10/5/02 ……… Todd Bodine has given up his ride in the no. 92 Excedrin Chevrolet with Herzog Motorsports. With the Busch Series off this weekend, Tim Fedewa is scheduled to be in the car when the series returns to action next week at Charlotte.

Bodine used the excuse that he wants to devote his concentration solely to his Winston Cup duties. He is currently piloting the No. 26 Discover Card sponsored Ford for Haas/Carter Motorsports.

This reaction here at the end of the season seems kind of strange for Bodine, who didn't care a flip for his Winston Cup ride earlier in the season when Haas/Carter was trying to woo the Discover Card sponsorship with a six race deal. He gave his Busch Series ride his top priority and even put his brother Geoff in the Winston Cup ride a few times so he could race in the Busch Series.

What also may seem strange is that Bodine has left the Busch Series team just as new part owner Reggie Jackson emerges on the scene. Some of you may remember Reggie Jackson as a star baseball player. Could it be that Bodine doesn't want to work for a team that is part owned by Jackson? I can't seem to come up with any other reason for him turning his back on the team at this stage of the game. The Busch Series team has been his top priority all season, and not this sudden change of heart? I don't think so, I don't buy it.

Talladega is not going to be lost entirely on Winston Cup drivers this weekend. For once the "Cupwhackers" will try to enter the Winston Cup race at Talladega. Several Busch Series drivers are due to attempt to make the EA Sports 500. Among them are Jamie McMurray, No. 40 (subbing for Sterling Marlin); Stacy Compton, No. 49; Scott Wimmer, No. 23; Tim Fedewa, No. 51; Kenny Wallace, No. 33; Jay Sauter, No. 71; Ron Hornaday, No. 55 (subbing for Bobby Hamilton); and Kerry Earnhardt, No. 83.

As a result of Winston Cup qualifying being rained out, Kerry Earnhardt was among those who were sent home. There was no mention in the race line-up or qualifying line-up of Tim Fedewa, the other six Busch Series drivers made the race. Apparently Fedewa's entry must have been scrubbed earlier in the week. The rain-out was good for Jamie McMurray, however, as he will start Sundays Winston Cup race in fifth place according to Chip Ganassi Racing's owner's point's standings for the No. 40 Coors Light Dodge.

Steve Park is scheduled to make a re-emergence in the Busch Series next season driving the No. 8 Maxwell house Chevrolet owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his stepmother Teresa. Park is slated to drive in at least five races, with Dale Jr. planning to drive the car in the restrictor plate races. Another driver will attempt to make at lease seven other races during the 2003 season. The team hopes to go full time in 2004.

Mike "Magic Shoes" McLaughlin will not be driving the No. 18 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing next season. Gibbs' son Coy will be taking over the driving duties in the No. 20 Rockwell Automation Busch Series Chevrolet in 2003.

McLaughlin has been with JGR for the past two seasons. He has excelled as the driver for the team and is currently ranked fifth in championship points. Last season he finished seventh in championship points. In his two years with JGR, McLaughlin has one win, 11 top five, and 27 top ten finishes.

It's strange to report on the anniversary of Blaise Alexanders' death that his father is in the process of selling his team. Frank Cicci, a native of Elmira, New York, is reported to have purchased the 10k square ft. race shop in the Mooresville Motorsports Park at Mooresville, North Carolina.

Cicci is a former Busch Series owner with 17 years experience in the business. He is presently reported to be putting together a team for the 2003 season. Look for more news on this new team by the end of the 2002 season.

Next week the Busch Series will participate in race No. 29 of their 34 race 2002 schedule. The Little Trees 300 from Charlotte, North Carolina will be televised live by the TNT network at 1 P.M. Eastern on Saturday, October 12th.

Last season's winner of the Little Trees 300 was rookie Greg Biffle. He was followed across the finish line by Jason Keller, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Ashton Lewis Jr., Jimmy Spencer, Hank Parker Jr., Ward Burton, Elton Sawyer, and Jeff Green.

This off week can be considered the "calm before the storm." There are only six races remaining in the 2003 season, which allows only six chances for a driver to clinch the Busch Series Championship. Greg Biffle is sitting atop of the standings with 4018 points. His nemesis this season, Jason Keller has 3891 points, just 127 points away from the leader. If he allows Biffle to gain any more on his at charlotte, he may be fighting more of an uphill battle than he realizes.

10/13/02 ……… Hendrick Quits…………. When you stop to think about it, 22 year-old Ricky Hedrick’s sudden retirement it isn’t all that strange. Ricky got bit, and now he knows the pain. Some of these “No Fear” drivers haven’t been laid up in the hospital and felt the pain yet. Couple this fact with the death last week of 33 year-old ARCA driver Eric Martin, and Hendrick’s immediate retirement makes a lot of sense.

