8/3/03……….. It was great to see Brian Vickers finally get his first victory after trying so hard. Some of you will remember how NASCAR took a victory away from him in one race this spring for an infraction on a restart. The black flag that NASCAR waived for Vickers created a sea of controversy that the sanctioning body is still reeling from, as well they should.

Vickers first win came on his 47th career Busch Series start. He was really fortunate to get a ride late last year with the premier team of the No. 5 GMAC sponsored Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. The team is actually owned by Ricky Hendrick who retired from racing at a very young age after a debilitating shoulder injury sidelined him for most of a season.

There have been 14 different winners in the Busch Series this season in the 22 races that have been run. Two Cup drivers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Joe Nemechek are tied with three wins apiece to lead the series wins. They are followed by Cup drivers Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth, along with Busch drivers Bobby Hamilton Jr., David Green, and Scott Riggs, who have each won twice this season. Brian Vickers is the first “first time” winner in the Busch Series this season.

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Shane Hmiel -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 4th
2. David Green -- No. 37 Pontiac – finished 6th
3. Brian Vickers -- No. 5 Chevy – finished 1st
4. Kyle Busch -- No. 87 Chevy -- finished 33rd
5. Kevin Grubb 26 Dodge -- No. – finished 15th
6. Jason Keller -- No. 57 Ford – finished 2nd
7. David Stremme* -- No. 1 Dodge – finished 17th
8. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- No. 25 Ford – finished 35th
9. Mike Skinner -- No. 7 Chevy – finished 7th
10. Martin Truex Jr. -- No. 58 Chevy – finished 21st

Jason Keller followed Vickers across the finish line, as well as Stacy Compton, Shane Hmiel, and Scott Riggs to round out the top five. David Green, who kept a tight ride on Shane Hmiel’s bumper while he was leading at the beginning of the race, finished sixth. Mike Skinner had a solid top ten run in the No. 7 Evans Motorsports Kleenex Chevy by finishing seventh. Skinner took over that ride after Todd Bodine passed up the opportunity to continue his quest for a Busch Series Championship. Ron Hornaday finished eighth followed by part timer Paul Menard and former Truck Series Champion Mike Bliss, rounding out the top ten. The continued fracas between Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Bliss didn’t materialize this week, as Hamilton had a major oil leak and then engine problems occurred because of it taking him out of the race early. Look for some more shenanigans from these two when the series returns to action at Michigan International Speedway on August 16th.

The first nine positions in the Busch Series driver’s point’s standings remain the same. Scott Riggs still leads the standings over David Green, but by a mere seven points. Riggs is listed with 3037 points as opposed to Green with 3030 points. Jason Keller holds the third spot, listed with -35 points down from leader Riggs. Ron Hornaday is still in fourth with a -58 followed by Brian Vickers who is now listed with a -99. Any one of these top five drivers are in contention to walk away from the next race with the lead. Bobby Hamilton Jr. is in sixth place, but way out of contention for the lead with a -302. Scott Wimmer is in seventh with a -334, followed by Johnny Sauter who is listed with a -362. Shane Hmiel holds down the ninth spot with a -388 followed by Stacy Compton who moved up one spot to round out the top ten with a -452.

The Busch Series has next weekend off to rest and recuperate. They will be back in action the following week at Michigan. I’ll have a rundown on last season’s Michigan Busch Series race at the end of next week’s article.

8/9/03……….. With the Busch Series taking a week off, now may be the time to consider what is happening to the financially beleaguered series. If I remember correctly, it was just a couple of months ago that the NASCAR dignitaries once again sat down for a meeting with the Busch Series team sponsor, owners, and drivers.

The NASCAR dignitaries once again told the series leaders that they were going to take a serious look at the financial problems plaguing the teams and make the appropriate changes to insure the stability of the second best series under the NASCAR pennant.

Is anyone surprised that nothing has been done? Is anyone surprised that NASCAR has let the financial problems plaguing the Busch Series once again fade out of their agenda? It appears that the sanctioning body is smugly allowing the series to run itself into the ground while they garner what profits out if it that they possible can.

