5/2/04…….. Greg Biffle managed to turn a bad day into a spectacular day and ended up wining the California Busch race. Although it was his first victory at the Fontana, California facility, it was his second win of the season and the former Busch Series Champion's 13th career victory.

Without the luxury of a late race caution, fuel mileage became one of the key factors in the event. The front runners all had to make a "splash and go" stop for fuel, as the majority of them lacked the fuel to allow them the additional four or five laps to the end of the race.

Biffle had been suffering major problems. His driver's cooling system had malfunctioned blowing hot air into his helmet, then his engine mysteriously lost oil pressure so he had to make an unscheduled pit stop to take on oil. While doing this his team topped him off with fuel, so he didn't need as much fuel to make it to the end as the other teams did. While running in second position to Matt Kenseth, he made a really quick stop at lap 140, ahead of most of the others who had to make fuel stops. When the leaders had made their stops for fuel, the lead cycled back around to Biffle with only four laps remaining in the event. Some of the leaders had run out of fuel and needed to be pushed off on pit road to get them started again. This gave Biffle the extra time he needed to cement his lead.

Following Biffle across the finish line were Tony Stewart, Stacy Compton, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Michael Waltrip, rookie Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Kenny Wallace, and Bobby Hamilton Jr. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jason Leffler -- No. 00 Chevy – finished 34th
2. Martin Truex Jr. -- No. 8 Chevy – finished 13th
3. Kevin Harvick -- No. 21 Chevy – finished 8th
4. Jeremy Mayfield -- No. 6 Dodge -- finished 18th
5. Kenny Wallace -- No. 23 Chevy – finished 9th
6. Tony Stewart -- No. 29 Chevy – finished 2nd
7. Kasey Kahne -- No. 38 Dodge – finished 5th
8. Robby Gordon -- No. 55 Chevy – finished 12th
9. Michael Waltrip -- No. 99 Chevy – finished 6th
10. Ashton Lewis -- No. 46 Chevy – finished 14th

Cup driver Michael Waltrip is still the leader of the Busch Series driver's points. Waltrip had initially planned an abbreviated Busch Series schedule for the season, but after rising to the top of the driver's point's standings, he decided to make a run for the championship and will be competing in as many events as physically possible. Even though he's a veteran Cup driver, Waltrip owns his own Busch Series team and has always been a Busch Series contender.

Rookie Kyle Busch moved up two spots to follow Waltrip in second place with a -52 down from the leader. Martin Truex Jr. remains in third place listed with a -53, while David Green dropped two spots to fourth listed with a -84. Robby Gordon, another veteran Cup driver who owns and drives for his own team, remains in the same position and rounds out the top five with a -90. Jason Keller also remains in the same position and is quite a ways back in sixth place with a -178. Even farther back in seventh place after moving up one spot is Bobby Hamilton Jr., now listed with a -240. Ron Hornaday Jr. moved up one spot to eighth listed with a -251 with Johnny Sauter right on his heels in ninth after dropping two spots, now listed with a -256. Greg Biffle's win moved him up three spots into the top ten with a -263.

Next week the Busch Series moves on to Gateway International Raceway, across the river from St. Louis, located in Madison, Illinois. The Charter 250 night race is scheduled to be televised by the FX channel at 7:30 pm on Saturday, May 8th. Qualifying for the event will be televised by the SPEED channel on Friday, May 7th, at 4 pm. All times listed are eastern daylight savings times.

Last season's winner of the Mother's Day weekend event was Scott Riggs in the No. 10 Nestles Ford. He was followed across the finish line by David Green, Jason Keller, Brian Vickers, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Stacy Compton, Johnny Sauter, Scott Wimmer, Stanton Barrett, and Kenny Wallace.

Ashton Lewis Jr. won the Bud Pole Award in the No. 46 Chevy with a speed of 131.903 miles per hour. There were six caution periods for a total of 49 laps out of the 200 lap event on the 1.25 mile oval

5/9/04…….. The upcoming Busch Series Gould's Pumps ITT Industries 200 event at Nazareth Speedway could be the last. The series is scheduled to race at the one mile oval in Southeastern Pennsylvania on Sunday, May 23rd.

The speedway only boasts two major events on the one mile oval during the racing season with the Indy racing League hosting the Firestone 200 at the end of August and the NASCAR Busch Series running a 200 lap event at the end of May. Ticket sales for these events have never been up to par with other venues and have been declining.

