| As NASCAR racing has grown in popularity, | | | | upcoming race in Canada. The Busch cars are |
| more and more people are wanting to know more | | | | similar to the Cup cars with only small |
| about all aspects of the NASCAR Circuit. A | | | | differences. |
| lot of people have heard of Dale Earnhardt Jr | | | | |
| or Jeff Gordon. But there are a lot of | | | | The Truck Craftsman series is the third level |
| things about NASCAR that many people don't | | | | of NASCAR racing and is rapidly becoming well |
| know. So here is a breakdown and some | | | | attended and popular with racing fans. It's |
| information about the different divisions. | | | | a different animal from the NEXTEL and Busch |
| | | | series and has it's own fan base. Running a |
| The three national divisions of NASCAR are | | | | full schedule since 1995, the truck series |
| the Nextel Chase for the Cup, the Busch | | | | drivers race nearly as often as the Cup |
| series, and the Truck Craftsman series. Most | | | | series do. With 25 races each season, some |
| people who know something about NASCAR know | | | | Cup contenders are racing in the truck series |
| about the Chase. With 26 regular season | | | | as a part time job. And several well known |
| races and 10 Chase races, the Nextel Cup | | | | Cup racers got their name recognized in the |
| series is watched by hundreds of thousands of | | | | truck series and then carried that over into |
| people across America weekly. In it's third | | | | the Cup series. |
| year, it continues to grow in popularity each | | | | |
| year. | | | | NASCAR's popularity is widespread and it has |
| | | | much more going on than you might think. Did |
| The Busch series is NASCAR's second highest | | | | you know that there are twelve racing series |
| level series. It might be compared to the | | | | in NASCAR? The three national divisions get |
| minor leagues in other professional sports. | | | | the most press, of course, but all over the |
| But the difference is that many Chase drivers | | | | country racers are struggling to make a name |
| also drive in the Busch series to gain extra | | | | for themselves and gain national attention in |
| practice on the tracks or to work on certain | | | | hopes of moving up to one of NASCAR's three |
| things. So the Busch series has a good mix of | | | | top series. NASCAR seems to offer something |
| up and coming young drivers with veterans | | | | for all audiences and gives a wide variety of |
| sprinkled in. Busch races are usually held | | | | drivers an opportunity to compete and |
| the day before Cup races at the same location | | | | possibly move up to the next level. |
| except for the races in Mexico and the | | | | |