One of the biggest problems facing the series other than the paltry race purses and the really minority slice of the NASCAR pie, is the stomping all over the series by the Cup drivers.

Team owners, drivers, crew chiefs, and even hoards of fans have complained bitterly for the last several seasons over the domination of the Busch Series by Cup drivers. The Cup drivers aren’t normally interested in racing for championship points although this past season Cup driver Todd Bodine was very vocal about wanting to win a Busch Series title. We all know that sponsor woes resulting from our dilapidated economy put the screws to his plans, and he eventually quit the series, citing family reasons for his decision.

All the Cup drivers tend to be interested in is winning the races and taking the top prize money away from the Busch Series drivers and teams. So far this season, there have been 13 different winners in the 22 Busch races that have been run. Twelve of those trophies, including the top money, were taken by Cup drivers.

Recently, the Busch Series has been separated from the Cup Series, allowing the Busch drivers to shake out the points system without interference from the invading Cup driving Buschwhackers. As it looks at this stage of the game, there are three drivers who stand the best chance to grab the brass ring at the end of the Busch Series season, Jason Keller, Scott Riggs, and David Green.

David Green ended up driving the No. 37 Timber Wolf Pontiac last season when Jeff Purvis was critically injured. He was signed to drive the car full time this season and has been doing a great job. The 45 year old veteran Green won the Busch Series Championship in 1994 and is no stranger to the rigors of racing down to the wire at season’s end. Green started driving full time in the series in the 1991 season and has recorded seven wins, 60 top five finishes, and 113 top ten finishes, and 20 pole starting positions, in 275 starts. He may very well have to fight Keller and Riggs tooth and nail to take hold of the brass ring again. Green is presently listed at second in driver’s points.

Jason Keller is in 10th full season in the Busch Series. The 33 year old driver has one win this season at Dover and has garnered six top ten finishes in the last seven races. He and crew chief Steve Addington have been together for quite a few seasons and they know how to win, but they haven’t been able to get a handle on that elusive Busch Series Championship.

In 278 career starts Keller has 10 wins, 71 top five finishes, 133 top ten finishes, and 10 Bud pole starting positions. He is currently listed as third in driver’s points.

Scott Riggs is only in his second full season in the Busch Series. The 32 year old sophomore driver is sitting atop of the driver’s standings, and leaves no doubt for his competitors that he is capable of winning the title. He has accumulated two wins this season as well as nine top five and twelve top ten finishes. His career totals are four wins, 17 top five finishes, 25 top ten finishes, and two Bud pole starting positions in 56 career starts. He ended his rookie season 10th in Busch Series driver’s points.

Next week race No. 23 on the 34 race 2003 schedule is the Cabela’s 250 at the Michigan International Speedway. The event is scheduled to be broadcast live by the TNT channel on Saturday, August 16th at 1:30 p.m. eastern. Qualifying for the event will be televised via time delay on the SPEED channel Friday, August 15th at 1 p.m. eastern.

Last season’s winner of the Cabela’s 250 was Cup driver Michael Waltrip. He was followed across the finish line by Jeff Burton, Jeff Green, Todd Bodine, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Scott Riggs, Scott Wimmer, Stacy Compton, Jimmy Spencer, and rookie Kasey Kahne.

Kevin Lepage won the Bud pole award with a qualifying speed of 185.644 miles per hour. There were five caution periods for a total of 21 laps out of the 125 laps on the two mile oval.

Considering some of the recent derogatory remarks made by Bobby Hamilton Jr. about stomping the Cup drivers into the ground that sparked a few other Busch Drivers to voice their objection to getting their series dominated by the Cup Series drivers, things may get dicey. You can rest assured that at Michigan, the Cup drivers are going to go all out to win the Busch Series competition, and take the trophy and top money away from the Busch Series regulars.