The owner of the facility, International Speedway Corp. (ISC) is also the owner of the Watkins Glen road course facility approximately 150 miles to the north in upstate New York. Both venues have the same president, Craig Rust, who has denied the rumors that the Nazareth facility is for sale and that the events there are going to be moved to Watkins Glen.

Rust has admitted however, that the races could be transferred there as early as next season due to the low ticket sales at Nazareth. So what is one supposed to believe? First they say no, and then they say yes? Rust claims that talks with the IRL have been fruitful in moving to a road course event for the league which has always raced on oval tracks. The IRL claims to have a desire to add a road course or two to its schedule.

Talks with NASCAR concerning adding a road course to the Busch Series have also been fruitful. The idea isn't new, but was road racing in the series was scraped some time ago when the big cost cutting push was on. NASCAR feels that just having one road course event wouldn't be justifiable for the teams to spend the money to build road course cars. They have been flirting with the idea of having a road course event on the Mexico City track to go along with the proposed Watkins Glen event.

It seems to me that they should leave well enough alone. I shudder to think about the series racing in Mexico, the cost alone to transport cars and teams down there would be a major detractor along with racing safety issues. Not only would the teams have to travel down there to race, they would also want to perform testing there or at a facility that would be similar to the Mexico City road course, which would also be an added expense for the teams.

NASCAR always claims that the first and foremost issue with them is to maintain cost cutting initiatives for the teams, then they go off and do things that cost the teams more and more money so that NASCAR can make money. They want to burden the teams with all of the millions in extra costs for road racing just because the track at Nazareth owned by the France family isn't making enough money to suit them!

Leave Nazareth alone, and leave the events there as scheduled. There's more to racing than just making money, there's also tradition to think about. NASCAR needs to do something to make the racing at Nazareth more alluring to the fans so that they can fill up the grandstands and sell out the tickets. The money spent doing this will be far less than what they would have to put out initiating road racing into the Busch Series. I really like road racing, but I like Nazareth too, I plan on attending the Busch Series event there in a couple of weeks, and also plan on returning to Nazareth for the IRL event this coming August. Nazareth is a class facility; all it needs is some class marketing exposure. ISC needs to spend some of its record profits to boost the facilities standing in the northeast racing market.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Charter 250 event from the pole starting position at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. The win was his third in his last six starts in the Chance II Motorsports No. 8 Taco Bell sponsored Chevrolet co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his stepmother Teresa. It was the fourth victory for Chance II this season as Dale Jr. won the season opener at Daytona in February.

Out of the eight Busch Series events held at the Gateway facility, it was the first time an event had been won from the pole starting position. As a result, Truex will get listed in the track record books for accomplishing that feat.

Truex dominated the event by leading 123 laps of the 200 lap event, along with second place finisher Ron Hornaday Jr., who also led a lion share of the race before being overtaken again by Truex. Once the Chance II crew got the No. 8 Chevy dialed in with the right setup for the track, there was no way to catch Truex. Jason Keller finished third followed by Bobby Hamilton Jr., rookie Kyle Busch, Jason Leffler, Greg Biffle, David Stremme, Tim Fedewa, and Robby Gordon.

The victory moved Truex up two spots to take the driver's point's lead with 1472 points. Michael Waltrip dropped down one spot to second listed with a -16 while rookie Kyle Busch also dropped down one spot and is now listed in third with a -29. David green remains in fourth, now listed with a -86 while Robby Gordon still rounds out the top five listed with a -93.

Jason Keller remains in sixth listed with a -150 while Ron Hornaday Jr.'s second place finish moved him up one spot to seventh listed with a -213. Bobby Hamilton Jr. dropped down one spot to eighth listed with a -218 as Greg Biffle moved up a notch to ninth listed with a -249. Johnny Sauter dropped down one spot to round out the top ten with a -284. As for those who would be eligible for the chase for the championship at the end of the season, there are fifteen drivers within the 400 point limit. Kasey Kahne is just out side of the hunt with 401 points listed in the 16th position.

Next week the Busch Series moves on to the Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia for another night event. The Funai 250 will be broadcast live by the FX channel on Friday, May 14th, at 7:30 p.m. Qualifying for the event will be held on Thursday, May 13th at 4 p.m. and will be televised on the Speed channel via time delay. All listed events times are Eastern Daylight Savings.

