7/5/03……….. It was sad to hear of the firing bestowed upon two time Busch Series Champion Randy Lajoie. When it comes right down to it, there’s no way of telling what the real reason was for his hasty exit from the Evans Motorsports No. 7 Kleenex sponsored team. I’ve read accounts that put the blame on the young guns that are emerging in all of NASCAR’s major series. One account had the LaJoie firing connected with pleasing the sponsor, Kleenex. The same report insinuated that Kerry Earnhardt was also on his way out at Fitz/Bradshaw Motorsports.

Another report stated that Lajoie hadn’t been performing up to par, and that he had been making statements that were considered to be detrimental to the team and its owners. He was reported to have said something unsavory concerning part owner Joe Nemechek, or his wife Andrea, or both, who really knows for sure. At any rate, he was reported to have been fined $25k by Evans Motorsports for running his yap. In my opinion, that wasn’t much of a severance deal. Lajoie deserved a lot better than that, he’s probably glad he’s shut of them. Hopefully the former champion will find another ride for a team that has all of its ducks in a row without the overblown cup racing egos to deal with. You can rest assured that Evans Motorsports isn’t going to report anything that’ll make the team or its owners look anything but great in any light.

I have to agree here that LaJoie hasn’t been setting the track on fire since he joined up with Evans. BUT, we all know that it takes two to tango in this world. You can talk about team chemistry all you want. If a driver has proven that he is of championship caliber and then goes to work for a team and doesn’t advance the team or his career, there’s something wrong other than the driver’s capabilities. Lajoie was 16th in driver’s points with two top five and four top ten finishes in 17 races this season. He finished 11th at Milwaukee. Hey, any driver who is worse than 16th in driver’s points and doesn’t have more than two top fives and four top tens had better watch it! The precedent has been set in the beleaguered Busch Series………

Surprise, surprise, Dale Jr. won the pole for the Busch Series event at Daytona and Michael Waltrip started third. Who would have thought? Actually, the big surprise was Kasey Kahne’s second place start. This was Kahne’s third second place start this season, you have to give the guy a lot of credit, he’s racing his heart out to get up there at the top.

Surprise, surprise II Dale Jr. led every lap and won the race from the pole. And of course, Michael Waltrip was right on his bumper, finishing second. Whereas, Kasey Kahne, who started second, had problems and connected with the wall.

Professional racing/wrestling at its best folks! It’s been this way since Dale Sr. was killed at Daytona in 2001. The media has made a big deal out of Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s domination of restrictor plate racing since Dale Sr.’s wreck, but the handwriting is clearly on the wall. DEI doesn’t have anything to do with who wins and loses races, the sanctioning body does. Dale Jr.’s No. 8 Busch Series Chevy isn’t entirely out of the DEI shop and neither is the No. 99 Aaron’s Rents Chevy driven by Michael Waltrip. Although, I think I am safe in assuming that the engines in both racecars probably come from DEI, and that may hold the answer for this continued domination from these two unassuming drivers on the restrictor plate venues.

The top finishing Busch Series driver was Ron Hornaday Jr. followed by Busch drivers Johnny Sauter and Scott Riggs. Brian Vickers, Todd Bodine, Mike McLaughlin, and Shane Hmiel rounded out the top ten finishers behind the top three Cup driver finishes.

The top ten finish by Scott Riggs moved him up one spot to the top of the heap in the Busch Series driver’s point’s standings. Former leader David Green is just two points down while Ron Hornaday Jr. moved up one spot to third and is now listed with a -33. Todd Bodine dropped down one spot to fourth with a -43. Positions five thru eight remain the same with Jason Keller listed at -84, Brian Vickers -88, Bobby Hamilton Jr. -191, and Johnny Sauter -230. Shane Hmiel moved up two spots to ninth and is listed with a -315 while Scott Wimmer is right on Hmiel’s heels rounding out the top ten with a -317. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.-- No. 8 Chevy – finished 1st
2. Kasey Kahne -- No. 38 Ford – finished 38th
3. Michael Waltrip -- No. 99 Chevy – finished 2nd
4. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- No. 25 Ford -- finished 22nd
5. Mike Bliss -- No. 20 Pontiac – finished 39th
6. Joe Nemechek -- No. 87 Pontiac – finished 18th
7. Ron Hornaday -- No. 2 Chevy – finished 4th
8. Johnny Sauter -- No. 21 Chevy – finished 5th
9. Brian Vickers -- No. 5 Chevy – finished 7th
10. Stacy Compton -- No. 59 Chevy – finished 19th

Next week the Busch Series travels to Chicagoland Speedway for The Tropicana Twister 300. Race No. 19 is scheduled to be broadcast by the NBC network on Saturday, July 12th at 2:30 p.m eastern. Qualifying for the event will be aired via time delay on the SPEED channel on Friday, July 11th at 2:30 p.m. eastern.

