3/7/05… Martin Truex Jr. has shown us that his championship last season wasn't a fluke. He has won races on short tracks, superspeedways, restrictor plate venues, and now on a road course, making him a consummate racer, to say the least.

Winning the event is a nice feather for Truexs' cap, seeing that it was the first Busch Series road race on foreign soil, and the first Busch Series event in the country of Mexico. He has certainly made Chance II Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt Inc proud!

Following Truex across the finish line in the top ten were Kevin Harvick, rookie Carl Edwards, Shane Hmiel, Boris Said, Rusty Wallace, Clint Bowyer, Kenny Wallace, Ashton Lewis, and Adrian Fernandez. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jorge Goeters -- #66 Ford -- finished 38th
2. Robby Gordon -- #283 Chevy -- finished 40th
3. Martin Truex Jr. -- #8 Chevy -- finished 1st
4. Ron Fellows -- #87 Chevy -- finished 41st
5. Boris Said -- #1 Dodge -- finished 5th
6. Kevin Harvick -- #21 Chevy -- finished 2nd
7. Paul Menard -- #11 Chevy -- finished 34th
8. Carlos Contreras -- #40 Dodge -- finished 36th
9. Carl Edwards* -- #60 Ford -- finished 3rd
10. Elliott Sadler -- #90 Ford -- finished 18th

Kevin Harvick stated before the season that he was going after the Owner's Championship with a vengeance. By finishing the first three events of the season in second place, he certainly has a great start. Harvick is on top of the Busch Series points with 515 points, followed by rookie Carl Edwards who moved up one spot at Mexico and is now listed with a -61 down from the leader. Clint Bowyer is in third, moving up one spot, and is listed with a -82. Martin Truex Jr.'s win moved him up four spots in the standings to the fourth position listed now with a -92. Rookie Reed Sorenson, who has been a real refreshing addition to the rookie class, dropped down four spots to round out the top five, listed now with a -101. Ashton Lewis remains in sixth listed with a -118, followed by Shane Hmiel who has moved up four spots to seventh listed now with a -139. Kenny Wallace made a huge move, rising up 13 spots to eighth listed with a -197. Justin Labonte moved up three spots to ninth listed now with a -21-, followed by Jason Keller who moved up a whopping 16 spots to round out the top ten with a -221.

The Mexican nationals who qualified for the event raced a hard race. It appeared that Jorge Goeters was going to take the win, but he was forced to succumb to mechanical problems late in the event along with a few other Mexican nationals who were racing very hard. Adrian Fernandez was the highest finisher of the group, crossing the finish line in the 10th position.

Next week the Busch Series moves up the map to Las Vegas, joining the Cup Series. The Sam's Town 300 is scheduled for Saturday, March 12th, and will be televised by the FX channel at 3:30 p.m. eastern. Qualifying for the event will be shown live on the SPEED channel on Friday, March 11th, at 8 p.m. eastern.

Last season's winner of the Sam's Town 300 was Kevin Harvick. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Kasey Kahne, David Stremme, Michael Waltrip, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Matt Kenseth, Tim Fedewa, Jason Keller, Joe Nemechek, and Greg Biffle.

Mike Bliss won the Bud Pole Award in the #20 Rockwell Chevrolet with a speed of 171.238 miles per hour. There were four caution periods for a total of 32 laps out of the 200 lap event on the 1.5 mile D-shaped oval.

3/13/05… The winningest driver in the history of NASCAR's Busch Series has done it again! Mark Martin has added victory number 47 to his Busch Series repertoire, racking up two wins in the series for Roush Racing within the first four races. He's had some great racecars and his luck has been almost as good as Kevin Harvicks, who has scored four straight second place finishes in a row. Martin not only beat the heat of the southwest desert, he also beat the heat of the hard charging Busch Series drivers.

