating the series. Prior to this practice, Cup drivers who cherry-picked the Xfinity Series would do so in a part-time ride, which of course meant the possibility of Cup drivers failing to qualify for Xfinity races. There are notable examples of Cup drivers failing to qualify for Xfinity races for this reason. Thankfully though NASCAR has also curtailed this practice by making it where teams cannot use a win by Cup drivers to make the owner's championship playoffs.

[@tyleroravec4127]

pretty sure Carl Edwards ran almost every single busch/nationwide series race that he could up until they changed the rules about declaring for points

[@vern7424]

@@tyleroravec4127 He indeed did. In fact, he ran all but one race in 2011, the first year they implemented the points rule. The only race he missed was Road America and even then, he was scheduled to drive. Him being the points leader in the Cup Series and the long distance between Sonoma, CA and Elkhart Lake, WI ended up being the reason for why Billy Johnson ended up driving that race instead.

[@TVHF_POND]

Always a good day when S1ap uploads

[@nathanlong5374]

For that comment at 2:36 the rules allow professional athletes to go back and play a different sport in college. As an LSU fan we saw this with Zach Von Rosenberg, who played in the MLB minors for years before coming back and winning a championship with LSU in 2019 as their starting punter at the ripe age of 29. More recently we've seen JR Smith play collegiate golf at North Carolina A&T.

[@JackCallSports]

Best NASCAR KZbinr hands down :)

[@coca-colatrackhousewarrior9925]

Brock Beard too

[@chrisstropoli]

Literally never expected to encounter VA-11 Hall-A music in a nascar video. Great choice! Highly underrated game.

[@holyschmoe1466]

Love this 'series' keep up the good work man!

[@gaffneyrailroading1982]

"See-rees" for any Ned Jarrett fans in the audience.

[@the-trustees]

I came into NASCAR when Rowdy was racing trucks, busch AND nextel. I always thought it amazing that he did it for years and it never became a chore. This is why I have been a Rowdy fan for almost 2 decades.

[@HirokaAkita]

7:20 "Two wins in the cup series..." ... *IN FUCKING DALE EARNHARDT SR'S CAR.* Remember guys. Harvick's 2001 29 car was not completely modeled after Kevin's body or driving style, not even late in the season. That car was still being modeled after Dale Sr.'s style and body in one way or another, so the fact that *AS A RUSHED UP ROOKIE* was able to flip the 2001 NASCAR season upside down, _in a car that basically didn't even it was meant for him..._ it's astonishing.

[@hengineer]

except it kinda was made for him. Kevin talks about it during the "burying the hatchet" podcast with Jr, that he actually did all the testing for Sr's team anyway, Dale hated testing. They ran some really innovative stuff, and were lightning fast, only for Dale to try it out and told them "never do that again". Dale basically liked things HIS way, even if he was quicker in another car setup. Turns out the car they initially tested bad fast with Kevin....was the car he won his first race at Atlanta in.

[@patrickracer43]

I realized something: Dale Earnhardt's death in turn 4 on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 was a true turning point for the sport, with the emphasis on driver safety, with the SAFER barrier, the HANS device, car designs like the CoT, Gen-6 and Nextgen, and the savagery of the way Buschwacking was done, as Cup regulars won the Busch/Nationwide titles from 2006-2010, which the Buschwacking from Harvick was absolutely necessary in 2001

[@nascarnational]

not to mention he would've helped nascar when it began to decline. he wasn't there to aid the higher-ups when the racing began to get poor & popularity began to wither away. that race will forever haunt nascar as long as it exists.

[@Mister_Matt_X]

Sometimes I wonder where would the sport would be like if Dale Earnhardt didn’t pass... there’s so many hypotheticals and what if’s surrounding the question... everyone has their own personal opinion and I don’t blame them but trying to solve this unsolved mystery about how would the sport would look like if Dale didn’t pass is most certain in theory on just how close we were seeing of Dale on his quest winning an eighth championship...

[@edmondellison_]

Great video. I would love to see the Trucks and Xfinity schedules see less companion races over the next few years. Especially for the trucks.

[@patmanbnl]

Now that buschwacking isn't an issue I wish the Xfinity series would have more standalone races at short tracks. Grew up in the 90s watching them at places like Hickory, Nashville Fairgrounds, Myrtle Beach, South Boston and IRP.