Last season’s winner of the event was rookie Johnny Sauter. He was followed across the finish line by Todd Bodine, Jeff Burton, Joe Nemechek, Ron Hornaday Jr., Jimmy Spencer, Jeff Green, Greg Biffle, Bobby Hamilton Jr., and Jason Keller.

Todd Bodine started from the Bud pole with a winning speed of 178.772 miles per hour. There were seven caution periods for a total of 28 laps out of the 300 mile 200 lap race on the 1.5 mile oval.

7/12/03……….. It was good to see Casey Mears win the pole at Chicagoland in the No. 19 Braun Racing Dodge. It was the first pole position for Dodge in the Busch Series, putting Mears name in the Dodge Motorsports record books. The Braun racing entry is the same one that Chad Blount was piloting earlier in the season when sponsor problems arose. Blount headed for greener pastures, leaving Braun Racing without a driver. Blount was leading the Busch Series point’s standings at the time, which probably had something to do with his decision to leave the Braun team.

Todd Bodine may end up as the permanent driver for the No. 7 Evans Motorsports Kleenex sponsored Chevy. He was in the ride this week at Chicago due to the helping hand from friend and team co-owner Joe Nemechek. Whether Bodine will try to contend for the Busch Series title with Evans Motorsports or not is up in the air for the time being. Bodine was questioned about it in a post race NBC interview, but he was adamant that no deal had been struck although he seemed to indicate that he would like to have the ride for the rest of the season.

The Tropicana 300 at Chicagoland Speedway was a breath of fresh air as Bobby Hamilton Jr. dominated the event. The 11 Cup drivers who were racing against him stood about as much of a chance as a foul odor in a windstorm of even catching him, let alone beating him. Matt Kenseth was the only Cup driver to even get close to Hamilton, who smoked the field in leading by over 15 seconds at one point and lapping the field to the point that there were only five cars on the lead lap when the checkered flag flew.

The win capped the second victory for Hamilton this season, and the third of his career. He led 186 of the 200 laps, and gave a lot of the credit to the resurgence of his team to veteran crew chief Harold Holly. The No. 25 Marines sponsored Team Rensi Motorsports Ford has really turned around since Holley joined up with them.

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Casey Mears -- No. 19 Dodge – finished 4th
2. Johnny Sauter -- No. 21 Chevy – finished 27th
3. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- No. 25 Ford – finished 1st
4. Dave Blaney -- No. 31 Ford -- finished 13th
5. Michael Waltrip -- No. 99 Chevy – finished 5th
6. David Reutimann-- No. 87 Chevy – finished 32nd
7. Matt Kenseth -- No. 17 Ford – finished 2nd
8. Brian Vickers -- No. 5 Chevy – finished 3rd
9. Tony Raines -- No. 33 Chevy – finished 8th
10. Todd Bodine -- No. 7 Chevy – finished 31st

Special mention needs to go out to Brian Vickers, who scored yet another top five finish. In 19 starts this season, Vickers has five top five and ten top ten finishes and is currently ranked fourth in driver’s point’s standings.

On the other side of the coin, there has been speculation brewing that Kerry Earnhardt may soon be looking at his walking papers from Fitz/Bradshaw Motorsports. The erstwhile driver of the No. 12 Supercuts Chevy has been plagued with bad luck, along with having suspect driving skills. It always seems to happen that way, and is actually quite common for famous racing families to have one that wants to be a racer more than everything in the world, but just lacks the skills that made his kin so great. Earnhardt seemed to just have “lost it” at the beginning of the race and was whacked really hard by the No. 46 Civil Air Patrol sponsored Chevy driven by Ashton Lewis as he spun off of the wall and slid down the track toward the infield.

The top three spots in the driver’s point’s standings remain the same, with Scott Riggs sitting atop of the heap listed with 2591 points. Former leader David Green is just 23 points back with 2568 while Ron Hornaday is now listed with a -57 deficit down from the leader. Brian Vickers moved up two spots to fourth listed with a -69 and Jason Keller remains in fifth with a -80. Todd Bodine’s bad luck dropped him down two spots to sixth with a -124 while Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Johnny Sauter are still in seventh and eighth with a -157 and a -299. Scott Wimmer moved up one spot to ninth with a -350 while Shane Hmiel dropped down one spot to round out the top ten with a -351.