Lets not kid ourselves here, Ricky is the son of an extremely wealthy businessman, not to mention the prowess of Rick Hendrick in NASCAR racing. There is lots of wealth and power in Ricky’s future. Why gamble it away driving a racecar, when the next corner you attempt to turn into make may be your last? True, there’s lots of fame and glory involved with being a successful race car driver, but it won’t begin to compare with what his future will hold.

Ricky stated that he couldn’t compete at a high level due to the shoulder injury that he suffered at Las Vegas last spring. The injury required surgery and kept him out of the race car for eight weeks. He claims that it bothers him while driving the race car, and dampens his concentration. Most veteran drivers have had to race hurt one time or another. Look at how some of them have even won races while they were wearing casts and splints. Apparently Hendrick doesn’t fit into that league, so it is probably just as well that he gets out of the racecar now, in the early stages of his career.

Ricky had a solid rookie season with the Craftsman Truck Series in 2001. He was the youngest driver to score a win in the series with his victory at Kansas, coupled with eight top five and 19 top ten finishes. He finished his rookie season sixth in driver’s points. This season in the Busch Series he has started 22 of the 26 races run before his retirement, has two top ten finishes, and was 26th in driver’s points.

The rules have changed for all of NASCAR’s three series following the tragic death of ARCA driver Eric Martin at Charlotte last Wednesday. NASCAR will now require that any time a car is on the race track, a team spotter must be present on the rooftop perch used by team spotters during a race. The sanctioning body has even initiated a roll call system to make sure all of the team’s spotters are present on the rooftop. If a team’s spotter doesn’t answer the roll call, then the car will not be allowed to go onto the racetrack. Previously, the only time spotters were used were in competition. Now they will be required to be in position for practice sessions as well as race qualifying time trials.

NASCAR is also looking into the feasibility of installing warning lights inside of the racecars to alert drivers of unsafe conditions on the track. The idea of adding warning or caution lights in all of the corner areas and backstretch of NASCAR’S host venues is also being tossed around.

Kevin Harvick will be back in the Busch series next season. Richard Childress Racing has made the changes to its Busch Series program that was previously discussed in this column and in RCR news conferences. Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 2 AC Delco Chevy, will be taken out of the ride for 2003. Sauter will share driving duties with Kevin Harvick in the No. 21 Chevy. Harvick will drive the car when both of the series are racing at the same venue. Sauter is slated to race the No. 21 when the Busch and Winston Cup Series are separated. Ron Hornaday will be the permanent driver for the No. 2 in 2003.

Little Trees 300…………. The Winston Cup dominance of the Busch Series is getting sickening. Once again, Jeff Burton has romped over the Busch Series, gathering his fifth win in that series this season. As a matter of fact, the top five finishers were all Winston Cup drivers.

In a matter related to the Winston Cup dominance of the Busch series, team owner Roger Penske has spoken out against it. Penske thinks it’s time to put a limit on the number of Winston Cup drivers who enter Busch Series events. He stated, “If a driver doesn’t run half of the events in Winston Cup, he should be able to drop down to Busch. If it’s more than half, he should only be in Winston Cup and give the guys in Busch a chance.”

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Michael Waltrip -- No. 99 Chevy – finished 2nd
2. Jeff Burton -- No. 9 Ford – finished 1st
3. Jimmy Spencer -- No. 1 Chevy – finished 34th
4. Joe Nemechek -- No. 87 Chevy -- finished 3rd
5. *Scott Riggs -- No. 10 Ford – finished 39th
6. Jack Sprague -- No. 24 Chevy – finished 25th
7. Mark Green -- No. 38 Ford – finished 30th
8. Jeff Green -- No. 21 Chevy – finished 4th
9. Larry Foyt -- No. 14 Chevy – finished 17th
10. Kevin Lepage -- No. 37 Chevy – finished 19th

Burton’s romp was so dramatic that there were only three cars left on the lead lap when the checkered flag waved. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Roush organization has a definite edge in Busch Series racing. No one has yet figured out what that particular edge is, but they have got to be doing something. The edge was also present when Mark martin was racing in the Busch Series for Roush.

The championship points spread grew larger in Greg Biffle’s favor. The top five in the standings remain the same. Biffle is 168 points over second place Jason Keller, who finished 18th, two laps down. Keller had to start the race from the back of the field due to a pre-race engine change. Scott Wimmer, back in third place is way out of the picture with a -466. Fourth place Jack Sprague isn’t that far behind with a -474. Mike McLaughlin rounds out the top five with a -533. With just five races left in this season’s Busch Series, it looks like the championship is Greg Biffles to lose.

