7/4/04... Mike Wallace, driver of the #4 GEICO sponsored Ford, was in the catbird seat when idiocy and revenge took its toll on the lead competitors at the end of the Winn Dixie 250 on the Daytona International Speedway.

Remembering getting knocked out of the Talladega race by Earnhardt Jr. with just two laps remaining; Jason Leffler was racing with a vengeance. When Michael Waltrip pulled a slide job on him during the last lap, Leffler chose not to slow and break his momentum. This caused him to bump the back of Waltrip's car, sending it careening into the wall. Waltrip (along with lots of other drivers) has used that old "slide job" trick to gain position for years, this time he got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Sliding up in front of a faster car causes them to slow down and puts them out of contention for the win if it's on the last lap of a restrictor plate race, also allowing the slower car to gain position.

After administering the bump to Waltrip, Leffler's car slowed a bit and Earnhardt went around the outside to pass for the lead. Leffler blocked him a little too forcefully, which put both cars into the outside wall. What goes around comes around, and this time it came around to Earnhardt. This allowed Mike Wallace to get his first Busch Series victory since his win ten years ago at the Indy raceway Park.

On the other hand, another way to look at that move would be to consider Leffler's car being sucked into the back of Waltrip's car due to the force of the draft created when Waltrip's car got in front of Lefflers. It may not have been Leffler's fault at all, but that's something only the shadow knows.

At any rate, NASCAR lowered the boom on Leffler for rough driving for his antics with Waltrip and Earnhardt. Leffler was penalized one second by NASCAR, dropping him from a second place finish to 13th. They have to protect the integrity of their poster boy Dale Jr. We've seen Earnhardt Jr. (and others) pull antics like that on the last lap of a restrictor plate race and walk away with a pat on the back.

Following Wallace across the finish line were Greg Biffle, Martin Truex Jr., Robert Pressley, Mike Bliss, Kasey Kahne, Casey Mears, Kevin Harvick, Ron Hornaday, and Tim Fedewa. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Mike Bliss -- #20 Chevy – finished 5th
2. Robert Pressley -- #47 Ford – finished 4th
3. Kevin Harvick -- #21 Chevy – finished 8th
4. Robby Gordon -- #55 Chevy -- finished 26th
5. Ron Hornaday -- #2 Chevy – finished 9th
6. Martin Truex Jr. -- #8 Chevy -- finished 3rd
7. Jason Leffler -- #00 Chevy – finished 13th
8. Kyle Busch* -- #5 Chevy – finished 11th
9. Michael Waltrip -- #99 Chevy – finished 27th
10. Casey Mears -- #1 Dodge – finished 7th

Martin Truex Jr. lengthened his lead over second place driver Kyle Busch by 40 points. Truex came to Daytona with a 28 point lead and left with a 68 point lead over Busch, who finished the event just out of the top ten. Greg Biffle's top five finish moved him up one spot to third listed with a -327, followed by Ron Hornaday who moved up three spots to fourth listed with a -381. Bobby Hamilton Jr. remains in fifth listed now with a -388. David Green dropped back three spots to sixth listed with a -389, followed by Jason Keller who dropped down one spot to seventh listed with a -408. Jason Leffler remains in eighth listed with a -444, followed by Michael Waltrip listed with a -563. Mike Bliss rounds out the top ten with a -579.

Next week the Busch Series heads north to Chicagoland Speedway for the Twister 300. This will be first event televised by the NBC network for the 2004 season. The event will be aired live on Saturday, July 10th at 2 pm eastern. Qualifying for the event will be televised by the SPEED channel on Friday, July 9th at 2:30 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the Twister 300 at Chicagoland was Bobby Hamilton Jr. He was followed by Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Michael Waltrip, Jason Keller, Scott Riggs, Tony Raines, Jamie McMurray, and Mike Bliss.

Last season's Bud Pole Award at Chicagoland was won by Casey Mears in the #19 Fugi Film Dodge with a speed of 181.757 miles per hour. There were six caution periods for a total of 32 laps out of the 200 lap event on the 1.5 mile oval.

