08/08/04… Johnny Sauter can say he had a great weekend at the Indy Raceway Park. He can also say he had a terrible weekend at the same venue! As was the case in the Truck Series event, Sauter dominated the race but came up short when it mattered, and was sorely beaten again by pit strategy.

Sauter's failure to take on fresh rubber in the Truck Series event cost him, and it cost him in the Busch Series event to take on fresh rubber, because he lost valuable track position late in the race. Kyle Busch had taken tires earlier that would allow him to go the distance; while others opted to wait until later on in the race to change tires as did Greg Biffle when he won a race on late race tire strategy. The move backfired on Sauter, he lost the track position that Kyle Busch gained because Busch stayed out and took the lead. Sauter restarted 14th and although he worked his way back up to second, there just wasn't enough time to catch the hard charging Busch before the checkered flag flew.

The win was the fourth this season for the Busch Series' top rookie in his first year. Following Busch across the finish line in the top ten were Johnny Sauter, Jason Leffler, Martin Truex Jr., Greg Biffle, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Mike Bliss, Casey Atwood, Kenny Wallace, and David Green. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Johnny Sauter -- #27 Pontiac -- finished 2nd
2. Martin Truex Jr. -- #8 Chevy -- finished 4th
3. Reed Sorenson -- #41 Dodge -- finished 13th
4. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- #25 Ford -- finished 6th
5. Jason Leffler -- #00 Chevy -- finished 3rd
6. Shane Hmiel -- #38 Dodge -- finished 12th
7. Greg Biffle -- #60 Ford -- finished 5th
8. Kyle Busch*-- #5 Chevy -- finished 1st
9. David Stremme -- #32 Dodge -- finished 11th
10. David Green -- #37 Chevy -- finished 10th

It goes without saying that Kyle Busch is heading for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors at season's end. After the Pikes Peak event he was way ahead of second place driver Paul Menard and third place driver Clint Bowyer. Busch had 280 points compared to Menard with 167 and Bowyer with 136. J. J. Yeley was fourth listed with 122, and Billy Parker was bringing up the rear with a paltry 74. Parker has been released from his ride, so he is no longer a factor, as he wasn't really a player to begin with. With the race win at the Indy raceway Park, Busch will now be listed with over 300 points, which should be well over a hundred points ahead of second place Menard who finished 20th, which was three finishing positions behind Bowyer, who finished 17th.

The first two positions remain the same in he Busch Series driver's standings. Martin Truex Jr. leads with 3318 points followed by Kyle Busch who is now listed with a -117. Jason Leffler moved up one spot to take third position listed with a -374. Greg Biffle moved up one spot to take the fourth position listed with a -408. David Green moved up one spot to round out the top five listed now with a -447. Ron Hornaday dropped down three spots to sixth listed with a -475 followed by Bobby Hamilton Jr. who moved up one spot to seventh listed with a 498. Jason Keller dropped down one spot to eighth listed with a -499 while Mike Bliss remains in ninth listed with a -723. Ashton Lewis moved up one spot to round out the top ten with a -854.

Next week the Busch Series has the weekend off while the Cup Series road races at The Glen. Please check back here next week for a rundown on the Cabela's 250 at Michigan on August 21st.

8/21/04… Mother Nature showed her might again, this time it was at Michigan International Speedway, causing the field to once again be set via owners' points. Truex Jr. and rookie Kyle Busch took their familiar front row starting spots for the Cabela's 250.

There were some Cup drivers who had planned to make the race, but the qualifying wash-out prevented them from making the competition. Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte had entered cars, but were unable to qualify, as well as some occasional Busch starters like C. W. Smith and rookie Paul Menard who didn't have enough owners' points to make the cut for the top 43.

The majority of Cup drivers who own Busch teams were in the event, along with Rusty Wallace Robby Gordon, and Michael Waltrip. Mark Martin, was driving Roush Racing's #9 Ford that former Roush driver Jeff Burton won so many races with in his heyday before he lost sponsorship.

Kyle Busch didn't beat the "Buschwhackers," he pounded them. Busch led 87 laps out of the 125 lap event, and managed to hold off a hard charging Mark Martin to score the fifth victory of his rookie season. The young rookie had an amazing presence on the 2-mile - really fast Michigan track.

Toward the end of the event, it was obvious that many of the competitors were in trouble with their worn soft tire compounds on the fast wide track. Michigan is known for being an easy track to drive, as long as conditions are right. If things get out of kilter, especially like worn tires, the track will jump up and bite even the most seasoned veteran. Is it any surprise that Cup driver Michael Waltrip just spun out on his own, blaming it on what he thought was a flat tire? How many times have we seen the "Earnhardt odyssey driver" spin out for no reason other than he can't control his race car? This time he managed to take Matt Kenseth out of the event, taking care of two Buschwhackers with one stone!

Following Kyle Busch across the finish line in the top ten were Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr., Casey Mears, Kasey Kahne, Rusty Wallace, Jason Leffler, Greg Biffle, Mike Wallace, and Mike Bliss. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Martin Truex Jr. -- #8 Chevy -- finished 3rd
2. Kyle Busch* -- #5 Chevy -- finished 1st
3. Kevin Harvick -- #21 Chevy -- finished 30th
4. Jason Leffler -- #00 Chevy -- finished 7th
5. Greg Biffle -- #60 Ford -- finished 8th
6. David Green -- #37 Pontiac -- finished 32nd
7. Ron Hornaday -- #2 Chevy -- finished 18th
8. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- #25 Ford -- finished 29th
9. Jason Keller -- #22 Ford -- finished 22nd
10. Kasey Kahne -- #38 Dodge -- finished 5th

With 11 races left on the 2004 Busch Series schedule, Kyle Busch has a good chance of catching Martin Truex Jr. for the championship. Busch is only 97 points down in second place, followed by Jason Leffler who remains in third, now listed with a -398. I'd be safe to state that Leffler would have a long row to hoe in getting into the championship fight at this stage of the game. The 398 point deficit is just too much to overcome at this point in time.