Next week the series heads to Memphis for the Sam’s Town 250. The event will be telecast live by NBC on Saturday, October 19th at 2 P.M. Eastern. The winner of the event last year was Randy Lajoie. He was followed across the finish line by Jeff Green, Kevin Harvick, Jay Sauter, Jeff Purvis, Tim Fedewa, Jason Keller, rookie Scott Wimmer, Ashton Lewis Jr., and Mike McLaughlin.

10/20/02……… The bad press and other detractors surrounding Jeff Burton’s victorious romps in the Busch Series haven’t dampened the driver’s spirit, or maybe I should say ego. With five wins so far this season, Burton’s career Busch Season wins now stand at 20.

Burton recently made statements to the effect that he wants to race for both the Busch Series and the Winston Cup Series championships by the 2004 season. Burton’s Roush Racing teammate, Mark Martin, has the Busch Series career winner’s record with 45 victories. The driver’s currently ahead of Burton are:

1. Mark Martin – 45 wins
2. Jack Ingram – 31 wins
3. Tommy Houston – 24
4. Dale Earnhardt – 23
5. Sam Ard – 22
6. Tommy Ellis – 22
7. Harry Gant – 21

All of the above listed drivers are currently inactive in the Busch Series. The only active driver among them is Mark Martin, who retired from Busch Series competition at the end of the 2000 season. Burton wants to break Martin’s record, and become the big shot in the Busch Series.

A lot of NASCAR insiders are puzzled by Roush Racing’s dominance in the Busch Series. Given Mark Martin’s tremendous amount of victories, along with Burton’s present dominance, and let’s not forget Greg Biffle, the current Busch Series Championship point’s leader. Biffle has also been dominant within the series, when his Roush Racing counterpart, Jeff Burton, hasn’t been stepping on him. Biffle took over the No. 60 when Mark martin retired, and has been using Martin’s old winning racecars to his best advantage.

What is giving Roush Racing the edge in Busch Series competition? The answer to that one remains to be seen. Burton has had a lackluster season in Winston Cup competition. Going into the Martinsville race, he’s currently 14th in points (-560) with no wins, only three top five, and 12 top ten finishes. He might be able to romp relentlessly over the lesser talented Busch series drivers, but he’s certainly no match for his Winston Cup counterparts.

Sam’s Town 250………. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Greg Biffle -- No. 60 Ford – finished 34th
2. *Johnny Sauter -- No. 2 Chevy – finished 14th
3. Randy LaJoie -- No. 7 Chevy – finished 35th
4. *Shane Hmiel -- No. 47 Chevy -- finished 11th
5. David Reutimann -- No. 87 Chevy – finished 12th
6. Scott Wimmer -- No. 23 Pontiac – finished 1st
7. Tim Fedewa -- No. 92 Chevy – finished 20th
8. Stacy Compton -- No. 59 Chevy – finished 2nd
9. Mike McLaughlin -- No. 18 Pontiac – finished 16th
10. Ron Hornaday -- No. 26 Chevy – finished 7th

Scott Wimmer won his second Busch Series event of the season by besting Ron Hornaday and holding off Stacy Compton for the short track victory. A strategy call by Crew Chief Robert Barker not to take on new tires gave Wimmer the track position to compete for the checkered flag on the last and most important lap.

Series points leader Greg Biffle led a lot of the event, but he eventually got tangled up with a lapped car and ended up in the wall near the end of the race. Jason Keller managed to gain 63 points on Biffle and now has a -105 deficit going into the season’s final four races. Scott Wimmer is still third with a -357 with Jack Sprague in fourth with a -436 and Mike McLaughlin rounding out the top five with a -489. The Winston Cup drivers are always responsible for the large gap in the Busch Series driver’s point’s standings. They come down to the lesser series winning the races and taking the higher points per race for themselves, leaving the lesser points to be divided among the Busch series drivers. The championship battles in this series are usually only between a couple of drivers as the season winds down, unlike the closeness of the Winston Cup point’s battles.

Next week Race No. 31 on The Busch Series 34 race schedule is the Aaron’s 312 on Atlanta Motor Speedway at Hampton, Georgia. The race is scheduled to be televised live by the TNT channel on Saturday, October 26th at 1 P.M. Eastern.

Last season, the Aaron’s 312 at Atlanta Motor speedway was held in March. The winner of the event was Joe Nemechek. He was followed across the finish line by rookie Greg Biffle, Michael Waltrip, Jeff Green, Todd Bodine, Jeff Purvis, Jason Keller, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, and Tony Raines.

