NASCAR Drivers Can Compete for Only One Championship

This decision by NASCAR could hurt both Sprint Cup and Nationwide series.

Beginning with the 2011 season, drivers in the top two series' in NASCAR must choose one series, and one only, in which they can compete for a championship.

That knocks defending Nationwide Series champion Brad Keselowski and 2007 champion Carl Edwards — both of whom have announced plans to compete in all 35 Nationwide races in 2011 — out of the running for the title this year.  Both drivers have decied to compete for the Cup Championship.

Nationwide, the lower series title sponsor, would have preferred a sunset provision that would have enabled Keselowski and Edwards to compete for the title this year, but NASCAR drew the line.

“It was considered, and Nationwide had expressed that to us, as well as some of the drivers,” NASCAR president Mike Helton said Friday. “Particularly Carl and Brad had expressed it as, ‘OK, can you just give me one more year? We stuck to the decision, once we made it, that we felt like it was better for everybody concerned, the whole industry, to go ahead and draw the line and not have any lingering effects to it.”

Helton said NASCAR’s purpose was to force more exposure and attention on developing drivers who aren’t competing full time in the Cup series.

There’s a danger the move could have the opposite effect. Cup drivers will continue to grab the headlines by winning Nationwide races. Kyle Busch won 13 of the 35 races in 2010, followed by Keselowski with six and Edwards with four. All told, full-time Cup drivers won 33 races and now they can't claim a championship.

One driver confirmed his plan to concentrate on the Nationwide series on Monday. Kenny Wallace told NASCAR.com his license application from NASCAR read in part: "A driver will only be permitted to earn driver championship points in one (1) of the following three series: NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Please select the series in which you would like to accumulate driver championship points. Choose one."

Wallace, who has a full-time ride in the Nationwide Series, told NASCAR.com: "Of course I checked 'Nationwide.'"

NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp would not comment on the apparent change, telling NASCAR.com, "I'm sure we can answer all your questions at our competition update."

Does this cheapen the other series' in NASCAR?  Or will we have more competitive races going down the stretch?  We'll find out come November.