John Daly looks at the future of NASCAR’s Nationwide Series on ESPN.

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http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com/2012/01/espns-little-monsters.html

ESPN's Little Monsters
It was a press conference ten days ago that featured some memorable
images like the one above. While NASCAR fans will recognize the Busch
brothers, the two men sitting down really tell the tale.

Seven-time Supercross champ Jeremy McGrath and BMX legend Dave Mirra
look like the brides in a double shotgun wedding. Their friend and
former motorcycle champion, Ricky Carmichael, had just been
unceremoniously dumped from his NASCAR sponsorship by Monster. The
GOAT was out and the Busch brothers were in.

Here is part of the official Monster release:

A collection of world class Monster Energy action sports athletes
welcomed Kyle and Kurt Busch to the Monster Energy team today with the
announcement of a multi-year agreement as primary sponsor of the
team’s No. 54 Monster Energy Camry in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for
Kyle Busch Motorsports.

"It’s great to have the Busch brothers join the Monster team and be
wearing the Claw – they have the right attitude for Monster and
they’re proven winners, which is what Monster is all about,” said X-
Games champ and Monster athlete Jamie Bestwick.

I’m thrilled to a be part of a team of athletes like this,” said Kyle
Busch, who will drive the season-opening race at Daytona International
Speedway and the subsequent four races before splitting the balance of
the season with Kurt.

The Nationwide Series has ESPN coverage with races appearing mostly on
the ESPN2 TV network. Over the past five years it has primarily
consisted of watching Sprint Cup Series stars race each other for wins
while thoroughly thumping the Nationwide Series regulars into the
asphalt.

All that was supposed to change this season for ESPN. Carl Edwards is
gone from the Nationwide Series by choice and is expected to join ESPN
in some on-air capacity. Kevin Harvick disbanded his growing KHI team
and the focus of Kyle Busch Motorsports was the Camping World Truck
Series. Much of the Sprint Cup Series cloud appeared to be lifting.

The reason ESPN wants so desperately for the Sprint Cup Series drivers
to get out of the Nationwide Series races this season is easy to
understand. Her name is Danica Patrick. It's nice that guys like
Austin Dillon, Elliott Sadler and Sam Hornish Jr. will be running for
the title, but it's a TV ratings gold mine that Patrick will simply be
in every race.

With the January 20 announcement that the Monster dollars would be
leaving Carmichael, ESPN's world has changed. In the blink of an eye
there will now be either Kyle or Kurt Busch running a car in every
single one of ESPN's Nationwide Series races with the goal of winning
the owner's championship.

It was 2006 when then ESPN president George Bodenheimer called the
Nationwide Series NASCAR's diamond in the rough. Two years into the
coverage, things were not going well. "Diamond In The Rough Not
Shining" was a TDP column from July of 2009. Click here to read it in
full.

No part of the NASCAR TV package has been worse than the Nationwide
Series on ESPN. The series was a victim of the Jerry Punch and Rusty
Wallace failed experiment in the TV booth. It was also a victim of
ESPN pushing it to the back burner when the network started Sprint Cup
Series coverage in July.

Finally, it has been a totally helpless victim from September to
November. Jammed into an ESPN2 schedule totally filled with "College
Football Saturday" programming, the Nationwide Series is made to look
like the redheaded stepchild and every season since 2007 has gone out
with a whimper.

This year ESPN is in an interesting situation. Come July it may well
have Carl Edwards on the telecast team, Danica Patrick in the top five
in driver points and the Busch brothers in the middle of another ego-
driven total meltdown.

Joe Gibbs made a point on the NASCAR Media Tour to say he did not
approve of KBM's Nationwide Series plans. As Kyle's Sprint Cup Series
employer, Gibbs is clearly not pleased with the prospect of the Busch
brothers running door-to-door with the JGR Nationwide Series drivers.

Last year's Kyle meltdown almost cost Gibbs a multi-million dollar
sponsor. Many thought it would cost Kyle his JGR job. The Kurt
meltdown at Penske resulted in a series of laughable press releases
that tried to frame his firing as a mutual decision. The video of the
Jerry Punch incident told another tale. The captain had enough.

So, instead of the carefully scripted TV reality series that features
golden girl Patrick against a weakened field of contenders, the ESPN
pit reporters may regularly be walking to Victory Lane to speak with a
grinning Busch brother sporting "The Claw" and trying to say things
that fit the extreme action sports athlete mold.

ESPN's new little monsters may also affect the TV coverage when they
lose. It would only take an incident with Kyle and a JGR car or Kurt
and a Penske entry to shift the TV spotlight from the winner. Let's
not forget Richard Childress as someone who has a vested interest in
his Nationwide Series team and also a past with the Busch family.
"Hold my watch" was a phrase that is forever etched in NASCAR history.

Love them or hate them, expect to see a lot of Kurt and Kyle on the
ESPN Nationwide Series telecasts. Monster hired them to win races and
they can both come in and do just that. Where they fit into the ESPN
script is yet to be seen, but there is little doubt it's not going to
be what the network had planned. With the Busch brothers, it just
seems to happen that way.

We welcome your thoughts on this topic. To add your opinion, just
click on the comments button below. Thank you for taking the time to
stop by The Daly Planet.

[Bruin]

It doesn't seem very smart of Kyle B. to be racing in Nationwide this
year given what happened last year and the fact that Joe Gibbs told
him not to race in any series except Cup this year. Then again, Kyle
B. is not exactly known for being smart.