Next Week the Busch Series travels to New Hampshire for the New England 200. The event will be aired on the TNT channel on Saturday, July 19th at 1 p.m. eastern. Qualifying for the event will be telecast via time delay on the SPEED channel on Friday, July 18th at 1:30 p.m. eastern.

Last season the Busch series raced at New Hampshire in early May. The winner of that event was Bobby Hamilton Jr. He was followed across the finish line by Todd Bodine, Jack Sprague, rookie Shane Hmiel, Mike McLaughlin, Randy Lajoie, rookie Scott Riggs, Hank Parker Jr. Jamie McMurray, and Kevin Grubb.

Rookie Shane Hmiel won the Bud pole award with a speed of 129.406 miles per hour. There were four caution periods for a total of 41 laps out of the 200 laps on the 1.058 mile oval.

7/20/03……….. Richard Childress Racing (RCR) must have some type of pact with Mother Nature. If I’m not mistaken, this has to be the fourth or fifth time that RCR has had a driver on the pole this season to start a race due to the field being set by owner’s points.

This week, Kevin Harvick is getting the honors because the Cup Series event adjoins the Busch Series at Loudon. Otherwise, the honors would have fallen to Johnny Sauter, who has already enjoyed the top spot a couple of times this season. Harvick started from the pole at Charlotte and California while Sauter started from the pole at Milwaukee and Nashville.

There was a big push from RCR at the beginning of the season to be leading in owner’s points, and now its evident as to what the methods to their madness were. They must have had this deal set up with Mother Nature from the git-go. At any rate, only 43 entries showed up at Loudon for the event so everyone made the race. That figure included truck series racer Tammy-Jo Kirk, who made her first Busch Series start becoming the eighth female to have entered a race in the series. The other females who have raced in the Busch series include Tina Gordon, Patty Moise (Elton Sawyer’s wife), Shawna Robinson, Kat Teasdale, Diane Teel, Debbie Lunsford, and Lisa Jackson.

It’s hard to say if the Supercuts sponsor of the No. 12 Fitz/Bradshaw Motorsports Chevrolet had something to do with Kerry Earnhardt’s demise or not, but he’s out of the ride. Word around the garage is that it’s only a temporary deal for a couple of weeks, but insiders seem to think that Earnhardt’s departure from the No. 12 team is long overdue. Busch Series veteran Tim Fedewa was behind the wheel of the entry this week. Fedewa’s last full time ride in the series was in Scott Welliver’s No. 66 Phillips 66 sponsored Chevy in 2001. At the end of the 2000 season, Fedewa had four poles, four wins, 21 top five, and 54 top ten finishes in 229 starts over an eight year period.

When I saw Earnhardt lose it and spin out at the beginning of last week’s race, I know his days had to be numbered as his performance seemed to be getting worse as the weeks unfolded. I’m reminded of the Jarrett family where Gentleman Ned and son Dale both won Cup Championships, while Dale’s brother Glen just didn’t cut it behind the wheel of a racecar. Some of you may recall Glen as a pit reporter, and a darn good one too!

The New England 200 was a breath of fresh air! Once again, a Busch series regular held off the Cup Buschwhackers. Cup regular Kevin Harvick, the favored driver to win, led the most laps (152) but wasn’t leading when they crossed the finish line for the 200th time.

David Green, driving the No. 37 Timber Wolf Pontiac, got ahead of Harvick after a late race restart and held the erstwhile Cup driver off for the win. It was the veteran Green’s second win of the season and the seventh of his career.

The flat, controversial, and much maligned racetrack was in great shape. The newly paved track surface apparently had plenty of time to cure. The surface held intact and there were two racing lanes for the competitors to use, although it was still very difficult to make a pass. The inability to pass doesn’t hurt the competition though; actually it makes for a much better race, forcing the drivers to hone their skills to make advances in the field.

The races wasn’t without controversy. Last week’s winner, Bobby Hamilton Jr., got into it with Cup driver and former Truck Series Champion Mike Bliss. Hamilton made derogatory comments last weekend after his win, to the effect of stomping on the throats of the Cup competitors who come into the series and take away the majority of the Busch driver’s purse money while messing up their driver’s points. This had been a major problem for several seasons and it’s a problem that the powers that be in NASCAR have chosen to ignore for the monetary gain that it provides them.