It's hard to say if the latest second place finish for Harvick could have been prevented or not. Davis Stremme, the driver of the #14 Navy sponsored Fitz/Bradshaw Motorsports Dodge isn't exactly what you'd call a veteran driver. He could have made the back of his car a lot wider and tried to prevent Harvick from passing him on the final stretch to the checkered flag. Stremme may have thought that he had the horsepower to keep Harvick at bay, but Harvick got a run on him coming out of turn four, went below the white line onto the track's apron, and made the pass just enough to get the nose of the car ahead of Stremmes' Dodge at the finish line. Harvick worked hard for his second place finish, there's no question with that.

Even though the track was really slippery in the southwestern heat, there was only one major wreck. Cup Driver Kasey Kahne pulled a deal similar to the one last fall where Tony Stewart ducked in behind Kahne and ended up bumping Kahne's slower car into the wall. This time it was Kahne who did the bumping, as he ducked in behind the #11 of Paul Menard, bumped him, and spun him out into the outside wall. Kahne escaped the melee, but Menard managed to collect up seven other cars in the wreck caused by Cup driver Kahne. References were made by those who were taken out of the race about the impatience of the Cup drivers. Thos things happen, as we all know, the cars don't have any brake lights. There's no way to tell if the car ahead of you has slowed, as when Stewart hit Kahne's car last fall. What goes around comes around, especially out on the race track!

Following the two Cup drivers across the finish line in the top ten were David Stremme, Cup drivers Joe Nemechek and Greg Biffle, rookies Reed Sorenson and Carl Edwards, Randy LaJoie, Clint Bowyer, and David Green. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Carl Edwards*-- #60 Ford -- finished 7th
2. Elliott Sadler -- #90 Ford -- finished 14th
3. Kyle Busch -- #5 Chevy -- finished 11th
4. Shane Hmiel -- #32 Chevy -- finished 36th
5. Clint Bowyer -- #2 Chevy -- finished 9th
6. Jason Keller -- #35 Ford -- finished 43rd
7. Reed Sorenson* -- #41 Dodge -- finished 6th
8. Kasey Kahne -- #38 Dodge -- finished 20th
9. J. J. Yeley -- #18 Chevy -- finished 18th
10. Greg Biffle -- #66 Ford -- finished 5th

The top three positions in the Busch Series driver's point's standings remain the same. Kevin Harvick is now listed with 690 points, extending his lead over second place rookie driver Carl Edwards to -80. Clint Bowyer is now listed with a -119, followed by rookie Reed Sorenson, who moved up one spot to fourth listed with a -126. Martin Truex Jr. dropped down one spot to round out the top five with a -152. Ashton Lewis remains in sixth place listed now with a -196, followed by David Stremme, whose third place finish moved him up seven spots to seventh, now listed with a -238. Shane Hmiel dropped down one spot to eighth listed now with a -459, followed by Justin Labonte who remains in ninth listed now with a -263. Rookie Denny Hamlin has moved up one spot to round out the top ten in driver's points with a -272.

Next week the Busch Series moves to Atlanta for the Aaron's 312. The event is scheduled for Saturday, March 19th at 2:30 pm eastern time. The FX channel is scheduled to broadcast the event live. Qualifying for the event is on the same day and will be televised by the SPEED channel live at 12 noon eastern time.

Last season's winner of the Aarons 312 event held on Oct 10th was Cup driver Matt Kenseth. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by rookie Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Robby Gordon, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Kenny Wallace, David Stremme, Martin Truex Jr., and J. J. Yeley.

Mike Bliss won the Bud Pole Award in the #20 Rockwell Automation Chevy with a speed of 188.867 miles per hour. There were six caution periods for a total of 30 laps out of the 208 lap event on the 1.54 mile D-shaped oval.

3/20/05… Carl Edwards preformed his trademark back-flip off of the door panel of his winning Charter sponsored #60 Roush Racing Ford. He stopped his car on the track in front of the grandstand area and climbed out, waved at the fans, and then did his flip onto the track surface. NASCAR officials tried to stop him from doing his back-flip when he raced in the Truck Series, but they didn't have any luck curbing the young driver's exuberance. The Busch Series rookie won his first event in the series, and was also only the third person in the 14 year Busch Series history at the Atlanta facility to win from a pole starting position. The other two Busch Series winners from the pole were Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle.

