Why do nascar drivers compete in both series?

May be...

NASCAR wants to make more money, so they encourage it. Plus, racers love to race and they can probably learn something for the Cup Series.

The difference in the two series is the car. Its a different size of engine and handling packages. The sport isn't exactly over flowing with eligible drivers. To get into these races you have to qualify. If you don't meet the qualifications, you don't race. Since there are car owners that need drivers, the guys from the Sprint Series drive for Nationwide car owners. It adds to their practice time and they get paid for it.

Some compete in all three national touring series.

The drivers get track time in the lesser series, while the Nationwide series is intended as like a stepping stone to the Cup series, where young guns and veterans alike can gain track time and/or experience.

flipping though the channels today i see the nascar race on espn then realize its basically ever driver i know racing even though im pretty sure they will be racing tomorrow at daytona as well but in the 500.

Why do they let drivers do that, where in ever other sport the different series/leagues are to let more less skilled drivers/players compete.

Unless there are other differences idk about between sprint and nationwide series, see as how i watch maybe 5 hours of nascar a year. So why and how are they even allowed to drive in both

Regardless of some of the opinions here, there is one underlying reason:

THEY LOVE TO RACE!!

All the other stuff (ticket sales, etc.) are just spinoff benefits. I've known many of them and that is the one common thread that ties them all together. The best example I ever knew is Kenny Schrader. If you put a lawn mower engine on a baby carriage, he'd race it!

If the teams, owners, sponsors and NASCAR get something out of it, too, great. But the bottom line still remains, they just love to race, and most - if not all - would race even if they didn't make the big bucks. They are (you'll pardon the pun) driven!

:o))

The Cup drivers usually do this to prepare for the Cup race on Sunday and sometimes just to have fun. But the main reason why NASCAR allows this is because it helps sells tickets to the Nationwide races. With some of the top Cup drivers in the field, I'm sure some of their fans would be willing to go to the Nationwide race to see their favorite driver. But I wish NASCAR didn't allow this. Carl Edwards is a contender in the Cup series, but has been racing full-time in Nationwide ever since he started. There are many young drivers like Landon Cassill, Bryan Clauson, and Chase Miller that deserve full-time rides and really could use the track time to gain experience.

Why not? I have never looked at the Nationwide Series as a minor league series, at least not the way that say AAA baseball is to the MBL. It's just another series and yes it is one tier down from the Sprint Cup Series. This series is a mix of up and comers, grizzly veterans, and current "Cup" drivers. The cars are very different. The power and speed is roughly the same. The bodies are very different. Many of the components on the car are the same such as the wheels and tires.

Sprint drivers run in Nationwide for the fun and practice. Nationwide drivers try to run in Cup for the money and experience.resco software