7/11/04… Justin Labonte, son of two time Winston Cup Champion Terry Labonte, took the checkers Saturday in the Tropicana Twister 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. It was young Labonte's first win in NASCAR Busch Series competition.

It appeared that Mike Wallace was going to get into the win column two weeks in a row, but the unlucky veteran driver ran out of fuel on the last lap, allowing young Labonte to go around him for the win. Not to take anything away from Labonte, he was steadily closing in on Wallace, but it was doubtful that he would be able to get around Wallace. Catching them is one thing, passing them is another!

Following Labonte across the finish line were Jason Keller, Jeff Burton, Kasey Kahne, Ashton Lewis Jr., Robby Gordon, Jason Leffler, David Green, J. J. Yeley, and Ron Hornaday. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- #25 Ford – finished 43rd
2. Kyle Busch* -- #5 Chevy – finished 12th
3. Joe Nemechek -- #87 Chevy – finished 31st
4. Matt Kenseth -- #17 Ford -- finished 16th
5. Kevin Harvick -- #21 Chevy -- finished 41st
6. Mike Bliss -- #20 Chevy – finished 33rd
7. Kasey Kahne -- #38 Dodge – finished 4th
8. Greg Biffle -- #60 Ford – finished 32nd
9. J. J. Yeley* -- #18 Chevy – finished 9th
10. Robby Gordon -- #55 Chevy – finished 6th

I've had a lot to say in the past about the Cup racing Buschwhackers coming into the Busch Series races and taking the top prize money and race positions away from the Busch Series regulars. This season things have been somewhat different, the Busch Series drivers have been holding their own against the Cup drivers. Out of the 19 Busch Series events so far this season, Cup drivers have only won eight of them. Five of the events were at venues that are not shared with the Cup Series, and one Cup driver won one of them. Out of the other 14, Busch Series drivers bested the Cup drivers eight times giving the Busch Series regulars 12 wins out of 19 races. Things are looking up for the Busch Series drivers. I think Bobby Hamilton's Jr.'s attitude last season had a lot to do with it. He stated that he wanted to stick it to the Cup drivers every chance he got. It's that kind of attitude that spread throughout the Busch Series garage area and raised the competition bar for all of the competitors.

The see-saw that took place for a few weeks between Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch took another rest this week at Chicagoland Speedway with Truex still sitting atop of the Busch Series driver's point's standings. Kyle Busch is still in second listed now with a -52. Jason Keller's second place finish moved him up four spots to third with a -359. Ron Hornaday remains in fourth, now listed with a -359. David green moved up one spot to round out the top five with a -368, tying fourth place Hornaday, but not having as many top finishes as Hornaday so he had to settle for fifth. Greg Biffle, the highest Cup driver in the Busch Series standings has dropped down three spots to sixth listed with a -376. Jason Leffler moved up one spot to seventh listed with a -419, followed by Bobby Hamilton Jr. who dropped down three spots to eighth listed with a -470. Cup driver Michael Waltrip remains in ninth listed now with a -570, followed by Mike Bliss who rounds out the top ten listed with a -631.

Next week the Busch Series joins the Cup Series with a weekend off. The next event will be in New Hampshire on July 24th.

7/19/04… Billy 'Catfish' Parker has been released from Rusty Wallace Inc.'s #66 Duraflame Dodge. Looking at parker's record for the half of the season he ran in Wallace's car, it's not surprising that Wallace wasn't impressed with him.

Parker made eight races in the #66 this season. His best start of 11th was in the Stater Bros. 300 at California Speedway, and his best finish of 22nd was also in that event. In his eight starts his overall starting average was 22.5 and his finishing average was 33.1. Out of the eight events, he only finished half of them, due to accidents.

Rumor has it that Cup driver Jamie McMurray will pilot the #66 this coming weekend at New Hampshire. RWI Racing released a statement that the name of the driver for the New Hampshire event will be released toward the end of the week.

Some will tell you that it's kind of strange that Parker was released so quickly from the #66. Usually, when a new team takes on a rookie driver, he at least gets the benefit of the doubt and is given a season to get used to the Busch Series racecars. Eight races does not a season make, Parker didn't even have a chance to race at more than half of the Busch Series venues.