10/27/02……… Mike McLaughlin has exited the Busch series Silly season festivities in fine fettle. He has joined Angela’s Motorsports, a new Busch Series team owned by Angela Harkness and Gary Jones. The new team plans their debut this season in races at Phoenix and Homestead with Jay Sauter behind the wheel of their No. 02 WiredFlyer.com sponsored Ford.

The new team plans to enter their car, which will be changed to No. 03, in all 34 of the races on the 2003 Busch Series schedule with Mike McLaughlin as the driver. McLaughlin will be finishing out the season with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) on the No. 18 MBNA Pontiac. Joe Gibbs son, Coy Gibbs, will take over the JGR Busch Series racing duties for the team in 2003. Coy Gibbs is currently racing for his dad’s Craftsman Truck Series team.

The Angela’s Motorsports team has contracted with Robert Yates Racing to use Yates engines in their Ford racecars. Mike McLaughlin has six career Busch series wins and was fifth in driver’s points going into the Atlanta race. It will be a challenge for McLaughlin to get used to racing a Ford after driving the Joe Gibbs No. 18 Pontiac for so long. He would have had to switch anyway; Joe Gibbs Racing is switching to Chevrolets for the 2003 season in both the Busch and Winston Cup series.

Mother Nature has played havoc with NASCAR racing all season, showing her disdain to both the Busch and Winston Cup Series drivers. This week at Atlanta, the Busch Series drivers didn’t get a chance to qualify, lining up for the race according to owner’s points.

This dilemma has slammed the brakes on a lot of hopeful entries in the Busch Series races this season. This week at Atlanta, the first Hispanic owned and sponsored team lost its chance to make the race. The HRT Motorsports No. 09 CICLON Energy Drink sponsored Chevrolet had to go home. Roberto Guerrero, a Colombian driver with vast open wheel experience, was scheduled attempt to qualify the car.

Also going home without a chance to qualify were; David Reutimann, No. 188 Bully Hill Vineyards Chevy; Lyndon Amick, No. 15 Super Fresh Pontiac; Hermie Saddler, No. 43 Curb Records Chevy; Justin Labonte, No. 104 Victory Junction Gang Dodge; Keith Murt, No. 279 Murtco Chevy.

Jamie McMurray got his first Busch series win by finessing the Winston Cup drivers with gas mileage in the Aaron’s 312 on the fast Atlanta track. McMurray became the sixth first time winner in the Busch Series this season by leading only one lap during the race, the last one! It’s really strange that Jamie won his first Busch Series race a couple of weeks after he won his first Winston Cup race subbing for Sterling Marlin in the Ganassi Motorsports No. 40 Coors Dodge.

Winston Cup driver Michael Waltrip finished second and got the bonus points for leading the most laps. With Jeff Burton’s No. 9 Gain Ford absent from the race, Waltrip became the dominant Winston Cup driver to romp over the less experienced Busch drivers. Busch Series regular Mike McLaughlin finished third ahead of rookie Scott Riggs. Championship point’s leader Greg Biffle rounded out the top five finishers. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Greg Biffle -- No. 60 Ford – finished 5th
2. Jason Keller -- No. 57 Ford – finished 7th
3. Jeff Green-- No. 21 Chevy – finished 17th
4. Scott Wimmer -- No. 23 Pontiac -- finished 13th
5. Jack Sprague -- No. 24 Chevy – finished 42nd
6. Mike McLaughlin -- No. 18 Pontiac – finished 3rd
7. Kenny Wallace -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 18th
8. Jamie McMurray -- No. 27 Chevy – finished 1st
9. *Scott Riggs -- No. 10 Ford – finished 4th
10. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- No. 25 Ford – finished 8th

The Busch Series championship point’s standings are still being led by Greg Biffle. He has a 119 point lead over second place driver Jason Keller with a total of 4404 points. This means that Keller is still not out of the picture, he has a chance yet to take the brass ring away from Biffle. Third place driver Scott Wimmer however, is too far back to make a challenge for the title with a -388. It’s really a moot subject, but Mike McLaughlin has now moved into fourth place with a -484 while Jack Sprague dropped down one spot to fifth with a -559.

Next week the Busch Series travels to Rockingham for race number 32 of their 34 race schedule. The Sam’s Club 200 is scheduled to be televised live by the TNT channel at 1 PM Eastern.

Last season’s winner of the Sam’s Club 200 was Kenny Wallace. He was followed across the finish line by Matt Kenseth, Mike McLaughlin, Jason Keller, Kevin Harvick, David Green, Ryan Newman, Hank Parker Jr. Jeff Green, and Elton Sawyer.