8/4/02……… Indianapolis Raceway Park……. The running of the Kroger 200 was the setting for Greg Biffle to win his fourth checkered flag of the season since June 1st, and the ninth of his career. Biffle, piloting the No. 60 Grainger Ford, swapped the lead with Jason Keller and Scott Riggs during the event. Biffle started from the pole and was in the lead when the checkered flag flew by a mere 0.147 seconds, winning by a few inches in a photo finish.

It seemed strange that Biffle, Jason Keller in the No. 57 Albertson's Ford, and Riggs in the No. 10 Nestles Ford, were the main race leaders. Biffle's win was the first for the Ford model in the events 21 year history. Does that give anyone the impression that the Ford has a distinct advantage over other models in the Busch Series this season?

Scott Wimmer finished third in the No. 23 TBA Pontiac, followed by rookie Johnny Sauter in the No. 2 AC Delco Chevrolet with Kenny Wallace rounding out the top five in the No. 48 Stacker II Chevrolet. Special mention goes out to Jon Wood, who ran up front all evening in the Roush Racing's No. 9 Gain Ford. It was Woods first attempt in the Busch Series, and his sixth place finish gave him a top ten spot for his first time out.

Rookie Ricky Hendrick finished seventh in the No. 5 GMAC Chevrolet, followed by Jamie McMurray and Tony Raines in the Williams Travel and Bayer Chevrolets. Ron Hornaday rounded out the top ten with the No. 26 Dr. Pepper Chevrolet. Rookie Scott Riggs, who received the 10 point bonus for leading the most laps in the race, finished 11th.

The top six driver's positions in the Busch Series Championship race remain the same from last week. The only thing that has changed is the points. Biffle now has an 82 point advantage over Keller with 3214. Jack Sprague is still in third, but has dropped farther out of the picture with a -287. Rookie Scott Riggs now has a -405 in fourth and Scott Wimmer is -412 in fifth place. Mike McLaughlin remains in sixth with a -481. As it stands now, the championship appears to be between Biffle and Keller with just 12 races to go on their 34 race schedule for 2002.

Steve Grissom to Race for Spencer Motor Ventures in the Busch Series starting at Michigan on August 17th in the Cabela's 250. Grissom replaces 21 year-old rookie Stuart Kirby in the No. 34 U.S. Air Force sponsored Chevrolet. Jimmy Spencer, president of SMV, decided that since Grissom was available since losing his ride in the Petty's No. 44 Dodge to Jerry Nadeau, he'd give him a shot in the failing No. 34 ride. Kirby, while running on a limited schedule with the No. 34, was 46th in the standings after starting eight of the planned 16 races this season. Spencer is hoping that Grissom's track experience will give the team better track position and enable them to finish higher in the standings for the remaining eight races that they are planning to enter this season.

Grissom raced in the Winston Cup series from 1990 thru the first 12 races of the 1998 season when he was released from the No. 41 Kodiak Chevrolet. He had 115 starts in Winston Cup competition before joining Perry Enterprises earlier this season after Buckshot Jones was released from the No. 44 Georgia Pacific Dodge. Grissom's best finish in Cup competition was fourth, two times in 1997 at New Hampshire.

8/19/02……… Pontiac has replaced the Joe Gibbs racing team with PPI Motorsports. The General Motors Pontiac division has been wooing several Winston Cup teams to switch to their model. Up to this point, the Cal Wells owned one car team is the only one to bite on their proposals. Ricky Craven will be driving the new No. 32 Tide Pontiac 2003 model next season instead of the Tide Ford that he is driving this season.

The Joe Gibbs Racing organization announced earlier in the season that they were going to switch to the Chevrolet Monte Carlo for 2003. With the new aero changes that were announced last week by NASCAR, the 2003 Pontiac looked like a good deal to Wells. Although the aero changes are planned to be just a one race test, Wells stated that he felt that the deal he is receiving from Pontiac is the best way for his team to go in 2003. Last Tuesday, NASCAR allowed the Pontiac to add one half of an inch to its front air dam located beneath its front bumper, and also allowed a full inch to the shorter nose of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo as a test exclusively for the Michigan race.

The fact that the first five positions in the Winston Cup qualifying for the Michigan Pepsi 400 is an indication that the temporary addition to the nose of the Monte Carlo was a big success.

Cabela's 250……. The final leader board for the Michigan Busch race looked like a Winston Cup line-up. A lot of the tracks that the two series visit on the same weekend end up being conducive to having the Winston Cup "Buschwhackers" invade the Busch series. It isn't bad enough that the Busch Series drivers compete for less than half of the purse money compared to Winston Cup, but then, the cup drivers have to go in and take the majority of the top money away from them.