8/16/03……….. The Busch Series faced lots of changes this past week. Drivers and cars swapped around like it was Silly Season in full swing. A lot of regular Cup drivers are also making a splash in the Busch Series with their plans to win the Cabela’s 250 at Michigan,

There has apparently been a big shakeup at Carroll Racing. Chad Blount will be in the No. 26 Dodge this weekend with Miller High Life as the primary sponsor. Dr. Pepper, the regular sponsor for Carroll Racings No. 26, has moved over to the No. 48 Chevy driven by Shane Hmiel. Goulds Pumps is listed as the primary sponsor on that entry owned by Vicky deBidart, with the Dark Dog energy drink company as associate sponsor. There’s no word on what happened to Kevin Grubb, the regular driver of the No. 26 this season. There is no word as to what happened at Grubb’s web site, which has his upcoming race listed as “unknown.”

To add confusion to mystery, Casey Mears, rookie driver of the No. 41 Target Dodge for Ganassi Racing in the Cup Series, is scheduled to pilot the No. 19 Tylenol sponsored Braun Racing Dodge at Michigan. Chad Blount was leading the Busch Series driver’s points while he was the driver of that entry earlier in the season.

Cup drivers on entry list for Cabela’s 250:

Driver	Car No./Make	Sponsor/Owner
Jamie McMurray	No. 1 Dodge	Yellow Fr./J. Finch
Greg Biffle	No. 7 Chevy	Kleenex/Ed. Evans
Tony Stewart	No. 8 Chevy	Chance 2/T. Earnhardt
Jeff Burton	No. 9 Ford	Roush Performance./J. Roush
Matt Kenseth	No. 17 Ford	Aleve/J. Reiser
Casey Mears	No. 19 Dodge	Tylenol/T. Braun
Mike Bliss	No. 20 Chevy	Rockwell/J. Gibbs
Kevin Harvick	No. 21 Chevy	Payday/R. Childress
Michael Waltrip	No. 99 Chevy	Aarons/E. Waltrip
Joe Nemechek	No. 87 Chevy	Cellular One/A. Nemechek
Dave Blaney	No. 31 Chevy	Whelen/T. Marsh

Six of the top ten qualifiers were Cup drivers, with Mike Bliss qualifying in the 11th position and Joe Nemechek timing in the 19th position. Cup driver Jeff Burton qualified in the 21st position with Dave Blaney qualifying in the 24th position. Jamie McMurray was the worst Cup qualifier, timing in the 31st position. The Cup drivers didn’t get the Bud pole starting position, which was won by regular Busch driver Kasey Kahne, with Busch driver David Reutimann joining Kahne in the first row.

As the Cabela’s 250 got underway it became apparent what happened with the No. 7 Kleenex team when they got rid of Busch Series veteran and former series champion Randy LaJoie. Greg Biffle is no slouch when it comes to racing a car. He is a former champion in both the Truck and Busch Series. Biffle lost the rear end of the No. 7 going into a corner during practice. They had to resort to a back-up car, then they had to make an engine change that relegated Biffle to start the race at the back of the pack. As the race got underway, the back end of the No. 7 came around on Biffle again. The car was junk to begin with.

The problems on the Nemechek/Evans Motorsports team have nothing to do with the driver. They need a crew chief and/or someone who knows how to set up a car for a race. No wonder Randy LaJoie complained about the team and was happy to leave. You may also remember that Todd Bodine gracefully bowed out of a job driving the No. 7, and now we know why. He drove for the team for one race and that was apparently all he could stand.

The race was about 15 laps from completion when Mother Nature showed her teeth and inundated the racetrack with a deluge of rain, bringing out the red flag. With more severe storms on the horizon, NASCAR wisely decided to stop the race.

Kevin Harvick was the leader in the No. 21 Payday sponsored Richard Childress Racing’s Chevy so he was given the winner’s trophy. As per usual in the last few races, the dominant car wasn’t the winning car. Tony Stewart had the fastest car driving the No. 8 Chance 2 Chevy for Dale Earnhardt Jr. He had to stop for fuel giving up the lead to Harvick. If he has stayed on the track he would have had enough fuel to finish the rain shortened race, but there was no way of knowing that before hand.