Greg Biffle remains in fourth, now listed with a -436, followed by Ron Hornaday who moved up one spot to round out the top five with a -536. David Green dropped down one spot to sixth listed with a -550, followed by Jason Keller who moved up one spot to seventh listed with a -554. Bobby Hamilton Jr. dropped one spot to eighth listed with a -592, followed by Mike Bliss who remains in ninth listed now with a -759. Ashton Lewis remains in tenth, listed now with a -900.

Next week the Busch Series moves on to the night race at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 250. The event will be aired by the TNT channel at 8 pm eastern on Friday, August 27th. Qualifying for the event will be aired on the SEED Channel Thursday, August 26th at 3 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the Food City 250 was Cup driver Michael Waltrip, followed by Ron Hornaday Jr., Ted Musgrave, Shane Hmiel, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Brian Vickers, Tony Raines, Scott Riggs, and Ashton Lewis Jr.

Jason Keller won the Bud Pole Award in the #57 Albertsons sponsored Ford with a speed of 126.021 miles per hour. There were 13 caution periods for a total of 73 laps out of the 250 lap event on the .533 mile high banked concrete Thunder Valley oval.

08/28/04… Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. bested another Cup driver, Matt Kenseth, to win his second Busch Series event in 2004 at Bristol, after winning the series opener at Daytona. The event came down to the two-lap green, white, checkered finish with the two Cup drivers battling for the Busch Series win. Earnhardt led a race high 125 laps but the field eventually caught up with him due to the carnage that brought about the 13 cautions that bunched up the field at the end of the event.

The season high 13 caution periods in the event weren't anything new to the Bristol concrete. The facility is known for causing temper flare-ups and piles of useless crumpled sheet metal. This Busch Series event wasn't an exception in that respect. Series point's leader Martin Truex, Jr. was understandably upset after the event after having been caught up in an altercation with Greg Biffle. Truex seems to think that Biffle got mad and just wrecked someone on purpose. Who's to tell, Biffle is known for his angry on-track behavior along with a lot of other drivers.

Following Earnhardt and Kenseth across the finish line in the top ten were rookie Kyle Busch, Cup driver Kevin Harvick, David Green, David Stremme, Martin Truex Jr., Jason Keller, Robert Pressley, and Casey Atwood. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- #81 Chevy -- finished 1st
2. Tony Raines -- #74 Chevy -- finished 29th
3. Kenny Wallace -- #23 Chevy -- finished 14th
4. Kevin Harvick -- #21 Chevy -- finished 4th
5. David Green -- #37 Chevy -- finished 5th
6. Kasey Kahne -- #38 Dodge -- finished 34th
7. Jamie McMurray -- #66 Dodge -- finished 23rd
8. Kyle Busch* -- #5 Chevy -- finished 3rd
9. Greg Biffle -- #60 Ford -- finished 33rd
10. Mike McLaughlin -- #25 Ford -- finished 12th

Truex Jr. is still atop of the Busch Series driver's standings, but his lead was cut slightly by second place rookie driver Kyle Busch who now closes in with a -78 point deficit. The third place driver, Jason Leffler, remains in third from last week, now a -432 deficit. This pretty well tells us that it's a certainty that Truex and Busch will be the only two eligible drivers to win the championship in the waning part of the season with just 10 events remaining.

Greg Biffle remains in fourth listed now with a -518 followed by David Green who moved up one spot to round out the top five with a -541. Jason Keller moved up one spot to sixth listed with a -558, followed by Ron Hornaday who dropped down two spots to seventh listed with a -579. Bobby Hamilton Jr., Mike Bliss, and Ashton Lewis remain in spots eight thru ten listed with a -738, -805, and a -961.

Mentioning Bobby Hamilton Jr. requires that I also mention that he has been released by Rensi Motorsports. As most of you know, he had signed to enter the Cup Series next season driving the #32 Tide ride for PPI Motorsports. Rensi apparently decided that he may as well leave now as then, so he's out of his Busch Series ride. There may have been friction between Hamilton and Rensi, if there was; it's being kept down to a low profile as far as media release is concerned. It's probably going to come out sooner or alter via garage area rumors. Veteran Busch Series driver Mike McLaughlin was in the driver's seat of the #25 Marine Corp. Rensi Motorsports Ford at Bristol, finishing a respectable 12th in his first outing in the car. Hamilton Jr. will no doubt drop out of the point's race in the Busch Series, which will allow the 11th and or 12th place drivers to get into the top ten. Kenny Wallace is 11th listed with a -964 followed by David Stremme in 12th listed with a -1019.

Next week the Busch Series moves on to Fontana, California to the California Speedway for its inaugural fall event. This is the first time that the Busch Series has had two events at this facility, and will join the Cup series for the inaugural event weekend. The race will be called the Target House 300 and will be televised on the NBC network on Saturday, September 4th at 3 pm eastern.

Greg Biffle won the spring event on May 1st, followed by Tony Stewart, Stacy Compton, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Michael Waltrip, rookie Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Kenny Wallace, and Bobby Hamilton Jr.

The two mile D-shaped track is considered to be the sister track of Michigan International Speedway, and is also just as fast as the Michigan facility, although the banking is a little different. The inaugural event ought to be a good one, since the series just visited it a few months back and are familiar with their recent experiences.