Jeff Burton dominated the Sam’s Town 300 with the No. 9 Gain sponsored Ford at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway by leading for nearly 2/3 of the 200 lap race. Burton became the first driver in the Busch Series to win from the pole in over 40 races and will collect $81,750 for his romp in the desert. Once again, a Winston Cup regular has taken away the winner’s purse from the Busch drivers. Las Vegas is one of the better paying tracks on the Busch circuit. This was Burton’s third win at the track and the 16th Busch Series win. He has two wins at Las Vegas in the Winston Cup Series, although he starts from a provisional position in this season’s Cup race.

Another Cup regular, Michael Waltrip, driving the No. 99 Aaron’s Rent sponsored Chevrolet, took the second place money. Rookie Johnny Sauter, driving the No. 2 AC Delco sponsored Richard Childress Racing’s Chevrolet crossed the finish line in the third position. Kevin Lepage, a former Cup driver driving his own un-sponsored car, was forth. Winston Cup regular and former Busch Series Champion Jeff Green, driving the No. 21 Rockwell Automation sponsored Richard Childress Racing’s Chevrolet rounded out the top five. Drivers Jack Sprague, Randy LaJoie, Cup driver Kenny Wallace, Greg Biffle, and Cup driver Stacy Compton rounded out the top ten.

As per usual, the championship point’s standings have been shifted around dramatically due to the Cup driver’s penchant for hogging the top positions in the lesser Busch Series. The point’s leader is now Jack Sprague, with 446. He is followed closely by Randy LaJoie with 443, and last weeks race winner and point’s leader Jason Keller with 437. Cup driver Michael Waltrip is right on Keller’s heels with 435 and Greg Biffle rounds out the top five with 415 points. Rookie Johnny Sauter is sixth with 406 points followed by Cup regulars Kenny Wallace and Jeff Green with 403 and 383. Rookie Scott Riggs, who was in second place last week, has been relegated back to ninth with 376 and Scott Wimmer rounds out the top ten with 354 championship points.

Ricky Hendrick, driver of the No. 5 GMAC sponsored Hendrick Motorsport’s Chevrolet, received a shoulder separation when his car collided with the wall after getting tangled up with the car driven by Tony Raines. Ricky, son of Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick, was transported to a local medical center for treatment, and then returned home to Charlotte, N.C. He has cancelled his testing plans for the near future, but plans to be healed up to race in the next Busch Series event in two weeks.

There was a driver change prior to the start of the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas. Rick Goodwin, owner of the team fielding the No. 54 GC Toys sponsored Chevrolet released driver Kelly Denton Friday night and hired Kevin Grubb to take his place. Although Goodwin and Denton are good friends, Denton’s performance behind the wheel was less than stellar in many ways. Sponsors expect the most from their advertising dollars, and something had to be done. Kevin Grubb was released from the No. 37 Brewco Motorsports Chevrolet at the end of last season, and was readily available for the ride. Grubb scored three top five and seven top ten finishes for Brewco last season.

Next Week…….

The Busch Series has an open weekend on March 9th. Race No. 4 on the Busch Grand National schedule is the darlingtonraceway.com 200 at Darlington, S.C. The race will be televised live on Saturday, March 16th, at 1 P.M. Eastern on the FX channel.

Last season’s winner of the Darlington spring race was Jeff Green. He was followed across the finish line by Matt Kenseth, Jason Keller, Kenny Wallace, Mike McLaughlin, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Steve Park, Kevin Harvick, Elton Sawyer, and Jeff Purvis.

3/9/02……. Another driver change has occurred in the Busch ranks. Andy Houston, driver of the No. 92 Excedrin sponsored Herzog Motorsports’ Chevrolet has been released as of March 6th. Houston was 11th in the driver’s standings at the time of his release. He had a top ten finish in the season opener at Daytona, crossing the finish line in the 9th position. He finished one lap down at Rockingham in the 17th position, and finished two laps down at Las Vegas in the 24th position.

Todd Bodine is considered to be the number one candidate for replacing Houston. He is reported to have tested in the car this past week at Darlington, where the Busch Series will continue next weekend. I would not be surprised if this whole situation centered on a ploy by Herzog/Jackson Motorsports to hire Bodine as a permanent driver for its Busch Series entry. The fact that the Winston Cup Haas/Carter Motorsports organization has lost its sponsorship with Kmart is old news. Driving jobs in the Cup Series are far and few between, which could relegate both Bodine and Joe Nemechek back to the Busch Series. They are both seasoned veteran drivers that could easily put a Busch Series team on the right road to success. Herzog Motorsports is in its third season, having finished in the top ten in its first two years. In order for them to remain in the top ten, they have to have a driver who is consistently finishing races in that area.

News was released this week concerning the return of reining Busch Series Champion Kevin Harvick. He is scheduled to be returning to the Busch Series ranks for a one race deal at Texas Motor Speedway driving the No. 29 Sonic sponsored Richard Childress Racings’ Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Harvick is also the defending champion of the Texas race from last season.