Others will tell you that new start up teams such as that of RWI Racing, have hardly ever been successful starting out with a rookie driver. For whatever reason, Wallace chose stock car rookie Parker to start out the team, and then he dumped him without giving the upstart much of a chance.

Problems in la-la land? NASCAR announced that Joe Balash has taken over the reins as director of the Busch Series. Brian DeHart is said to have resigned the position. No reason was given for DeHart's exit. Balash joined NASCAR a few months go as a technical advisor for NASCAR's touring divisions. He was formerly the director of racing in the American Speed Association and has been involved in auto racing for over 20 years.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand what happened to DeHart. I noticed a couple of really strong irregularities in the management structure this season, when Helton made quick decisions during Busch Series events, over-riding series director DeHart without so much as a how-d-do or by your leave. I wondered at the time what they hired DeHart for; If Helton was going to run the Busch Series show for him. I can't say I blame DeHart for quitting, and I'm wondering if Balash really knows what he is getting into. Actually, if he's smart, he'll just sit by and let Helton or Jim Hunter run the show and keep his trap shut.

Next week The Busch Series moves up north to join the Cup Series in New Hampshire. The Siemens 200 is scheduled to be aired via the TNT channel on Saturday, July 24th at 1 pm eastern. Qualifying for the event is scheduled to be aired by the SPEED channel on Friday, July 23rd, at 1:30 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the July New England event was David Green, who was followed across the finish line by Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Scott Wimmer, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Jason Keller, Ron Hornaday, Kasey Kahne, and Stacy Compton.

There was no Bud Pole Award due to inclement weather. Kevin Harvick started the event from the pole as the field was set by owner's points. There were six caution periods for a total of 24 laps out of the 200 lap event on the 1.058 mile paperclip shaped oval.

7/25/04… Matt Kenseth proved to be the most successful Buschwhacker Saturday afternoon in New Hampshire as the Loudon demolition derby failed to produce a winning Busch Series driver.

The crashfest produced 10 caution periods for a total of 49 laps out of the 200 lap event. Cup driver Kenseth led a total of 50 laps before pit strategy got his mediocre running Ford out in front near the end of the event.

Following Kenseth across the finish line were Tim Fedewa, Jason Leffler, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Ron Hornaday, Kenny Wallace, Stacy Compton, Hamilton Jr. and Mike Wallace. It was great to see the much beleaguered Fitz/Bradshaw #12 Chevy team get a top five finish for a change. The team has suffered bad luck since its inception a few years ago. They certainly deserve this one! Putting Tem Fedewa in the driver's seat was a wise move! The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jamie McMurray -- #66 Dodge – finished 22nd
2. Ron Hornaday -- #2 Chevy – finished 6th
3. Jason Leffler -- #00 Chevy – finished 3rd
4. Mike Bliss -- #20 Chevy -- finished 32nd
5. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- #25 Ford -- finished 9th
6. Joe Nemechek -- #87 Chevy -- finished 16th
7. Kevin Harvick -- #21 Chevy – finished 5th
8. Casey Atwood -- #14 Chevy -- finished 31st
9. David Green -- #37 Pontiac – finished 21st
10. Kyle Busch* -- #5 Chevy – finished 25th

Martin Truex Jr. is still the Busch Series driver's point's leader, extending his spread over second place Kyle Busch by 94 points. Busch had better have some good luck in the next couple of events, or Truex will run away with the top prize.

Ron Hornaday moved up one spot to third listed with a -338 followed by Jason Leffler who moved up three spots to the fourth position. David Green remains in fifth listed now with a -398. Jason Keller dropped down three spots to sixth listed with a -404, followed by Greg Biffle who dropped down one spot to seventh. Hamilton Jr. remains in eighth listed with a -462, followed by Mike Bliss who moved up one spot to ninth listed with a -694. Michael Waltrip dropped down one spot to round out the top ten with a -700.

It's kind of humorous about Waltrip, he started out the season planning on only running a partial schedule, then he began doing well in the driver's point's standings and decided to run the entire season whenever possible. As he started waning in the points, he missed a couple of races where the Cup Series was racing at different venues. Waltrip has only ran 18 Busch series races as compared with the rest of the drivers in the top ten who have raced in all 20 events so far in the 2004 season. Look for Waltrip to ease down out of the top ten unless he wins a race and starts finishing in the top five or ten positions. There are still two races left where the Busch Series won't be at the same venue as the Cup Series, and that will hurt Waltrip's point's standing even more.