At any rate, Hamilton Jr. was attempting to make a pass underneath of Bliss when his racecar slid up the track into Bliss. The two bumped and banged some, with Bliss seeming the victor as he pulled ahead of Hamilton Jr. Just as they were coming out of a corner, Hamilton Jr. ran into the back of Bliss, spinning him into the inside wall and out of the competition. Bliss was furious because he claimed he gave Hamilton lots of room to pass, and the tapes show that it was evident that he did exactly that. The tapes also show that he has ample reason for his fury. NASCAR scolded Hamilton and gave him a rough driving warning, but didn’t show him the black flag, something that infuriated Bliss even more. Bliss was out of the race and Hamilton Jr. went free for his rough driving. In a post race interview, Hamilton Jr. once again lashed out against the invading Cup drivers and said things about them that other drivers wouldn’t think of saying. Hamilton also expressed regret about his run-in with Bliss and said that he didn’t mean for it to happen.

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Kevin Harvick -- No. 21 Chevy – finished 2nd
2. Scott Riggs -- No. 10 Ford – finished 14th
3. Jamie McMurray -- No. 1 Dodge – finished 23rd
4. David Green -- No. 37 Pontiac -- finished 1st
5. Ron Hornaday -- No. 2 Chevy – finished 8th
6. Brian Vickers -- No. 5 Chevy – finished 4th
7. Jason Keller -- No. 57 Ford – finished 7th
8. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- No. 25 Ford – finished 6th
9. Scott Wimmer -- No. 23 Chevy – finished 5th
10. Shane Hmiel -- No. 48 Chevy – finished 15th

A mistake in the pits cost Scott Riggs the Championship points lead and possibly the race. Riggs had to make a pit stop under green, complaining of a flat right side tire. After the pit stop, the crew discovered that a left side tire had been put on the right front of the car, causing it to handle improperly.

Riggs dropped back one spot to second with a -36 to new leader David Green’s 2748 points. Brian Vickers moved up one spot to third and is listed with a -66, followed by Ron Hornaday who dropped down to fourth with a -72. Jason Keller rounds out the top five with a -91.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. moved up one spot to sixth and is now listed with a -164. Todd Bodine dropped down to seventh with a -281 while Scott Wimmer moved up to eighth with a -352. Johnny Sauter dropped down to ninth with a -363 while Shane Hmiel remains in tenth with a -390.

Next week the Busch Series moves to Pikes Peak International Raceway for race No. 21, the Colorado 250. The event is scheduled to be televised by the NBC channel at 3:30 p.m. eastern. Qualifying will be televised by the SPEED channel at 8 p.m. eastern on Friday, July 25th.

Last season’s winner of the July Pikes Peak race was Hank parker Jr. He was followed across the finish line by Greg Biffle, Jason Keller, Ron Hornaday jr., Kevin Lepage, Scott Wimmer, Mike McLaughlin, Jamie McMurray, Ashton Lewis Jr., and Stacy Compton.

Jason Keller won the Bud pole with a speed of 131.801 miles per hour. There were two caution periods for a total of 13 laps out of the 250 lap race on the one mile oval.

7/27/03……….. Todd Bodine’s decision to walk away from a full time Busch Series ride was kind of surprising. According to media reports, being away from his wife Lynn and daughter Ashlyn for sustained periods of time was putting a huge strain on the family. Couple that with the recent injury that brother Bret Bodine sustained recently, and it’s easy to see where family wins out over travel and money.

Bodine had just about completed the deal with Joe Nemechek and Evan’s Motorsports to drive the No. 7 Kleenex Chevy for the remainder of the 2003 season, but has now dropped those plans. He has also dropped his desire to win the elusive Busch Series Championship. At this time, Bodine is sixth in the Busch Series driver’s standings and at one time earlier this season he was leading the points.

Sponsorship problems and logistic problems have been plaguing Cup driver Bodine this season as he has been trying to race in both series, keeping competitive in the Cup Series and racing for the championship in Busch. Jackson/Herzog Motorsports lost their primary sponsor early on in the season, which was part of the reason for Bodine’s slump in Busch Series driver’s points. He was happy to get the ride in the No. 7 when the team fired Randy LaJoie, but his glee didn’t last very long.