Unlike the top ten starting grid, there were only four Cup drivers finishing in the top ten. Pole sitter Kasey Kahne followed Harvick across the line to take the rain caution, followed by Busch drivers Bobby Hamilton Jr., David Green, Scott Riggs, and David Reutimann. Cup drivers Casey Mears and Michael Waltrip finished seventh and eighth, followed by Busch driver Shane Hmiel. Cup driver Dave Blaney rounded out the top ten finishers, with Cup driver and race favorite Tony Stewart finishing 11th.

1. Kasey Kahne -- No. 38 Ford – finished 2nd
2. David Reutimann -- No. 188 Chevy – finished 6th
3. Casey Mears -- No. 19 Dodge – finished 7th
4. Tony Stewart -- No. 8 Chevy -- finished 11th
5. Kevin Harvick -- No. 21 Chevy – finished 1st
6. Matt Kenseth -- No. 17 Ford – finished 18th
7. Greg Biffle -- No. 7 Chevy – finished 21st
8. Michael Waltrip -- No. 99 Chevy – finished 8th
9. Brian Vickers -- No. 5 Chevy – finished 19th
10. Shane Hmiel -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 9th

The top seven positions in the driver’s point’s standings remain the same with Scott Riggs sitting atop of the heap with 3192 points, just two points ahead of second place driver David Green. Jason Keller follows in third with a -96 with Ron Hornaday in fourth with a -134. Brian Vickers is in fifth with a -148 followed by Bobby Hamilton Jr. with a -292. Scott Wimmer is still in seventh and is now listed with a -404. Shane Hmiel moved up one spot to eighth with a -404, just one point ahead of Wimmer. Johnny Sauter dropped back one spot to ninth with a -420 with Stacy Compton still rounding out the top ten, now listed with a -495.

Next week the Busch Series travels to Bristol, Tennessee for race No. 24, the Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The night race is scheduled to be aired by the TNT channel at 8 p.m. on Friday, August 22nd. Qualifying for the event will be aired by a brief time delay on the SPEED channel at 3 p.m. on Thursday, August 21st.

Last Season’s winner of the Food City 250 at Bristol was Jimmy Spencer. He was followed across the finish line by Scott Wimmer, Greg Biffle, Mike McLaughlin, Jeff Green, Kenny Wallace, Michael Waltrip, Tony Raines, Jason Keller, and Randy LaJoie.

Jason Keller won the Bud pole award with a speed of 124.428 miles per hour. There were seven caution periods for a total of 44 laps out of the 250 lap race on the high banked .533 mile oval.

8/23/03……….. The failing economy has taken another Busch Series sponsor out of the running. PPC Racing was notified by the Albertson’s grocery store chain that they would not be returning to sponsor the No. 57 Ford driven by Jason Keller. PPC Racing is also losing the primary sponsor on its other entry; Nestles is leaving the No. 10 Ford driven by Scott Riggs at seasons end. Riggs was leading the driver’s points going into Bristol, while Keller was third.

We saw earlier this season where Chad Blount was leading the Busch Series points and Braun Racing lost their primary sponsor, Blount was out on his own looking for a ride, and his point’s lead dwindled. The same thing happened to Todd Bodine. There isn’t any loyalty to any team or driver in any series where the “bottom line” is concerned.

Keller received a call from Albertson’s informing him that the reason for their pull-out wasn’t performance related. Keller has done a stellar job for Albertsons and PPC Racing. In the 2.5 years that Keller had been driving for Albertsons, he’s had six victories, placed third in driver’s points in 2001, second in 2002, and is presently ranked third going into Bristol.

There’s a good chance that Keller and Riggs may both be driving for another team in 2004. Actually, they are both looking for a secure ride. Losing one sponsor is bad enough for a race team, but when you loose both of your major sponsors in the same season, it may be difficult to gather up the finances required to start up a season. Daytona Speed Weeks are financially draining, with all of the testing and running before the purse winnings and performance money from sponsors start coming in.

Buschwhacker Michael Waltrip rained on the Busch Series parade Friday night as he ran into the back of Busch Series regular Ron Hornaday to knock him out of contention for the win. Its really doubtful that Waltrip could win any race fair and square, other than a restrictor plate race in Cup, and the jury is still out of how DEI is controlling restrictor plate racing.

