No clear answer to NASCAR's stand-alone debate

NEWTON — When debating stand-alone and combination weekends for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series, it's typical and justifiable to focus on what the fans want to see.

After all, without fans filling the stands for races like Sunday's Get to Know Newton 250 at Iowa Speedway — the first Nationwide stand-alone of the season — the sport cannot and would not survive.

But while those fans might feel bored when Kyle Busch wins seemingly every lower-division race he enters, the conversation isn't so cut and dry when you consider driver development.

The lower divisions are meant for doing just that, and what's more beneficial to a young driver: running up front, or running around guys who will teach them invaluable lessons?

'I feel like it's good for everybody, and from a driving standpoint, as somebody that gets to compete against them each week, regardless of what happened (at Texas or Darlington), I think it's good to have them there,' said Chase Elliott of having Cup drivers run Nationwide races. 'There's too much to be learned from those guys. It would be a shame if we didn't have them around to learn from. Like I've said before, they're in the positions they're in for a reason. They know how to get the job done, and they're at the level they're at because they deserve it.'

The high school graduate is the perfect example for those in favor of Cup drivers dipping into the Nationwide Series, even independent of how he feels.

Would his two wins at Texas and Darlington — where he passed bonafide Cup stars in Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch for victory — mean as much if he were beating Ryan Blaney and Ty Dillon late in the race?

That's not to say Nationwide regulars are slouches, but what he's been able to do against elite talent has helped his development and attracted more attention to what he's doing than it would have otherwise.

'To be able to race against those guys on a weekly basis at some racetracks that the cup guys race at, I feel like that's a really good thing for the sport and it's good for a young driver like myself to learn,' Elliott said. 'I wish the Cup guys would run (Nationwide at Iowa Speedway), too, honestly.'

Double-dipping isn't a new thing, either.

The increased attention on Cup drivers' success in the Nationwide Series directly reflects the increased media and television exposure the series has received. For years, drivers like Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and Mark Martin would run Nationwide (then Grand National and Busch Series) races and win — a lot.

And given NASCAR implemented the new points structure that disallows Cup drivers from being able to win a Nationwide championship, it's listening. The sanctioning body has to be able to serve both fans and the drivers.

'I think it's a balance,' said NASCAR Executive Vice President of racing operations Steve O'Donnell. 'If you look at our history … we've always had that history of Cup drivers racing in the Nationwide Series.

'We do look at it every year. We created the system with the points where you have to declare (a series) and we think that's worked well. And if you look at the crop of young drivers right now, I think that's again another piece. All in all we're still happy with the balance we have going.'

The Nationwide regulars, spearheaded by Elliott, have announced their presence already this season, anyway.

All of last season, only three non-Cup regulars got victories, with Sam Hornish Jr. winning once, Regan Smith twice and Ryan Blaney once. Through nine races this season, it's already three different non-Cup regular winners in Smith, Elliott and Elliott Sadler two weeks ago at Talladega.

With Sunday's race at Iowa Speedway void of the top names — Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch or Joey Logano to name a few — who are at the All-Star race in Charlotte, that number will go up.

And though the drivers' inherent competitiveness drives them to want to compete against the best, it's not like they'll turn down a chance at a great finish. Especially with lower-budget teams like the one Cedar Rapids native Landon Cassill drives for in JD Motorsports, running without Cup regulars gives them a shot at the limelight. Cassill runs every week in the Cup Series, so he's learning against the best regardless, and even though he's still ultracompetitive, his priorities are different.

Who a driver races for and where they sit on the pecking order of funding and equipment drives their opinion. It's a debate with no end.

'I like it when the Cup guys aren't there just because I've got a shot at a better finish,' Cassill said. '(Teams) put a younger driver in (Cup regulars') car, and typically it's better equipment than mine. If Kyle Busch is driving it, there's really a slim-to-none chance of outrunning him — for anybody for that matter, not just me. So I look forward to a race like Iowa.'

The green flag for the Get to Know Newton 250 at Iowa Speedway is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.

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