[@cunever]

Unbelievable expertise, who knows all that stuff? But then pull it all together to one coherent point, narrate it with that baritone voice oozing competence, makes me listen and learn something I had no idea I was interested in! Thanks again!!!

[@dough2565]

I was at that Milwaukee race, I was so pissed when they pulled Amirola, but Rockwell Automation's base is in Milwaukee.

[@joblaaa]

Another issue is the cost of entry in the sport - there are only so many seats in the sport. Some guys are able to bypass the lower leagues if they have the money to field a team in trucks or xfinity.

[@larryisntmynamebutyoucanca9625]

Thanks for putting Va11Ha11a music in there. That was nice

[@Happymars24]

Harvick's shenanigans alone have forced NASCAR to change a bunch of rules.

[@furioussherman7265]

I would've thought Kyle Busch would be the guy you'd say fucked up NASCAR's feeder systems. Kevin Harvick may have started the trend, but Kyle's seal-clubbing in the Xfinity and Truck series was so unstoppable that he was who NASCAR had in mind when they instituted their rules that you can only get points in one series and that Cup drivers can only run a certain number of lower-tier races per year. They didn't want to see him win every championship in the top three series in the same year and I don't blame them.

[@johnwilliamson2707]

Another reason for NASCAR's modern decline in popularity. This ridiculous situation was illustrated by track stands so empty that huge sponsor banners had to cover them and seats at tracks painted alternating colors to look 'full'.

[@austinreed5805]

S1apSh0es should make a Top 10 Best NASCAR Tracks video.

[@psychlops924]

Can I just say that S1ap never disappoints with the soundtrack? The music is always on point 👌

[@Zelinkokitsune]

Okay never expected to hear VA-11 Hall-A music on this channel!

[@nicholas3478]

My rule would have been that the buschwackers had to do the old school Le Man's start. Run to their car on pit road, buckle in, start the car then take off while the Busch regulars got the rolling green.

[@alaeriia01]

I like this idea a lot.

[@Subarusyndicate]

I think nascar in general would be more fun if this were a start on some tracks

[@alaeriia01]

@@Subarusyndicate Daytona would be perfect. That track is the grande dame of NASCAR; it would be a great way to kick off the season.

[@Subarusyndicate]

@@alaeriia01 they would never do anything that fun tho. I agree tho however I’m not a huge fan I like indycar I find more action in that series

[@pascalfarful952]

I got to witness the 2006 Busch series live as a kid. I remember the Harvick dominance like it was yesterday

[@ashketchumsdad]

Same. I also remember Blaney's win. Race was a shitshow lol

[@pascalfarful952]

@@ashketchumsdad I have a VHS copy of Live MotorsTV coverage of the Carfax 250, the only race where Dale Jr was ever booed. MotorsTV covered the entire 2006 Busch series that year, but no cup or trucks. They were European racing channel, run out of Germany that rebroadcasted the NBC/TNT international feed. So we had a guy in Germany talking in accented English during your commercial breaks. Meant we saw stuff live that y'all only saw in replay :P

[@ashketchumsdad]

@@pascalfarful952 wild wild race haha. That's awesome!

[@alexcroninvgc]

I’m a big F1 fan but knew nothing about NASCAR, didn’t even know there actually were right turns! But I’m now obsessed with your channel, keep it up 👍🏻

[@JahanSoundSystem]

Gonna be honest, "Welcome to Va-11 Hall-A" as an intro/background to one of your videos is something I would never have guessed to happen. So I had to rewatch the first few minutes of the video cause maaaan, Va-ll Hall-A has such a good OST

[@emdotrod]

Buschwhacking might be unique to only NASCAR right now. Imagine if Lewis Hamilton decided that he needs to "familiarize" with the track more and decided to race in F2 while also competing in F1 race. And he won the F2 series, leaving no chance for promising young drivers to flourish.

[@PedroCV]

Every day is night slaps even on a Nascar video

[@skyewarren79]

I’m amazed nascar didn’t go the route of Indycar and F1 ladder systems where once you graduate up you can’t go back down.

