2/20/05… Tony Stewart, who has attempted to race incognito throughout the country at many facilities under the name of "Smoke Johnson," gave the Busch and Cup drivers a driving lesson in Saturday's Busch Series opener at Daytona.

The event was a little more subdued than the wild and wooly Truck Series outing, but there were still some tense moments as inexperienced drivers dueled for valuable track surface real estate.

Stewart won his first Busch Series event in his 42nd attempt in his sixth year of Busch Series entries. He had won at the Daytona facility four times previously, but was still searching for that elusive Busch Series victory. Getting his first win in the season opener at Daytona was nothing more than sweet justice. The victory also ended a three year domination by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Daytona race.

Following Stewart across the finish line was his car owner/Cup driver Kevin Harvick, along with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Michael Waltrip, Greg Biffle, Rookies Reed Sorenson and Carl Edwards. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Joe Nemechek -- #87 Chevy -- finished 14th
2. Kyle Busch -- #5 Chevy -- finished 34th
3. *Paul Wolfe -- #6 Dodge -- finished 26th
4. Paul Menard -- #11 Chevy -- finished 17th
5. *Reed Sorenson -- #41n Dodge -- finished 9th
6. Clint Boyer -- #2 Chevy -- finished 12th
7. Kevin Harvick -- #21 Chevy -- finished 2nd
8. Justin Labonte -- #44 Chevy -- finished 19th
9. J. J. Yeley -- #18 Chevy -- finished 20th
10. Johnny Sauter -- #1 Dodge -- finished 41st

Special commendation goes out to rookie Reed Sorenson for his cool veteran like car handling during the event. It isn't very often that one gets to see a rookie handle a Busch Series car like Sorenson does. Dale Jr. made it a special point to visit with Sorenson on pit road after the event, extolling his accolades to the young rookie as well. Sorenson gained fame last season as one of Chip Ganassi Racing's developmental drivers. He still races for Ganassi Racing in the #41 Dodge Charger. You can also expect to see him in some Cup events this season as well. We should also recognize Carl Edwards, another Busch Series rookie who finished in the top ten and made it to the end of the event. Edwards was a six time winner in the Craftsman Truck Series and won over $1.4 million purse money in 13 Cup Series starts last season after taking over the #99 Roush Racing's Ford Taurus.

Next weekend the Busch Series joins the rest of the NASCAR series at California Speedway. The Stater Brothers 300 is scheduled to be televised live by the FX channel on Saturday, February 26th at 5:30 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the Target House 300 California Speedway event was Greg Biffle. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Casey Mears, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr., Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek, rookie Kyle Busch, and Jason Leffler.

Casey Mears won the Bud Pole Award in the #41 America's Tire Co. Dodge with a speed of 182.890 miles per hour. There were four caution periods for a total of 31 laps out of the 150 lap event on the two mile oval.

2/27/05… Mark Martin must have taken some of the same medicine that Tony Stewart had taken the previous week, because he smoked the field at the Fontana, California facility Saturday evening.

The win was the 46th for the retiring Cup driver. This is his last year driving full time on the Cup circuit, and he's scheduled to race a limited number of Busch Series races during his last hurrah. The phenomenal Busch Series winner led 120 of the 150 lap event, usually way out front of the rest of the competitors driving by himself. Martin holds the winning record in the Busch Series which he has now elevated to 46 total victories.

Following Martin across the finish line in the top ten were Kevin Harvick, Shane Hmiel, Clint Bowyer, rookie Reed Sorenson, rookie Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, David Stremme, Matt Kenseth, and Dale Jarrett. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Tony Stewart -- #33 Chevy -- finished 29th
2. J. J. Yeley -- #18 Chevy -- finished 23rd
3. Mark Martin -- #9 Ford -- finished 1st
4. *Reed Sorenson -- #41 Dodge -- finished 5th
5. Shane Hmiel -- #32 Chevy -- finished 3rd
6. Kevin Harvick -- #21 Chevy -- finished 2nd
7. Joe Nemechek -- #87 Chevy -- finished 12th
8. David Green -- #27 Ford -- finished 14th
9. Martin Truex Jr. -- #8 Chevy -- finished 30th
10. Justin Labonte -- #44 Chevy -- finished 19th

After finishing second two weeks in a row to two different drivers, Kevin Harvick takes the Busch Series points lead with 340 points. Rookie Reed Sorenson is second, moving up eight spots listed now with a -47. Rookie Carl Edwards is third after moving up five spots to be listed with a -51. Clint Bowyer moved up eight spots to fourth listed with a -53, while Daytona 300 winner Tony Stewart dropped four spots to round out the top five listed with a -69. Ashton Lewis moved up seven spots to sixth listed with a -86, followed by Joe Nemechek who also moved up seven spots listed now in seventh with a -92. Martin Truex Jr. dropped down four spots to eighth listed with a -107, followed by Paul Menard who moved up four spots to ninth listed with a -120. David Green has moved up 12 spots to round out the top ten in drivers points listed with a -122.

Next week the Busch Series moves to Mexico for their first ever foreign points event. Race #3 will he held at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues at Mexico City, Mexico. The road course event will be televised by the FOX network on Sunday, March 6th at 3 p.m. eastern. This will be the inaugural event, so there are no statistics from last season to report.