Next week the Busch Series travels out west to Colorado at the Pikes Peak facility for another Gould's Pumps/ITT Industries event. The 250 lap race is scheduled to be aired by the TNT channel on Saturday, July 31st at 3:30 pm eastern. Qualifying for the event will be televised by the SPEED channel on Friday, July 30th at 6 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the July Pikes Peak event was Scott Wimmer, followed across the finish line by Jason Keller, Scott Riggs, Johnny Sauter, rookie Joey Clanton, Stacy Compton, Ron Hornaday, Kevin Grubb, Ashton Lewis Jr., and Kasey Kahne.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. won the Bud Pole Award in the #25 Marine Corps Ford with a speed of 133.319 miles per hour. There were three caution periods for a total of 23 laps out of the 250 lap event on the one mile oval high in the Rocky Mountains. The thin air at the high Pikes Peak altitude is always a problem for the drivers as well as the horsepower ratings in the naturally aspirated engines.

7/31/04… Greg Biffle raced from the back of the field to the win at Pikes Peak Saturday afternoon. The victory was Biffle's 15th in Busch series competition in the #60 Ford for the Roush Racing organization.

Using tire strategy in a late race pit stop, Biffle went from eleventh place to the lead within a dozen laps near the end of the event. He had passed up a chance to take on tires just before the halfway point in the race so he would have a set left at the end. Busch Series competitors only have three sets of tires that they can change during caution periods. Stacy Compton also used the same strategy and ended up finishing second behind Biffle. If he hadn't have had problems that required an additional pit stop, he may have been a threat to Biffle.

Following Biffle and Compton across the finish line were Jason Leffler, rookie Clint bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Mike Bliss, David Stremme, David Green, Casey Atwood, and Bobby Hamilton Jr. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Martin Truex Jr. -- #8 Chevy – finished 10th
2. Kyle Busch* -- #5 Chevy – finished 17th
3. David Stremme -- #32 Dodge – finished 7th
4. Johnny Sauter -- #27 Chevy -- finished 29th
5. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- #25 Ford -- finished 10th
6. Jason Keller -- #22 Ford – finished 13th
7. David Green -- #37 Chevy – finished 8th
8. Tyler Walker -- #38 Dodge – finished 27th
9. Kenny Wallace -- #23 Chevy – finished 14th
10. Clint Boyer* -- #21 Chevy – finished 4th

Martin Truex Jr. has enhanced his driver's point's lead over Kyle Busch. Busch had problems and ended up being a couple of laps down. Late in the event he came down on race winner Biffle, causing him to spin out to bring out a late race caution. The rookie Busch is now down 142 points to leader Truex. Ron Hornaday remains in third, listed now with a -373, followed by Jason Leffler who remains in fourth listed with a -379. Greg Biffle's win moved him up two spots to round out the top five with a -408. David Green dropped down one spot to sixth listed with a -421, followed by Jason Keller who also dropped down one spot, now listed with a -445. Bobby Hamilton Jr. remains in eighth listed now with a -493, followed by Mike Bliss who remains in ninth listed now with a -709. Tim Fedewa moved up two spots to round out the top ten listed with a -819.

Next week the Busch Series moves to the Indianapolis Raceway Park for the Kroger 200. The event is scheduled to be aired via the TNT channel on Saturday, August 7th at 8 pm eastern. Qualifying for the event is scheduled to be aired by the SPEED channel on Friday, August 6th at 5:30 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the Indy Raceway park event was Brian Vickers, followed across the finish line by Jason Keller, Stacy Compton, Shane Hmiel, Scott Riggs, David Green, Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday, Paul Menard, and Mike Bliss.

Shane Hmiel won the Bud Pole Award in the #48 Gould's Pumps Chevy with a speed of 110.690 miles per hour. There were three caution periods for a total of 20 laps out of the 200 lap event on the 0.686 mile oval.