[@jrsmith5080]

I wish they would

[@dirtydan6098]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[@xavierjuno4572]

Well like Slap said cup guys usually ran lower series races just so that people would watch'em and it wasn't untill 2011 where Nascar placed a limiting rule

[@Storyracing387]

Annnnd this is why I'm #Harvicksnumber1fan 🔥🔥🔥 All the ups and downs in his career I don't care! Since that win in Atlanta I have watched almost every lap he's been on the track. Either live or replay, I'll keep watching his work till he retires...........then you'll have to watch out for Keelen!!!! THAT kid is on fire right now!

[@zachronspees6432]

I always thought the reason for the rules that limited cup drivers in lower divisions was due to Kyle Busch. In any case, you're correct the solution to this issue was a long time coming.

[@kenny8465]

I thought the same thing I remember one broadcast calling it the Kyle Busch rule

[@fnyourmom3064]

There have been dudes who played professional baseball who have gone back and got their degree while playing college football, but with each year it gets more and more implausible that someone will be able to do it because kids entering college get better and better

[@emanuellopes8773]

I was born in 87 and It's kinda wierd that there are so few drivers right now, in the cup series, born between 85 and 90. They should be the drivers in their prime right now, bu we only have Stenthouse (87), Busch (85), regulars, and it jumps for Logano and Dilion (both born ir 90). That and the open wheel and drivers form other forms of motorsport that entered the sport in the late 00's. A lost generations, endeed.

[@lunaxowo]

I was not expecting to hear va11hall-a music in this but I’m glad I did

[@trscott5]

In 2001 Harvick was slated to enter the #30 AOL car (eventually Jeff Green’s ride). He also had an offer to run the #96 McDonalds car in 2001, but passed on it even when his dad told him he thought it was the best opportunity.

[@josephbettano2569]

Going to that 96 car would probably have ended Harvick's racing career.

[@stephenrobert7987]

Forgetting Edwards 2008 seasons; came 21 and 69 points behind a double champion. He won 16 races that year with 38 top 5s

[@racermac1988]

Please don't remind me of that season... I HATED 2008 for that reason of suffering through watching the 60/99 win that much. The only saving grace was seeing him get denied BOTH titles that year.

[@JohnReedy07163]

@@racermac1988 Bitter Much??? I loved it

[@racermac1988]

@@JohnReedy07163 allow me to simply answer... Yes... I'm a Harv/Smoke fan. We root against Roush (Biffle/Edwards) on principal.

[@a1b1c184]

I've always thought it was kind of cool that a lot of Cup guys also ran "Busch" cars. It made the Saturday races much better to watch if your cup guy was in it. I bet the individual tracks didn't mind it as well. People come to see Jeff Gordon and Bill Elliot and Dale Earnhardt. I know I got luxury box tickets for the Busch race in Charlotte from a vendor at work and I had to work that day so I gave them to my dad and he loved it. He the type of guy who never goes to things like that but he wanted to see the Cup drivers and the luxury box. This was back in 92 so not many people knew what those boxes even looked like on the inside back then.

[@JapanCustomTours]

Slap - thanks for this video. It was a great time to be watching the races and I always assumed the double duty guys would just simply run - why not. They love racing. (And they learn a bit for the cup races).

[@modasher]

Two other changes implemented by NASCAR have also given the Xfinity Series its identity. One is the playoff drivers no being allowed to race in the playoff races. The other rule was eliminating playoff points being awarded to a car when a Cup driver was in it. Look at what these rules did to Penske. They went from having the 22 car be all Cup drivers to Austin Cindric being a full time driver in it.

[@josephbettano2569]

And now Penske does not have an Xfinity team anymore. Honestly, the Penske team in 2011 and 2014-2018 when they did not have a full-time Xfinity regular to run for the driver's title was a waste. The practice of a Cup team having a full-time Xfinity program rotating drivers, primarily the team's respective Cup drivers, became more pronounced from 2011 on when Cup drivers were no longer allowed to run for points in the lower series and instead saw Cup drivers shift their focus to winning an owner's championship in the Xfinity Series for their Cup owners. The Penske 22 team and Joe Gibbs 54 team are two notorious teams for exploiting the practice of using a variety of drivers with the focus on Cup drivers to win the owner's championship in the Xfinity Series. In 2013, the Penske 22 team won 12 races with Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and AJ Allmendinger en route to the owner's championship that year. Since the rules put in place that teams cannot earn playoff points towards the owner's championship with a Cup driver win, this practice has become redundant.