Last season's winner of the May Richmond event was Cup driver Kevin Harvick. He was followed across the finish line by Scott Riggs, Tony Raines, Michael Waltrip, Scott Wimmer, Johnny Sauter, Stacy Compton, Shane Hmiel, David Green, and Bobby Hamilton Jr.

Cup driver Michael Waltrip won the Bud Pole Award in the No. 99 Aaron's sponsored Chevrolet with a speed of 125.523 miles per hour. There were 14 caution periods for a total of 93 laps out of the 250 lap event on the 3/4 mile oval short track.

5/15/04…….. It's official, unfortunately the rumors of the closing of Nazareth Speedway was right on the money. The one mile oval track will host its final NASCAR Busch Series race there this coming weekend.

Also as expected, NASCAR plans to have the Busch Series return to Watkins Glen next season to run a road race. Plans are underway for a second road course race with a date being negotiated for a Busch Series road race in Mexico City. The Busch Series used to race at the Watkins Glen facility but gave it up after the 2001 season in an attempt to cut costs for the series owners.

With the usual alignment of Busch Series events coupled with Cup Series events, the change in the recently released Cup schedule for 2005 will also create a change in the 2005 Busch Series schedule. With the Cup Series leaving Rockingham (North Carolina Speedway) and moving into Texas and Phoenix for two races per season instead of one, it appears that the Busch Series is following suit.

As soon as the negotiations are completed with the proposed Mexico City race, which may also bring about a Craftsman Truck Series date south of the border, the Busch Series schedule for 2005 will be released.

Kyle Busch finally got his name in the win column after dominating Saturday night's Richmond event. The young 18 year old rookie driver had placed second three times and also won three Bud Pole Awards before scoring his first victory (from the pole position) on his 18th Busch Series start.

Lots of times, when the word "dominated" is used describing a race winners lead laps in an event, it's barely over half of the total laps in the race. Kyle Busch led 236 out of 250 laps, bringing out the true meaning of the word. Although it appeared that Greg Biffle was going to best him at the end, Busch hung on and fought Biffle off, bushing Biffle for the win.

Following Busch across the finish line were Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Jason Keller, David Green, Martin Truex Jr., Mike Bliss, Kenny Wallace, and Kasey Kahne. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Kyle Busch* -- No. 5 Chevy – finished 1st
2. Jamie McMurray -- No. 1 Dodge – finished 41st
3. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- No. 25 Ford – finished 4th
4. Casey Atwood -- No. 14 Chevy -- finished 14th
5. Jason Leffler -- No. 00 Chevy – finished 11th
6. Joe Nemechek -- No. 87 Chevy – finished 36th
7. Ashton Lewis -- No. 46 Chevy – finished 15th
8. Kevin Harvick -- No. 21 Chevy – finished 3rd
9. Kasey Kahne -- No. 38 Dodge – finished 10th
10. Robbie Gordon -- No. 55 Chevy – finished 19th

Rookie Kyle Busch's first victory also put him on top of the driver's point's standings, moving him up two spots to take the lead from Martin Truex jr. who is now listed in second with a -15. Busch Series veteran for former champion David Green moved up one spot to third listed with a -97 while Cup driver Michael Waltrip is right on his heels with a -98 after dropping two spots to fourth. Robbie Gordon still remains in the fifth position and is now listed with a -148. Jason Keller is still listed in the sixth position and now has a deficit of -156 points down from the leader. Bobby Hamilton Jr. moved up one spot to seventh listed with a -213 while Greg Biffle moved up one spot to eighth listed with a -240. Ron Hornaday Jr. dropped down two spots to ninth listed with a -247 while Jason Leffler moved up one spot to round out the top ten listed with a -355.

If the Busch Series were running the same chase for the championship schedule as the Cup Series, then major changes would have been made this week. There are now only 13 drivers within 400 points of the leader as opposed to 16 last week. Although it probably depends on how the championship picture plays out this season, you can probably expect the Busch Series to take the same format as the Cup Series in 2005.

Next week the Busch Series moves to the final race at Nazareth Speedway at Nazareth, Pennsylvania. The event is scheduled to be televised live at 12:30 pm on Sunday, May 23rd, by the FX channel. Qualifying for the event is scheduled to be telecast via time delay on the SPEED channel Saturday, May 22nd at 4 pm, all times eastern.

Last years winner of the Nazareth event was Ron Hornaday Jr. He was followed across the finish line by Brian Vickers, Mike Bliss, David Green, Todd Bodine, rookie David Stremme, Randy LaJoie, Stacy Compton, Bobby Hamilton Jr., and Johnny Sauter.