Bodine has also been the victim of sponsorship problems in Cup racing, as Hass/Carter Motorsports lost their main sponsor K-Mart at the beginning of last season. Discover Card came on for a while, but didn’t take hold as a permanent fixture with the team, and then the deal with Sam Belnavis materialized in the early part of this year. Belnavis had attempted to be part owner of an African American team as part of a minority diversity program, but had problems with his proposed partnership and the team was scrapped at the beginning of 2003. Belnavis partnered up with Travis Carter to form BelCar Racing, with Belnavis bringing the U. S. National Guard along with him as the major sponsor. The No. 54 Ford Cup team with Bodine at the wheel hasn’t had a top ten finish in the 19 races it has started this season. Bodine feels that he had better concentrate on doing better in Cup if he wants to keep his job in the No. 54.

Scott Wimmer became the twelfth different driver to win in the Busch Series this season, picking up his first 2003 win in the TrimSpa 250 at Pikes Peak. Wimmer’s win was the fifth of his career, coming off of his stellar season where he poured on the coals during the last half of the 2002 season. Bill Davis Racing and the crew of the No. 23 Stacker II Chevy hope that he is heading in the same direction in putting the finishing touches on the second half of the 2003 season.

It was a really hot race at the Pikes Peak facility with the air temperature well over 100 degrees and the track temperature near 140 degrees at race time. The track surface was super slippery, leading to more caution periods than usual on the wide I mile oval. Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Mike Bliss got into it again with Hamilton getting spun into the wall getting the dirty end of the stick this time around. Both drivers had been called to consult with Busch Series officials last week after their altercation at New Hampshire. They were counseled prior to the event at Pikes Peak, and after their second on-track altercation, they were called to big blue trailer to meet with Busch Series officials after the Pikes Peak race. It was evident that Bliss got into the back of Hamilton going into a corner down near the apron and spun Hamilton out. Hamilton had some disparaging remarks concerning the low life character of Bliss while his car was being repaired in the garage area, Bliss was able continue with the race without making repairs. He just had a small dent on his right front. If anything develops from the meeting after the race, I’ll have an update on it, be sure to check back here in a day or two.

The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- No. 25 Ford – finished 25th
2. Stacy Compton -- No. 59 Chevy – finished 5th
3. Ron Hornaday -- No. 2 Chevy – finished 7th
4. Brian Vickers -- No. 5 Chevy -- finished 29th
5. Jason Keller -- No. 57 Ford – finished 2nd
6. Mike Bliss -- No. 20 Chevy – finished 16th
7. Kasey Kahne -- No. 38 Ford – finished 10th
8. Johnny Sauter -- No. 21 Chevy – finished 4th
9. Ashton Lewis -- No. 46 Chevy – finished 9th
10. Joey Clanton* -- No. 27 Pontiac – finished 6th

The Driver’s standings for the Busch Series are still see-sawing back and forth between Scott Riggs and David Green, This week, Riggs has the upper hand, leading the fray with 2882 points, just two points ahead of Green who is now listed with a -2 and 2880 points. Jason Keller moved up two spots to third and is now listed with a -50. Keller led a lot of laps at Pikes Peak and had a good run. Ron Hornaday is still in the fourth position and is also listed with a -50. Even though they are tied, and each has one win, and 11 top tens, Keller has seven top five finishes and Hornaday has two less with five, so Keller gets the top spot. Brian Vickers wrecked out early by getting caught up in a spin-out ahead of him after racing Stacy Compton hard for several laps. His track position had him in an area where he couldn’t avoid collision with the disabled car. His foul luck cost him two positions in the points and he now rounds out the top five with a -124.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. is still in sixth, listed with a -205. Scott Wimmer’s win moved him up one spot to seventh with a -306 while Johnny Sauter’s top five finish moved him up one spot to eighth with a -337. Shane Hmiel also moved up one spot and is now listed in ninth with a -403. Todd Bodine is no longer racing full time in the Busch Series and due to his absence, his rating dropped three spots to tenth with a -415.

Next week the Busch Series travels to Indianapolis Raceway park for race No. 22, the Kroger 200. The event is scheduled to be televised by the TNT channel at 8 p.m. eastern on Saturday, August 2nd. Qualifying for the event is scheduled to be televised by the SPEED channel on Saturday, August 2nd, at 5:30 p.m. eastern.

Last season’s winner at the Indy raceway Park was Greg Biffle. He was followed across the finish line by Jason Keller, Scott Wimmer, rookie Johnny Sauter, Kenny Wallace, Jon Wood, Ricky Hendrick, Jamie McMurray, Tony Raines, and Ron Hornaday Jr.

Greg Biffle won the Bud pole award with a speed of 109.521 miles per hour. There were six caution periods for a total of 36 laps out of the 200 laps on the .686 mile oval short track.