6/2/02……… Red Flags………. NASCAR has developed a penchant for stopping races near the end to insure that the fans will see a green flag finish. For NASCAR, it's all a show, and nothing more. The sanctioning body is getting about as far away from actual racing as they can possibly get. Their main concern is "the show" and how they are perceived by the media, ie., the general public.

In a couple of instances this season, NASCAR has stopped the race because of a wreck where there were less than five laps remaining in the race. I don't see where it gives the fans a good show to see cooled down racecars try to compete at a disadvantage. It certainly isn't fair to the race teams, or sponsors who have hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising money riding on a win that they can use for commercial advertising purposes.

Race fans aren't stupid. Before any race begins, the pace cars take the racecars around the track from three to five warm-up laps to get them ready for competition. This has always been the case before the green flag falls at any NASCAR event. When the sanctioning body throws the red flag with just four laps to go, they are doing nothing more than ruining the race, for the drivers and fans alike.

Greg Biffle Wins……. Last season's five time winner and rookie of the year won his first of the season and the sixth of his career as he tamed the Monster Mile. Biffle survived a three lap shootout on cold tires with a cooled down racecar to beat Jeff Green to the checkered flag. NASCAR.com reports that the red flag was thrown with 195 laps complete, but that wasn't the case. NASCAR changes the story to make themselves look good, they always have, and probably always will, regardless of the truth. The red flag was thrown on lap 196 of the 200 lap race. After ONE warm-up lap, the green flag was thrown before the cars could get up to speed or get their tires warmed up.

Bobby Hamilton Jr., Scott Wimmer, and Jack Sprague rounded out the top five finishers. Positions six thru ten were: Ron Hornaday made a good showing again with the No. 26 Dr. Pepper Chevrolet after starting 18th. Kenny Wallace was seventh with the No. 48 Stacker 2 Chevrolet after starting a dismal 27th. Mike McLaughlin got a top ten finish for Joe Gibbs Racing with the No. 18 MBNA Pontiac at MBNA's home track. Randy LaJoie finished ninth in the No. 7 Kleenex Chevrolet, and Kevin Grubb rounded out the top ten in the No. 54 Toys R US Chevrolet after starting 20th.

Jack Sprague re-took the championship point's lead with 1992 points, 41 points over rookie Scott Riggs who also moved up one spot. Jason Keller was caught up in a wreck when Hank Parker Jr. spun out, and lost two positions down to third with a -55 down from the lead. Randy LaJoie remains in fourth with a -136 and Greg Biffle moved up one spot to fifth with his win and is now a -155. Only 55 positions separate the top three, than with LaJoie, the spread widens out to where one win won't make a difference. Point's positions six thru ten are: -1 Mike McLaughlin, -157; +1 Bobby Hamilton Jr., -203; -1 Kenny Wallace, -205; +2 Scott Wimmer, -290; and -1 Stacy Compton, -306.

Next Week………. Race No. 15 takes the Busch Series away from the Winston Cup "Buschwhackers" as they move into Nashville Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee for the second time this season to race the Nashville 300. The race will be televised live on the FX channel on Saturday, June 8th at 7 P.M. Eastern.

6/09/02……… Another first time winner…… graced the Busch Grand National Series Saturday night as Jack Sprague, former three time Craftsman Truck Series champion, led the 22 most important laps at the Nashville Speedway with the No. 24 NetZero Hendrick Motorsport's Chevrolet.

Sprague won the infamous Gibson guitar trophy that is synonymous with a win at the Nashville track. His crew chief, Dennis Connor, told him during the race that if he would hang on to win, he would pay for guitar lessons for a year. Now, Connor needs to line up a guitar tutor for Sprague. Sprague also won a guitar at Nashville for a truck series win, but claims that the Busch Series trophy is much more special.

Sprague becomes the third Busch Series driver to get his first victory at Nashville, following Greg Biffle and Scott Riggs. Biffle had a dominant car, but he suffered exhaust problems with carbon monoxide in the driver's compartment. This caused him to momentarily nod off late in the race and graze the wall, damaging the car where it lacked the aerodynamic presence to be competitive.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. fought hard for the win, but ended up second, as the first loser with the No. 25 Marine Corps Ford. Biffle managed to hang in there for third with the No. 60 Grainger Ford. Jay Sauter finished fourth subbing for Jeff Green in the No. 21 Rockwell Chevrolet, and Jason Keller garnered a top five finish in the No. 57 Albertson's Ford. All of the top five finishers got five bonus points for leading a lap, with Sprague getting the extra five points for leading the most laps. Positions six thru then were: No. 48, Kenny Wallace; No. 23, Scott Wimmer; No. 36, Hank Parker Jr.; No. 47, rookie Shane Hmiel; No. 66, rookie Casey Mears.

Jack Sprague is the point's leader of the driver's standings. He has 2177 points with an 80 point lead over second place Jason Keller who moved up one position. Rookie Scott Riggs dropped down one spot to third with a -123 while Greg Biffle moved up one spot to fourth with a -170. Bobby Hamilton Jr.'s second place finish moved him up two positions to fifth with a -213. Positions six thru ten are: +2 Kenny Wallace, -240; -3 Randy LaJoie, -266; -2 Mike McLaughlin, -278; Scott Wimmer, -329; Stacy Compton, -367.

Next Week……… the Busch Series travels to Kentucky for race No. 16. The Kentucky 300 is scheduled to be televised by FX at 8 P.M. Eastern. Last season's winner of the June Kentucky race was Kevin Harvick. He was followed across the finish line by rookie Greg Biffle, Tony Raines, Elton Sawyer, Ashton Lewis Jr., Chad Little, Randy LaJoie, Kevin Grubb, Jay Sauter, and rookie Jamie McMurray.