Randy LaJoie won the Bud Pole Award with a speed of 133.215 miles per hour in the No. 7 Kleenex Chevrolet. There were five caution periods for a total of 24 laps out of the 200 lap event on the one mile oval.

5/24/04…….. The last Busch Series event in the present era was run this past Sunday at Nazareth Speedway at Nazareth, Pennsylvania. The France family owned International Speedway Corp. (ISC) which owns the facility is closing it down at the end of August after the IRL Firestone 255 event.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Goulds Pumps ITT Industries 200 yesterday and was treated to a great race finish to mark the finish of the Busch Series tenure at the facility. The race itself was kind of on the boring side, without much action, other than the rough, dirty driving of Michael Waltrip as he bumped and banged his way throughout the field. Lots of drivers and fans alike tend to think that "rubbing is racing" and unfortunately, it has become the norm. There are still a lot of us who think it's admirable to race one's competitors clean without hitting and intimidating them. Hey, if that's the only way you can win, I guess you have to do what you have to do. Enough said about the buschwhacker Waltrip.

The 200 lap event only bred two cautions, one for debris on the track at lap #75 and another when the ill handling #20 Chevy driven by Mike Bliss tried to come into the pit lane too hot and ended up in the grass which sent the car careening across the track into the wall in turn three. The Rockwell Automation crew was able to get the #20 back out onto the track to finish the race 57 laps down.

Pole sitter Kyle Busch led the race off and led masterfully until the first caution, and then was replaced in the lead by the #25 Ford driven by Bobby Hamilton Jr. who led the rest of the race with the exception of the last lag of the last lap. Hamilton seemed to have the race won, staying several car lengths ahead of the competition from the #22 driven by Jason Keller and the #2 driven by Ron Hornaday Jr. When the cars came back out of the track after the second caution, Martin Truex Jr. was in second with the #8 Taco Bell Chevy. Truex kept a respectable distance until the last ten laps, and then he began to close on Hamilton. As the last five laps materialized, Truex was on Hamilton's rear bumper. On the last lap the leaders hit a lot of lapped car traffic. Hamilton went into turn three too hot and got up beside of a lapped car which slowed him down enough for Truex to get up beside him. As they shot out of turn four toward the finish line, Truex took the lead and crossed the finish line ahead of Hamilton who was still trying to get back up to speed from the melee on turn three. Truex was in the cat bird seat waiting for Hamilton to make a mistake, and when he made it on the last lap, Truex pounced to win the event in front of his hometown crowd who came over from New Jersey, just across the state border a few miles away.

It was good to see Jeff Purvis back in action after a bad wreck sidelined him with a broken neck and head injuries two years ago at the same track. Purvis did a masterful job in handling the #1 Yellow Freight Dodge, finishing the event in the 17th position as the last car on the lead lap. There's nothing like mastering the dog that bit you, welcome back Jeff!

The win was the fourth of the season for Truex in the first full year of his Busch Series career. Following Truex and Hamilton across the finish line were David Green, Jason Keller, David Stremme, Casey Atwood, Jason Leffler, Michael Waltrip, and Kenny Wallace. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Kyle Busch* -- No. 5 Chevy – finished 10th
2. Kasey Kahne -- No. 38 Dodge – finished 16th
3. Michael Waltrip -- No. 99 Chevy – finished 8th
4. Jason Keller -- No. 22 Ford -- finished 4th
5. Tim Fedewa -- No. 12 Chevy – finished 15th
6. Casey Atwood -- No. 14 Chevy – finished 6th
7. Kenny Wallace -- No. 23 Chevy – finished 9th
8. Jason Leffler -- No. 00 Chevy – finished 7th
9. Ron Hornaday -- No. 2 Chevy – finished 11th
10. Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- No. 25 Ford – finished 2nd

Martin Truex Jr.'s win moved him up one spot to take the lead over rookie Kyle Busch by 31 points. David Green and Michael Waltrip remain in third and fourth with a -102 and a -126. Jason Keller moved up one spot to round out the top five with a -161, while Bobby Hamilton Jr. moved up one spot to sixth with a -203. Ron Hornaday Jr. moved up one spot to take seventh place with a -282, followed by Robby Gordon who dropped three spots to eighth with a -318. Gordon missed the race to practice for the Indy 500 and is due to also miss next week's event in Charlotte. Greg Biffle's bad luck in the event dropped him down one spot to ninth listed with a -343, while Jason Leffler remains in tenth listed with a -379.