[@SaintGBar22]

You do an amazing job with these. It’s throughly enjoyable

[@jacekatalakis8316]

ARCA, back in the early 2000s actually had a rule that the top 20 in, I forget if it was Cup or all three series, weren't allowed to compete in it. Which I always found refreshing really knowing your Dale Jrs, Kevin Harvicks et al, couldn't just drop down or the Ee/Max 200 and dominate then go right back to the rest of Speedweeks. I'd like to see that put back in for the lower tier series. Yes I know, I know, sponsors want the big name drivers in but that's as much to blame for the state of both lower tier series

[@PywackettBarchetta]

I know there's a lot of excellent detail and research put in here but I'm just giddy to hear VA-11 Hall-A music in a NASCAR video somehow completely fitting

[@kingzap8]

The rivalries were lit all Logano/kesolowski vs jgr n carl n kevin only happens because there all down there

[@lordshankracing4724]

Fun fact. Kevin Conway has said that he wants to try Nascar again but do it right and start off in Xfinity and wait.

[@brandon42054]

Also when the COT debuted the cup drivers publicly stated they’d rather run the xfinity Car due to it still being the gen 4 car until xfinty when to different version of the COT

[@josephbettano2569]

I think it was believed the introduction of the COT or Gen 5 car would discourage Cup driver participation in the Xfinity Series due to the obvious differences between that and the Gen4 body style Xfinity, ARCA, and the K&N Series East and West still ran. Obviously this did not happen since we all know every champion in the series from 2006-2010 was a Cup regular even after the COT's introduction in 2007. I am not sure what advantage, if any, Cup drivers may have gained from doing double duty in the Xfinity Series from 2007-2010. Then the Xfinity Series got its own version of the COT in 2010, which lessened the disparities between the Xfinity and Cup cars after the introduction of the COT/Gen 5 car. Then in 2011 came the rule that drivers had to declare which series they would run for driver points and the rest is history.

[@TheMemeProf]

VA11HALLA music BASED SLAP DOES IT AGAIN

[@tonyblitz1]

No way I expected to hear the Va11halla soundtrack in one of your videos. Good taste buddy.

[@coffeeblack1057]

8:10. That was the day i knew... Harvick's my dude!! Thanks for doing this one slapshoes!

[@VictorDeveze]

There’s another route to get to the Cup Series for international drivers. There’s Nascar Mexico, which can get you a seat in the National Series, and then make a jump to the Cup. This is what Daniel Suarez did, he of course won the National Series championship, after having won the Nascar Mexico series. Michael Jourdain Jr never made the jump to Cup, but he did compete in the Busch series back in the mid 2000s (although he was a CART driver who came to Nascar, and THEN went to Nascar Mexico where he still competes) We do miss the Busch/National/Xfinity in Mexico. The F1 track is not a good pick anymore, but there are some fun short ovals here, they should bring it back.

[@StaleOreoGd]

Ive been binging these videos lately another banger vid

[@patrickracer43]

I mean for a while, Harvick had to do double duty, because he was trust into the Cup series after Dale's death and Harvick was still developing as a driver

[@duffman18]

Love all your videos Mr Shoes. I'm so glad Emp decided to feature you in his videos, cos it introduced me to your channel Do you reckon you'll ever do a video on Nascar Europe? It's gotta be the oddest nascar league out there, and that's saying something. There's only a single oval track, cos here in Europe we aren't fans of it for some reason (me on the other hand, I think oval racing is the best kind of racing, there's more overtakes than any other kind of track, more last lap passes than any other type of track, more leader changes than any other kind of track, and unlike every other kind of track you can sit in your seat and see the entire track from there, whereas on F1 style tracks you generally can't and it's pretty pointless going to see it live, you're much better off watching it on TV. Ovals are the best tracks to see live AND on TV) So yeah there's that, the fact it's all road courses unlike every other nascar division/league, it's very unusual. It has a whole different roster of drivers too. Like it's not a thing where nascar Europe drivers who are successful then move up into the Xfinity series or the truck series or whatever, they only ever stay in the nascar Europe league. And then go race other stock car series (we do have our own European stock car racing championships too, which are generally pretty different from nascar) Like stock car racing is often called Touring Car racing here. Technically there's some differences, it's not _quite_ stock car racing, the cars are usually heavily modified compared to their consumer versions, but then that's true of Nascar too so it's no big deal really. But yeah I'd be fascinated to hear an American nascar fan's opinion on Nascar Europe, or to use it's actual name, the Nascar Whelen Euro Series.