Edwards was the 2003 Craftsman Truck Series Raybestos Rookie of the year, winning three events that season, and three more in his shortened 2004 season. He was called up to take the vacant position in the #99 Cup Series entry when Jeff Burton left Roush Racing with 13 races remaining. He's unable to participate in the rookie program in the Cup Series because he ran more than seven events in his initial year, but he's able to race under rookie status in the Busch Series, giving him more testing dates and other amenities that aren't afforded to other Busch Series competitors.

Atlanta is by far my favorite NASCAR racing facility, its speed and the excitement created by it, can only be partially re-created at the 2-mile Michigan facility, another of my favorite tracks. The Busch Series event didn't leave any disappointment lingering in the minds of the fans who attended the event or for those of us who watched it on TV. The extra inch of height on the rear spoiler of the Busch Series cars as compared to the Cup Series cars, and the smaller 390 series Holly carburetor allows the drivers to keep the pedal to the metal. If the racecar is working right, they drive the entire 1.54 mile track flat out, keeping the average speeds of the leaders over 190 to 200 miles per hour.

Following Edwards across the finish line in the top ten were some stellar race drivers that he had to beat, and race hard to accomplish his first victory. The first eight to follow were Cup drivers Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson. Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler, Jamie McMurray, and rookie Michel Jourdain Jr. You can easily see that the rookie Edwards beat the class of the field, hands down. Actually with just a handful of laps remaining, he made a daring four car wide pass to take these top drivers to task. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Carl Edwards* -- #60 Ford -- finished 1st
2. J. J. Yeley -- #18 Chevy -- finished 34th
3. Jimmie Johnson -- #248 -- finished 3rd
4. Jon Wood -- #47 Ford -- finished 25th
5. Clint Bowyer -- #2 Chevy -- finished 21st
6. Michel Jourdain Jr. -- #10 Chevy -- finished 10th
7. Shane Hmiel -- #32 Chevy -- finished 39th
8. Blake Feese* -- #5 Chevy -- finished 23rd
9. Paul Menard -- #11 Chevy -- finished 24th
10. Matt Kenseth -- #17 Ford -- finished 4th

Edwards once again shines outward when it comes to the driver's point's standings. He moved up one spot with his win to take the lead over second place Kevin Harvick by 105 points. Clint Bowyer remains in third, now listed with a -119, followed by rookie Reed Sorenson who remains in fourth listed with a -125. Defending champion Martin Truex Jr. remains in fifth listed with a -127 followed by Ashton Lewis who remains in sixth listed with a -180. David Stremme remains in seventh listed with a -219, followed by Kenny Wallace, who moved up four spots to eighth listed now with a -256. Rookie Denny Hamlin moved up one spot to ninth listed now with a -262, while Greg Biffle moved up a whopping eight spots to round out the top ten listed with a -290.

Next week the Busch Series will travel to the Nashville Superspeedway for the Pepsi 300. The event will be televised by the FX channel on Saturday, March 26th, at 3:30 p.m. eastern time. Qualifying will be televised live on the SPEED channel on Friday, March 25th, at 11:30 a.m. eastern time.

Last season's winner of the Nashville event was Cup driver Michael Waltrip, followed across the finish line by Johnny Sauter, Kasey Kahne, rookie Clint Bowyer, Robby Gordon, rookie Kyle Busch, Johnny Benson, Mike Bliss, Jason Leffler, and David Green.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Bud Pole Award in the #8 Taco Bell Chevy with a speed of 166.515 miles per hour. There were six caution periods setting a track record which took 37 laps out of the 225 lap event on the 1.33 mile oval.

Okay, so Reed Sorenson won his first race. His team owner, Chip Ganassi, said the race wasn't very exciting, as it was dominated by Sorenson from the onset. But, for sure, he was excited to rack up another victory for Chip Ganassi Racing, whether it's in Indycar, NASCAR, ASA or ARCA. Chip Ganassi fields race teams to win.