Hornaday was the first regular Busch Series driver to cross the finish line behind the Buschwhacker. He was followed by Ted Musgrave, who was piloting the No. 6 Dodge in the place of suspended Jimmy Spencer. Busch driver Shane Hmiel was fourth followed by Cup driver Kevin Harvick. Martin Truex Jr. was sixth in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 81 Chance II Chevy, followed by Brian Vickers, Tony Raines, point’s leader Scott Riggs, and Ashton Lewis. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jason Keller -- No. 57 Ford – finished 11th
2. Kevin Harvick -- No. 21 Chevy – finished 5th
3. Brian Vickers -- No. 5 Chevy – finished 7th
4. Michael Waltrip -- No. 99 Chevy -- finished 1st
5. Tony Raines -- No. 33 Chevy – finished 8th
6. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- No. 25 Ford – finished 34th
7. Scott Riggs -- No. 10 Ford – finished 9th
8. David Green -- No. 37 Pontiac – finished 17th
9. Ted Musgrave -- No. 6 Dodge – finished 3rd
10. Jay Sauter -- No. 75 Chevy – finished 40th

The driver’s point’s battle is still going on between Scott Riggs and David Green, with Riggs still holding onto the top spot by 28 points listed at 3330. Ron Hornaday’s second place finish moved him up one spot to third listed with a -97 while Jason Keller dropped down one spot to fourth with a -104. Brian Vickers remains in fifth listed with a -135. Any one of the top five are still in contention to take the championship, although it will probably be decided between Riggs and Green. Bobby Hamilton Jr. remains in sixth listed with a -369 followed by Shane Hmiel who moved up one spot to seventh listed with a -383. Johnny Sauter also moved up one spot and is listed in eighth with a -452. Scott Wimmer dropped down two spots to ninth listed with a -475 while Kasey Kahne moved up one spot to round out the top ten listed with a -518.

This period in the season finds us with just ten races remaining on the Busch Series Schedule. It’s beginning to wind down folks! Race is No. 25 is the Winn Dixie 200 at Darlington Raceway. The event is scheduled to be broadcast by NBC on Saturday, August 30th at 2 p.m. eastern. Qualifying for the event will be broadcast via a short time delay on the SPEED channel on Friday, August 29th at 1:30 p.m. eastern.

Last season’s winner of the August Darlington race was Buschwhacker Jeff Burton. He was followed across the finish line by Jason Keller, Jeff Green, Greg Biffle, Jack Sprague, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Scott Wimmer, Mike McLaughlin, Tony Raines, and rookie Scott Riggs.

They didn't have qualifying last season at Darlington due to inclement weather. As a result, point’s leader Greg Biffle started first. There were four caution periods for a total of 23 laps out of the 200 mile 74 lap event on the 1.366 mile oval.

8/30/03……….. Shane Hmiel has turned up the heat on his Busch Series competitors this season. His first season in 2002 wasn’t the best a driver could have had, but hey, it was his first season, and the learning curve paid off. Going into Darlington with 24 races run in 2002 he had two top five and five top ten finishes with one Bud pole, and was listed 17th in the driver’s point’s standings. He ended up last season with eight top ten finishes and two Bus poles, finishing the season 16th in driver’s points.

This season, after 24 races going into Darlington, he has four top five and nine top ten finishes and was listed seventh in driver’s points. His prognosis for his season’s finish this year is much better, although at this time he hasn’t won a Bud pole. We all know that starting on the pole doesn’t mean anything when it comes down to racing. Sure, it’s nice to see a pole or two in a driver’s resume but that’s about all it amounts to.

Hmiel, driver of the No. 48 Goulds Pumps sponsored Innovative Motorsports Chevrolet, has two top five and one top ten finish in his last three races, and is starting third at Darlington. He’s showing us that he’s pouring on the coals to finish out his second Busch season to the best of his ability, which has risen dramatically this season. There was talk earlier in the year that he may be in line for a Cup ride. If his current performance remains at the same level, he may very well end up moving up into Cup.

Kasey Kahne was a sight to behold when he took the checkered flag for the USAC Silver Crown race at Nazareth Speedway this past Sunday, August 24th. I was fortunate to have been on hand for the event which was the prelude attraction to the Firestone 225 IRL race.