Sonic Drive-ins joined Richard Childress Racing last season and are an associate sponsor on Harvick’s No. 29 Winston Cup Chevrolet, and also on Johnny Sauter’s No .2 Busch Series Chevrolet. The company is using the Texas race to help spear head a huge ad campaign centered on a new breakfast menu at their drive-in restaurants. They are running a contest that will allow four race fans to race against Kevin Harvick in a go-kart race at SpeedZone in Dallas, Texas. Harvick’s No. 29 Busch Series entry will have a red and black paint scheme with the Sonic logo on the hood and real quarter panels. Special features from the Sonic menu will also be featured on the car.

To further embellish on my update to last weeks article concerning Ron Hornaday Jr. subbing in for Ricky Hendrick in the No. 5 GMAC sponsored Hendrick Motorsports’ Chevrolet Monte Carlo: Hornaday was trying to help his friend Ted Canpbell, owner of Team CLR, by attempting to qualify the car for the MBNA America 500 Winston Cup race at Atlanta. Campbells No. 54 Ford failed to qualify for the Cup race last week at Las Vegas, and much to Hornaday’s displeasure, he failed to qualify the car at Atlanta also. His paltry speed of 187.792 got him awarded the 44th position in a 43 car field. At any rate, Hornaday will be piloting the No 5 Monte Carlo for Hendrick Motorsports until Ricky Hendrick is healthy enough to return. With the aggressive driving styles of Greg Biffle, Jimmy Spencer, and Ron Hornaday Jr. all in the same race, you can be sure that there will be some contact to make things interesting.

3/10/02………… I have been wondering about the return of Steve Park to the Winston Cup Series next weekend at Darlington. He was injured there by a freak accident when the steering wheel came off of his No. 31 Whelen Engineering sponsored Marsh Motorsports Chevrolet in the Busch race there last September. The racecar veered directly in front of Larry Foyt’s car as he was passing the longest line to take his place at the front of the lapped cars on the inside lane of the restart after a caution period. Foyt T-boned Parks’ car with a tremendous impact that make it leap into the air.

The story about Parks return has him returning to the Winston Cup Series, but there has been no word about his return to the No. 31 Chevrolet in the Busch Series. A few weeks after Park’s demise last September, Marsh Racing put Andy Santerre in the driver’s seat of the No. 31. At NASCAR.com he is listed as the driver this season of the No. 31 in the Busch Series drivers/teams listings. Fact is, the No. 31 Whelen Engineering car has not been entered in any races this season.

It remains to be seen whether Park will return to the Busch Series any time soon. There has been no mention of it in any of the news media outlets. Hopefully, his return to the Cup series will go smoothly, and after a few weeks, he may figure that he is strong enough to return in the No. 31 Busch Series car if the ride is still available.

3/17/02…… Actually, there was no Busch Series race this spring at Darlington. All that was evident was a disgusting rout around the track by a Winston Cup driver. Race? No, I do not call that kind of exhibition a race. There was no race to it. How can you race against someone that you cannot catch?

If Jeff Burton thinks that he gained any feathers for his cap by starting from the pole, leading every lap, and then winning the race, then he’s as crazy as those who think he did something great. About the only good thing that I can remember about the race was a comment by FOX race announcer and three time Winston Cup Champion Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip contends that Burton’s No. 9 Gain sponsored Ford is an ugly looking racecar with its’ off the wall lime green and pink/orange colors. Waltrip calls it “Pork Chop.” He contends that the car is so ugly that one would have to tie a pork chop on it to get a dog to chase it.

The only other driver who stood a chance in catching the No. 9 Gain sponsored Roush Racings’ Ford driven by Jeff Burton, was Greg Biffle. Biffle was driving another Roush Racing Ford, the same one that used to carry the black/yellow Winn Dixie colors and the No. 60 that Mark Martin dominated the Busch Series with. The Roush cars of Mark Martins that Greg Biffle now drives still carry the No. 60, but they have a red and gray color scheme with Grainger as the major sponsor. I am not so sure that the No. 9 Fords driven by Burton were not also No. 60 Mark Martin cars at one time. At any rate, Biffle got to within one car length of Burton during the closing laps of the race, but just could not get up beside Burton or make a pass. Both cars seemed to be somewhat identical.

To me, Burton’s domination of the Busch Series is likened to a professional basketball player playing in a high school game. Who do you think will make the most baskets and dominate the game? Burton certainly does not dominate the Winston Cup Series. He has a much higher level of competition to deal with in Winston Cup. As of the MBNA 500 at Atlanta, Burton’s best start in Winston Cup has been from the 30th position, and his worst from 39th. His best finish was sixth at Rockingham, and his worst was 21st at Atlanta. He finished ninth at Las Vegas which gives him two top ten finishes in Winston Cup so far this season.

Following Greg Biffle across the finish line in the third position was Winston Cup driver Jeff Green Jeff started the No. 21 Rockwell Automation sponsored Richard Childress Racing’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo on the outside pole next to Burton. Finally, a regular Busch Series driver crossed the finish line in the fourth position. Championship point’s leader Jason Keller started the No. 57 Albertson’s Ford in the third position. Sixth place starter and Busch Series regular Kenny Wallace finished fifth in the No. 48 Stacker II Chevrolet.