Doesn't it make you wonder, how some of these up-and-coming young stars find their way to victory lane? Sorenson is still a teenager, although 19 years old and soon to be leaving that genre; he's still a teenager, as was Kyle Busch when he began winning Busch Series events. It's apparent that some of these youngsters are driven. They have a goal to be a big racing star, and they will take the chances, most having no fear, to make this dream of theirs a reality.

A good example of this is the performance last week that Carl Edwards put on at Atlanta. Now there is a young man who we all know is set on winning. He proved that in the Craftsman Trucks, as he has now in both the Busch and Cup Series. The daring move he put on Jimmie Johnson coming down the pike toward the checkered flag proves it, he has no fear. He had to have known he was on badly worn tires, having wobbled seriously with just a couple of laps to go. Anyone else would have been somewhat shaken up by that and been happy as all get out to have taken second place. Not Carl Edwards, a young lad driven to win, anxious to prove to his competitors and fans, not to mention Jack Roush, why he made it to where he is at. The pinnacle of stock car auto racing, the NASCAR Cup Series.

Following Sorenson across the finish line in the top ten were Kenny Wallace, Shane Hmiel, rookie Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Bobby Hamilton, Tony Raines, Jason Keller, Denny Hamlin, and Stacy Compton. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Reed Sorenson -- #41 Dodge -- finished 1st
2. Clint Bowyer -- #2 Chevy -- finished 5th
3. Carl Edwards* -- #60 Ford -- finished 4th
4. Tim Fedewa -- #12 Dodge -- finished 26th
5. Denny Hamlin* -- #20 Chevy -- finished 9th
6. J. J. Yeley -- #18 Chevy -- finished 38th
7. Shane Hmiel -- #32 Chevy -- finished 3rd
8. Jon Wood -- #47 Ford -- finished 12th
9. Jamie McMurray -- #64 Dodge -- finished 11th
10. Johnny Sauter -- #1 Dodge -- finished 16th

Rookie Carl Edwards' fourth place finish was good enough to keep him in the lead for the Busch Series driver's point's standings. Reed Sorenson's win moved him up two spots to second listed now with a -95, down from Edwards' 955 points after the sixth event of a scheduled 35. Clint Bowyer remains in third place listed now with a -124. Martin Truex Jr. is right on Bowyer's heels listed with a -126 after moving up one spot. Ashton Lewis Jr., who took over the #25 U. S. Marine's sponsored Ford from Bobby Hamilton Jr., rounds out the top five listed with a -234. Kenny Wallace's second place finish moved him up two spots to sixth listed now with a -241, followed by Kevin Harvick, who's absence dropped him down five spots to seventh listed with a -265. Rookie Denny Hamlin moved up one spot to eighth listed now with a -279, followed by David Stremme, who dropped two spots to ninth listed with a -297. Shane Hmiel moved up two spots to round out the top ten listed with a -308.

The Busch Series point's standings are pretty tight in the beginning of the season, as the Cup drivers haven't had that much of a chance to get in there and take the races and top points. Although, I should note here that Cup driver Mark Martin has already won two events out of the six this season, but he is listed in 32nd place as the two races he's won are the only ones he's entered. Cup driver Tony Stewart took the season opener at Daytona, but hasn't been much of a factor in the rest of the events, so the winning slate is pretty much even at this point between the Cup and Busch Series drivers. With Carl Edwards being a Busch Series rookie, it's hard to figure him as a Cup driver too!

Next week it's time for the Bristol spring event. The Sharpie Professional 250 Busch Series event at the Bristol Motor Speedway is scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd, at 2 p.m. eastern time. The Busch Series will once again use the same day qualifying routine, with the time trials beginning at noon, Saturday, April 2nd, televised live on the SPEED channel

Last season's winner of the spring Bristol event was Martin Truex Jr. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Kevin Harvick, rookie Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, David Green, Tony Raines, Michael Waltrip, Jason Keller, Ron Hornaday Jr., and Mike Wallace. Greg Biffle won the Bud Pole Award in the #60 Charter sponsored Roush Racing Ford with a speed of 127.132 miles per hour. There were a record amount of eight caution periods for a total of 49 laps out of the 250 lap event on the .533 high banked bull ring type oval concrete surfaced short track.