Next week the Busch Series makes its way to Charlotte to once again join the Cup Series. The Carquest Auto Parts 300 is scheduled to be televised live by the FX channel at 12:30 pm eastern on Saturday, May 29th. Qualifying for event is scheduled to be televised on the SPEED channel Friday, May 28th at 1:30 pm eastern.

Last season's event was won by Cup driver Matt Kenseth. He was followed across the finish line by Kyle Busch, Scott Riggs, Todd Bodine, Mike Bliss, Kasey Kahne, Hank Parker Jr., Ashton Lewis Jr., and Cup drivers Kevin Harvick and Michael Waltrip.

Kevin Harvick won the Bud Pole Award with a speed of 184.445 miles per hour. There were five caution periods for a total of 24 laps out of the 200 lap event on the 1.5 mile oval.

5/29/04…….. Kyle Busch took the win at Charlotte in front of the Hendrick Motorsports hometown crowd. The win was the second for rookie Busch in the last three races, and the first Busch Series race win at Charlotte for Hendrick Motorsports in over 20 years.

Kyle also won last year's Busch Series race at Charlotte, but in Joe Nemechek's #87 Chevrolet, not in one of Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets. Although he was under contract to Hendrick, he was relegated to Nemechek's car because Brian Vickers was in the #5 Hendrick Chevrolet.

Go figure, I attended last week's race at Nazareth, and it was relatively boring compared to this week's Charlotte race. There were only two cautions last week, one for debris on the track and the other when Mike Bliss missed pit road and slid in the grass ending up across the track into the wall in turn three. This week there was lots of action, and nine cautions. I guess a fan would be better off going to Charlotte for the Memorial Day weekend instead of Nazareth, or Watkins Glen next season for a road race.

Following Kyle Busch across the finish line were Jamie McMurray, #1 Dodge; Kevin Harvick, #21 Chevy; Jason Leffler, #00 Chevy; Tony Stewart, #29 Chevy; Greg Biffle, #60 Ford; Ron Hornaday, #2 Chevy; David Stremme, #32 Dodge; Kenny Wallace, #23 Chevy; Ashton Lewis, #46 Chevy. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Greg Biffle -- #60 Ford – finished 6th
2. Kyle Busch* -- #5 Chevy -- finished 1st
3. Kasey Kahne -- #38 Dodge -- finished 25th
4. Kevin Harvick -- #21 Chevy -- finished 3rd
5. Joe Nemechek -- #87 Chevy -- finished 21st
6. Tony Stewart -- #129 Chevy -- finished 5th
7. Martin Truex Jr. -- #8 Chevy – finished 14th
8. Ron Hornaday -- #2 Chevy -- finished 7th
9. Jason Leffler-- #00 Chevy -- finished 4th
10. David Green -- #37 Pontiac – finished 23rd

The Busch Series point's lead swapped places again. Kyle Busch moved up one spot to take the lead from Martin Truex Jr. by 38 points. Michael Waltrip moved up one spot to third listed with a -158 while David Green dropped down one spot to fourth listed with a -167. Bobby Hamilton Jr. moved up one spot to round out the top five with a -238. Jason Keller dropped down one spot to sixth listed with a -250 while Ron Hornaday remains in seventh listed with a -295. Greg Biffle moved up one spot to the eighth position listed with a -347, and Jason Leffler moved up one spot to ninth listed now with a -373. Kenny Wallace moved up one spot to round out the top ten with a -458. It's interesting to see how the top two positions seem to be swapping back and forth while the spread grows larger between them and third place. As to the regular Busch Series drivers who were the biggest point's movers, Mike Bliss moved up four spots to 12th and new hire Tim Fedewa dropped down four positions to 17th.

Next week the Busch Series travels a little ways north to Dover International Speedway for the MBNA America 200. The event is scheduled to be televised by the FX channel at 12:30 eastern on Saturday, June fifth. Qualifying for the event is scheduled to be televised by the SPEED channel on Friday, June fourth at 1 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the May 31st Dover event was Joe Nemechek. He was followed across the finish line by Scott Riggs, David Green, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Todd Bodine, Kasey Kahne, Mike Bliss, and Ron Hornaday Jr.

Joe Nemechek won the Bud Pole Award in the #87 Cellular One Chevy with a speed of 156.747 miles per hour. There were seven caution flags for a total of 36 laps out of the 200 lap event on the one mile concrete oval.