After the fourth race in the Busch Series season, the top five in the championship points’ standings are separated by less than 50 points. As stated above, Jason Keller sits at the top of the heap, followed by Greg Biffle (-12), Jack Sprague (-13), Kenny Wallace (-39), and Winston Cup driver Michael Waltrip (-41).

Next Week……. Race No. 5 on the Busch Series schedule is the Channellock 250 from the Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee. The race will be televised live by the FX Network on Saturday, March 23rd, at 1 PM Eastern.

Last year’s winner of the Bristol spring race was Winston Cup driver Matt Kenseth. He was followed across the finish line by Tim Fedewa, Randy LaJoie, Jimmy Johnson, Kenny Wallace, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Tony Raines, Tim Sauter, and Winston Cup driver Michael Waltrip.

3/24/02 ……… The Busch Series got in on the rule change that came out in the press release on March 21st concerning provisional starts. As of the Bristol race, teams will not be charged with a provisional start if the race entries are equal to or less than the regularly allotted 43 car field. If only 43 teams enter the race, provisional starts will not be charged to the teams. Teams are allowed eight provisional starts during a season, each time one is used it is deducted from that allotted number by NASCAR. Provisional starts are for positions 37 thru 43 and are allotted for those who did not make the first 36 positions by qualifying on their time. Provisional starts are determined by last years owners' standings during the beginning of a season where there are not any current standings to go by. After five or six races have been run in the season, then NASCAR will use the current owners' standings. Past champions also figure into the equation as to how the provisional starts are assigned in a descending order by teams' owners' points. For the best explanation on provisional starts and owners points, and how they are earned, check out Jayski's Provisional Status & Owner's Points Page .

One interesting tidbit that is making it's rounds around the Net is some stats on the first four BGN races this season. It was reported that 65 drivers/teams have attempted the Busch Series so far this season, compared to 50 in five races in the Winston Cup Series. Out of those 65 who have attempted Busch, only 28 have attempted all four of the races leading up to Bristol.

Channellock 250

Short track races are always a lot of fun to watch, but a race on the .533 mile cereal bowl type concrete track at Bristol is always a hoot. Lots of fans liken Busch Series races to crashfests, like demolition derbies for instance. Watching the Channellock 250, one can easily realize where that likeness came from. The record for the Busch Series at Bristol was 14 cautions in a 250 mile race, and it was broken with a record 15 caution periods for this race.

After all of the crumpled sheet metal was carried off to the junk yard, Winston Cup Series regular and two time Busch Series Champion Jeff Green ended up in victory lane with the No. 21 Rockwell Automation sponsored Richard Childress Racings' Chevrolet. Mike McLaughlin was one of those drivers who found himself in the right place at the right time with the No. 18 MBNA sponsored Joe Gibbs Racings' Pontiac as he crossed the finish line in the second position. As former second place driver and Winston Cup regular Jimmy Spencer in the No 1 Yellow Freight sponsored James Finch racing's Chevrolet was making a fool of himself, McLaughlin was able to sneak through the melee for second. Scott Wimmer followed McLaughlin through for third driving the No. 17 Pontiac. Spencer managed to collect up his car to cross the finish line in the fourth position after taking out Jack Sprague in a stupid move synonymous with Spencer's driving tactics and abilities. Greg Biffle, another first class jerk, ended up in the fifth position with the No. 60 Grainger sponsored Roush Racings' Ford. In Busch Series racing, it seems like it is always the jerks that purposely take people out of the race who end up in front.

After the race, Sprague went running after Spencer and accosted him for his stupid move. The other post race melee involved Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick. These two have had a rivalry going for a couple of years, and what better place for a heated resurgence than a short track. Harvick was livid because Biffles' stupid move took him out of the race and totaled out his favorite Busch race car. After he was wrecked out of the race by Biffle, he made the comment that he was going to be waiting for Biffle when he got out of his car at the end of the race. Harvick was true to his word, when Biffle exited his car after the race Harvick jumped over it and accosted him. He was in Biffle's face for quite a while until crew members and NASCAR officials pulled him out of the area. From what I gathered out of the report of the melee, all parties involved were summoned to the NASCAR trailer for a conference. You can expect to see some stiff fines come out of the off track action.

The championship points standings have been switched around considerably. Greg Biffle moved up one position to the top spot with 740 points. Jeff Green moved up four positions to second place with 733 points, -7 from the top spot. Kenny Wallace moved up one position to third place with 708 points -32 from the lead. Jack Sprague lost a position and is now down to fourth place with 690 points, -50 from the leader. Jason Keller, who fell from grace as the former leader is now in fifth place with 673 points -67 from Biffle. Positions six thru ten are held by: Randy LaJoie, 671; Mike McLaughlin, 661; Michael Waltrip, 629; Scott Riggs (rookie), 622; and Jimmy Spencer, 601.

Next week is an open weekend. Happy Easter!