Winston Cup driver Michael Waltrip won the race driving his own No. 99 Aaron's Rents Chevrolet, followed by Jeff Burton, Jeff Green, and Todd Bodine, giving the Cup drivers the top four spots. Bobby Hamilton Jr. was the first Busch driver crossing the finish line in fifth. He was followed by rookie Scott Riggs, Scott Wimmer, Cup drivers Stacy Compton and Jimmy Spencer, and Kasey Kahne, rounding out the top ten.

The fierce battles between the Cup drivers for the top spots resulted in a record number of lead changes for the Michigan Busch race. The former record of 14 lead changes fell as the Cup drivers jockeyed for the lead 21 times.

As it turned out, both point's leaders got knocked out of the race, and the point's standings remain the same for the top six spots. Greg Biffle succumbed to engine failure on lap 18 and Jason Keller lost his engine on lap 104. As a result, Greg Biffle is still the point's leader with 3251. Jason Keller still retains the number two spot with a -56 points down from Biffle. Jack Sprague is still at third with a -206 with rookie Scott Riggs remaining at fourth with a -287. Scott Wimmer is still in fifth place with a -303 down from point's leader Biffle. With just eleven races remaining, the Busch Series Championship could very well come down to a fight between Biffle and Keller.

Next Week……. the Busch Series joins the Winston Cup Series again. Race No. 24 on the 34 race Busch Series schedule is the Food City 250 at the Bristol Motor Speedway at Bristol, Tennessee. The night race will be televised live by TNT at 8 P.M. on Saturday, August 23rd.

Last season's winner of the Bristol night race in August was Kevin Harvick. He was followed across the finish line by Jeff Green, Kenny Wallace, Steve Park, Elton Sawyer, rookie Scott Wimmer, Jimmy Spencer, Ryan Newman, Chad Little, and Jay Sauter.

8/24/02……… Mike Harmon escaped serious injury when his No. 44 Chevrolet collided with an improperly protected gate opening in the wall in turn two at Bristol Motor Speedway. The above picture, initially depicted on NASCAR .com and credited to Autostock shows the wrecked No. 44 car in the background with its parts and pieces still flying through the air around the No. 2 AC/Delco Chevrolet driven by rookie Johnny Sauter. Sauter had already T-boned Harmon, spinning the wreckage around, before the above picture was taken.

Harmon was scratched and bruised on his right side by sheet metal when the car was torn in half down its middle. The engine and steering assembly were separated from the car as well as the front clip which was scattered down the backstretch with the rest of the pieces of sheet metal. The driver's steel safety cage remained intact, and along with the other safety devices mandated by NASCAR, is credited with saving Harmon's life.

Harmon attributed the wreck to something breaking in the right front of the car, which caused it to veer directly into the wall. The crossover gate where Harmon's car made the initial intact usually has four 4 inch square posts bolstering the wall. These posts had not been put into place, which caused the wall to give when the No. 44 Chevrolet made contact with it.

Food City 250…… The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. No. 57 Ford – Jason Keller = finished ninth
2. No. 10 Ford – rookie Scott Riggs = finished 18th, 3 laps down
3. No. 99 Chevy – Michael Waltrip (Cup) = finished 7th
4. No. 29 Chevy – Kevin Harvick (Cup) = finished 30th, 42 laps down
5. No. 27 Chevy – Jamie McMurray = finished 11th
6. No. 21 Chevy – Jeff Green (Cup) = finished 5th
7. No. 18 Pont. – Mike McLaughlin = finished 4th
8. No. 60 Ford – Greg Biffle = finished 3rd
9. No. 23 Pont. – Scott Wimmer = finished 2nd
10. No. 1 Chevy – Jimmy Spencer (Cup) = finished 1st

I was amused by a story at NASCAR.com about the Bristol Busch race with the title "Brilliance at Bristol." Tim Packman, the Turner Sports Interactive writer, needs to learn that there isn't anything brilliant about Jimmy Spencer, especially the way he drives a racecar. Spencer led 131 of the 250 laps and captured his first Busch Series win of the season which was the 12th of his Busch career. He has two previous wins at Bristol; the latest was during the 1997 season.

The championship title war between Greg Biffle and Jason Keller wages on. Biffle is still sitting atop of the heap with 3416 points; with a mere 78 point lead over second place Keller. It appears at this point that it's going to come down to the wire between those two as last weeks third place driver, Jack Sprague, remains at third with a -292. Scott Wimmer and Scott Riggs, switched places in the top five, with Wimmer moving to fourth with a -298 and the rookie Riggs to fifth with a -343.

Next week the Busch Series heads to Darlington Raceway for race No 25 on their 34 race 2002 schedule. The event will be televised live by the TNT network at 1 P.M. Eastern on Saturday, August 31st.

Last Season's winner of the Darlington race was Cup driver Jeff Burton. He was followed across the finish line by Elton Sawyer, Mike McLaughlin, Ryan Newman, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Jason Keller, Matt Kenseth, Jimmy Spencer, Jeff Green, and Tony Raines.