Kahne, a former USAC Silver Crown rookie of the year, started the 100 lap event on the one mile flat oval in the eighth position. After a few laps the front runners caught up to the back of the field and began to get into traffic as the slower cars were being lapped. This development gave Kahn the opportunity to move up into fourth position. After a few more laps, Kahne was in second, and it wasn’t long before he took the lead. Once he took over the lead, it was all downhill from there, he stayed well ahead of the field to easily win the event.

Although Kahne had a rocky year in the 2002 Busch season, his performance has been much better this year. Kahne has had one Bud pole this season along with six top five and 13 top ten finishes in the first 24 races. He had his best finish of second in the Cabela’s 250 following a Cup driver across the finish line. As Kasey stated in his victory circle speech at Nazareth, the learning curve in the Busch Series is a difficult one and he feels he is doing much this season better as he gets used to the heavier NASCAR stock cars.

Brian Vickers beat out the ever present Cup drivers on “The Track Too Tough to Tame.” It was Vickers’ second win of the season in the No. 5 GMAC sponsored Hendrick Motorsports Chevy and the second win of the 19 year old driver’s career. The No. 5 entry is partly owned by Ricky Hendrick, who used to race the entry until the young driver and son of Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick retired last season because of a nagging shoulder injury. Vickers beat Michael Waltrip off of pit road with sixteen laps remaining, and held on to take the victory. The Cup driver just didn’t have what it took to take the pie away from the Busch Series drivers at Darlington, NASCAR’s oldest track and first superspeedway.

Eighteen year old Kyle Busch, Vickers teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, followed him across the finish line giving Hendrick a one two finish. Busch drives the No. 87 Ditech.com sponsored Hendrick Motorsports Chevy which is partially owned by Joe Nemechek. Following Busch across the line were Michael Waltrip, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Jason Keller, Stacy Compton, Casey Mears, and Casey Atwood.

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Kevin Harvick -- No. 21 Chevy – finished 5th
2. Jamie McMurray -- No. 1 Dodge – finished 41st
3. Kasey Kahne -- No. 38 Ford – finished 6th
4. Brian Vickers-- No. 5 Chevy -- finished 1st
5. Greg Biffle -- No. 7 Chevy – finished 29th
6. Michael Waltrip -- No. 99 Chevy – finished 3rd
7. Shane Hmiel -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 28th
8. Kyle Busch -- No. 87 Chevy – finished 2nd
9. David Green -- No. 37 Pontiac – finished 14th
10. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- No. 25 Ford – finished 4th

The driver’s point’s standings didn’t change a whole lot. The same drivers are in the top five, two of them switched positions. At the beginning of the race 135 points separated the fifth position from first. At the conclusion of the event, the top five positions are now separated by a mere 79 points.

Scott Riggs remains the point’s leader and is now listed with 3442 points. David Green is still second, listed with a -19. Brian Vickers win moved him up two spots to third, and is now listed with a -67. Jason Keller is still in fourth, listed with a -75, followed by Ron Hornaday Jr. who dropped two spots to fifth listed with a -79. Positions six thru ten are: Bobby Hamilton Jr., -321; Shane Hmiel, -416; Johnny Sauter, -449; Scott Wimmer, -478, and Kasey Kahne, -480.

Next week the Busch Series moves up the pike to Richmond International Speedway for race 26 on the 34 race 2003 schedule. The Funai 250 will be televised live by the TNT channel on Friday, September fifth at eight p.m. eastern. Qualifying for the event will be televised by the SPEED Channel on Thursday, September fourth at three p.m. eastern.

Last season’s winner of the Richmond Funai 250 was Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was followed across the finish line by Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Tony Raines, Jason Keller, Greg Biffle, Hank Parker Jr., Michael Waltrip, Scott Wimmer, and Kenny Wallace.

Jason Keller won the Bud pole award with a speed of 124.428 miles per hour. There were seven caution periods for a total of 44 laps out of the 250 lap race on the three quarter mile D-shaped oval short track.