6/17/02……… Kroger 300……… After a suspension of the race due to a rain delay on Saturday night, Todd Bodine managed to fight off Greg Biffle, bumping and banging across the finish line. Bodine opted to remain in Kentucky to finish the Busch Series race instead of traveling to Michigan to drive the No. 26 Discover Card sponsored Ford for Haas/Carter Motorsports. Instead, His brother Geoff, who qualified the car, raced it in the Sirius Satellite Radio 400 at Michigan.

Bodine was apprehensive about the decision, but after crossing the finish line inches ahead of Biffle with the No. 92 Excedrin Chevrolet, he changed his tune, and was glad he made the decision to stay in Kentucky. Greg Biffle was in the lead with the No. 60 Grainger Ford when the race was called for the sudden onslaught of rain, and was the dominate car to beat when the race resumed Sunday.

The win was the 14th for Bodine in his Busch Series Career which began in 1996. His return to the Winston Cup Series last year wasn't exactly successful, and as the season started out in 2002 he lost his ride with Haas/Carter Motorsports when their sponsor K-Mart went into bankruptcy and forced the team to fold up. Falling back into the Busch Series was a no-brainer for him and the No. 92 Excedrin team was happy to get the experienced successful Busch Series driver.

Tony Raines finished third in the No. 30 Bayer Chevrolet, followed by rookie Scott Riggs in the No. 10 Nestles Ford and Scott Wimmer in the No. 23 Siemens Pontiac. Finishing positions six thru ten were: Jamie McMurray, No. 27 Chevrolet; rookie Kerry Earnhardt, No. 12 Supercuts Chevrolet; rookie Ricky Hendrick, No. 5 GMAC Chevrolet; Kenny Wallace, No. 48 Stacker 2 Chevrolet; Shane Hall, No. 63 Greased Lightning Chevrolet. Kudos to Kerry Earnhardt, for logging his best finish of the season (7th) and his second top ten finish of the season.

The driver's points standings have changed some. Jack Sprague is still sitting at the top of the heap, but his lead has dwindled to a mere 68 points over second place rookie Scott Riggs. Riggs moved up one spot along with third place Greg Biffle who now has 2182 points with a -110 deficit from leader Sprague. Jason Keller dropped back two positions with a -129 while Kenny Wallace moved up a position with a -217. Point's positions six thru ten are: +1 Randy LaJoie, -257; -2 Bobby Hamilton Jr., -273; +1 Scott Wimmer, -289; -1 Mike McLaughlin, -347; +1 Jamie McMurray, -441.

The Busch Series has a weekend off next week. The next race will be the GNC Live Well 250 on The Milwaukee Mile, June 30th.

07/01/02……… GNC Live Well 250……… Greg Biffle is now the only Busch series driver who can say that he has won the Milwaukee Busch race back to back, two seasons in a row. Biffle became the first driver to score repeat wins in the 11 year history of the event with the No. 60 Grainger Ford. The win capped Biffle's fifth top five finish in a row. Actually, he hasn't finished worse than third in the last five races. This was Biffle's second victory of the season and the seventh of his Busch Series career of 52 starts. Biffle had two Busch Series starts in 1996, 33 in 2001, and has 17 so far this season.

The hot weather caused by an unusual Wisconsin heat wave took its toll on drivers as well as the racecars. Drivers had a hard time trying to stay hydrated in the mid-nineties heat. Fifteen cars were out of the race for mechanical reasons, some of which was also due to the 120 degree track temperature.

Shane Hmiel was one of the worst cases of dehydration. He had to be lifted out of his car and was taken to the infield care center for treatment. Other drivers were visibly exhausted and had a hard time doing their usual post race TV interviews.

Jason Keller was a really close second with the No. 57 Albertson's Ford. Keller was followed across the finish line by Wisconsin native Scott Wimmer in the No. 23 Siemens Pontiac, Ron Hornaday in the No. 26 Dr. Pepper Chevrolet, and Tony Raines in the No. 33 Chevrolet. Finishing positions six thru ten were: rookie Shane Hmiel, No. 47 Chevrolet; Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 25 Ford; Mike McLaughlin, No. 18 Pontiac; Tim Sauter, No. 19 Chevrolet; Randy LaJoie, No. 7 Chevrolet.

The Busch Series driver's standings changed some, but not too drastic. Jack Sprague still holds the top spot with 2413 points, and a mere 46 point lead over Greg Biffle who moved up one spot to second. Jason Keller also moved up one spot to third with a -75 point deficit. Scott Riggs lost two spots and has dropped down to fourth with 2276 points and a -137 deficit. Kenny Wallace remains in fifth with a -229 deficit from the leader. Positions six thru ten are: +2 Scott Wimmer, -240; -1 Randy LaJoie, -244; -1 Bobby Hamilton Jr., -248; Mike McLaughlin, -326; Stacy Compton, -422.

History was set in another way at the GNC Live Well 250 on The Milwaukee Mile. This was the first time since 1948 that four members of the same family raced against each other in the same event. The three Flock brothers raced against their sister Ethel in '48, setting the initial record. Jim Sauter was driving a car fielded by Richard Childress Racing so he could race against his three sons, Tim, Johnny, and Jay.

Next Week…… Race No. 18 takes the Busch Series to the Daytona International Speedway for the GNC/Stacker II 250. The event will be broadcast live on the FX channel Friday, July 5th at 6:30 P.M. Eastern.

The Busch Series didn't make a second trip to Daytona last season, so there are no statistics for last season's race to share with you. This marks the first time that the Busch Series has doubled up on restrictor plate events at Daytona, the event will be rife for the NASCAR history book.