[@rustycaplinger8804]

Great video just love what you do keep up the great work

[@owne6609]

Always a good day when slapshoes uploads

[@davyncarulli9000]

Honestly I think nascar handled this as good as they could.

[@slimbrady6691]

I always loved that Coast Guard scheme he ran.

[@nutchunder]

Man, your videos are so well done. I was a very passive fan of stock cars, but your insight has added so much depth to the sport for me, love it

[@Jpilgrim30]

Harvick is the man. I had a lot of respect for him having to suddenly step in and try to fill the void left behind when one of the best most iconic drivers in NASCAR history. That kind of pressure would ruin a lot of people but he hung on and made the best of that opportunity.

[@danielfoster3642]

I feel like that if NASCAR had started slowing down the trend of Cup Series drivers driving in the Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity Series in the mid-to-late 2000s and early 2010s, drivers such as Brad Coleman, Steven Wallace, Todd Kluever, Dylan Kwasneski, Kyle Krisiloff, John Wes Townley, Burney Lamar, and other NASCAR busts might have had better careers. Thank goodness that NASCAR stopped the problem from getting worse.

[@ic3man]

I thought that Paul Menard wasn’t full time in cup until 2007

[@D4nkfury]

Ive always been a strong believer that buschwackers took away from lower sieries regulars being able to get their names out there because they were never able to win races when the cup drivers were running, theyd get less TV time and owners wouldnt give them opportunities because they could easily just have their top driver drop down and make them some money

[@josephbettano2569]

Just as an example, in 2006 Danny O'Quinn, Jr. won Rookie of the Year in the series driving 33 out of the 35 races. 2 of the races he was pulled from, so David Ragan could run those races in preparation for running Cup and Xfinity full-time for Rookie of the year in 2007. I believe this is the first and only instance of a driver running for Rookie of the Year in both series simultaneously. Despite winning the ROTY award in 2006, O'Quinn did not get to come back to Roush full-time in 2007 because Jack Roush could not find enough sponsorship to keep him in a car full-time in 2007. He ran a few underfunded drives and eventually disappeared.

[@doubleutubefan5]

Kevin Harvick was always a favorite of mine. Especially the Early 2000's black/white/red paint scheme. He remains to this day, the only driver's autograph I have. It was at a local Ollie's promotion. I went alone and got no photo. It was a tad awkward but something I still cherish.

[@dahljeffrey61]

Never miss a slap shoes vid! Love the content keep it up.

[@vinewood8295]

Martin Truex Jr was the last Busch Series regular to dominate despite there being a lot of Cup drivers in the field...

[@trevleisner]

I loved the white 29 scheme.

[@ItzSkylandersGamerYT]

In 2000, Harvick finished 3rd in the points in the Busch series despite not qualifying for one race

[@kben24]

This is very accurate historical glance at 'Busch-wacking' and it also highlights how long it took for NASCAR to address the problem!! The whole identity of Truck & Busch series was ruined by Cup drivers & teams dominating week in, week out. Credit to guys like Jeff Gordon & Jimmie Johnson who didn’t do this, and put the health of the entire sport ahead of their own ego and need to win races at a lower level.

[@TheForeverRanger]

Crazy thing about Jimmie is that he absolutely sucked in the Xfinity series.

[@tommyphillips7582]

I thought of 2 rules that would have stopped this. 1 you can't drive for the same owner in both series 2 you can't drive the same make of car in both series

[@Jrodsly]

I remember this era of lower tier series racing. It was a miserable time to watch that stuff and it was even worse when I was among a group of fans that would insult me for suggesting that this needed to stop. Thankfully, that frustrating era is finally over and the feeder series is actually working how it was supposed to work.