09/05/04… Greg Biffle managed prevail as the better of the two Cup drivers who dominated the Fontana Busch Series event Saturday.

The victory was the fifth of the season for Biffle in the Busch Series and the second of the season at the California facility, giving he and Roush Racing the tracks' first sweep. This season marks the inaugural second race of the season, as the Labor Day event was shifted to California from the traditional Southern 500 weekend at Darlington, South Carolina.

Following Biffle and Casey Mears across the finish line were Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr. Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek, rookie Kyle Busch, and Mike McLaughlin. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Casey Mears -- #41 Dodge -- finished 2nd
2. Martin Truex Jr. -- #8 Chevy -- finished 6th
3. Kasey Kahne -- #38 Dodge -- finished 4th
4. Kyle Busch* -- #5 Chevy -- finished 9th
5. Joe Nemechek -- #87 Chevy -- finished 8th
6. Kenny Wallace -- #23 Chevy -- finished 13th
7. Mike Bliss -- #20 Chevy -- finished 16th
8. David Green -- #37 Pontiac -- finished 15th
9. Matt Kenseth -- #17 Ford -- finished 12th
10. Michael Waltrip -- #99 Chevy -- finished 14th

It doesn't take a genius to acknowledge that the Cup Series drivers dominated the event. The top five finishers were Cup drivers and the top ten only included three Busch Series regulars with championship point's leader Truex finishing in sixth. Busch Series rookie Kyle Busch finished ninth with veteran Mike McLaughlin finishing tenth in his second outing with the #25 Rensi Motorsports Marine Corp. sponsored Ford. Actually, there were a dozen Cup drivers in the event, but the majority of them finished in the top 14 positions, as per usual. With the driver's championship a runaway between Truex and Busch, the Cup drivers aren't really affecting the outcome of the Busch Series championship race this season.

Speaking of the championship race, Truex extended his lead over Busch to 95 points. With just nine races remaining in the Busch Series, third place driver Jason Leffler isn't mathematically out of the picture, but he may as well be. He stands about as much of a chance as snow balls in you know where, when it comes down to him catching up to the leaders… Actually, the top seven in the points remain unchanged as far as positions go, with Leffler listed with a -452. Biffle is in fourth listed with a -483, followed by David Green listed with a -578. Jason Keller and Ron Hornaday are in sixth and seventh listed with a -616 and a -653. Mike Bliss moved up one spot to eighth listed with a -845, while the ousted Hamilton Jr. is still cluttering up the points in ninth with a -893. Kenny Wallace moved up into the top ten listed with a -995.

Next week the Busch Series moves back to the east coast for a night race at Richmond International Raceway. The Emerson Radio 250 is scheduled to be aired by the TNT channel Friday, September 10th at 8 pm eastern. Qualifying for the event is scheduled to be aired by the SPEED channel on Thursday, September 9th at 3:30 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the Richmond night event was Johnny Sauter. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Kevin Harvick, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Brian Vickers, David Green, Matt Kenseth, Ron Hornaday, Tony Raines, Dave Blaney, and Shane Hmiel.

There was no Bud Pole Award due to inclement weather, the field was set via owner's points with Kevin Harvick leading them off. There were seven caution periods for a total of 32 laps out of the 250 laps on the 3/4 mile oval.

9/11/04… It was bound to happen! Robby Gordon has been knocking on the Busch Series door all season long, it's high time he won a race. In the 19 events he started previous to Richmond, he managed to score three top fives and seven top tens, with six other finishes in the top 15 and two more in the top 20. Fielding his own #55 Fruit of the Loom Chevy, Robby has also had nine top ten and four top five race starts.

The event seemed to be a toss up for a win by either Casey Atwood or Martin Truex Jr., but they got together a little slowing them down just enough for Gordon to get under them in turn four, and then he took command of the race to the finish.

Following Gordon across the finish line in the top ten were Casey Atwood, Martin Truex Jr., Jason Leffler, rookie Kyle Busch, Mike Bliss, Kevin Harvick, David Stremme, Kasey Kahne, and Johnny Sauter. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Kasey Kahne -- #38 Dodge -- finished 9th
2. Kyle Busch* -- #5 Chevy -- finished 5th
3. Robby Gordon -- #55 Chevy -- finished 1st
4. Ashton Lewis -- #46 Chevy -- finished 20th
5. Kevin Harvick -- #21 Chevy -- finished 7th
6. Mike Bliss -- #20 Chevy -- finished 6th
7. Martin Truex Jr. -- #8 Chevy -- finished 3rd
8. Stacy Compton -- #59 Ford -- finished 32nd
9. Casey Atwood -- #14 Chevy -- finished 2nd
10. Paul Menard* -- #111 Chevy -- finished 13th

To a lot of racing fans, this season's Busch Series Championship competition is a big joke. For the past several weeks I t has been a give and take draw between Martin Truex Jr. and rookie Kyle Busch. Racing fans and insiders are calling for NASCAR to initiate the "Chase for the Championship" in the both the Busch and Truck Series for the 2005 season. More so than not, over the years the Busch Series Championship race is usually a runaway by the time the season reaches late summer. It certainly isn't very exciting this season, and without a doubt, as much as some of us dislike the infamous "Chase," it would still be better than the bland runaways that have been plaguing the series.

Getting back to the stats at hand for this week's event, Truex Jr. is now leading the Busch Series Championship by 105 points over second place Kyle Busch. Third place Jason Leffler has had that spot for several weeks as the top five remain in the same positions. Leffler has a deficit of a -453, and is so far out of the championship picture that he may as well not even look at his points standings for the rest of the season. Greg Biffle is still in fourth listed with a -518 followed by David Green in fifth listed with a -622.

Ron Hornaday moved up one spot to sixth listed now with a -718, and he's followed by Jason Leffler who dropped down one spot to seventh listed with a -735. Mike Bliss and Bobby Hamilton Jr. are still listed in eighth and ninth listed with a -860 and a -1058. Ashton Lewis Jr. moved up one spot into the top ten listed with a -1084. It should be noted that this is the third week since Hamilton Jr. has been ousted from his ride in the #25 Ford, and that his points will be spiraling downward as the final eight weeks go by for the Busch Series events.

Next week the Busch Series has a week off. The series will return on Saturday, September 25th at 1 pm eastern on Dover International Raceway. The event will be aired by the TNT channel. Qualifying for the event will be aired by the SPEED channel on Friday, September 24th at 1 pm eastern.

Last season's event was won by Brian Vickers. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Hamilton Jr., Scott Riggs, Kasey Kahne, Mike Bliss, Ron Hornaday, Ashton Lewis Jr., Jason Keller, Kevin Harvick, and Mike Wallace.

Qualifying was rained out last season; the field was set via owner's points with Kevin Harvick leading them off. There were five caution periods for a total of 25 laps out of the 200 lap event on the 1 mile concrete oval.

9/25/04… Martin Truex Jr. was in the catbird seat when race leader Kenny Wallace ran out of gas with 11 laps to go in his sponsor's Stacker II 200 event at Dover. Apparently, it was a ruse to amuse the sponsor, everyone knew that he didn't have enough gas to make it to the checkered flag, but what they tell for their sponsor's sake is another story. The Stacker II car was out front leading the race, and they opted to leave it there as long as they could, to make the sponsor look good.

Be that as it may, when Kenny Wallace coasted off of the track in search of fuel, Martin Truex Jr. assumed the lead and held on to win his fifth Busch Series event of the season. He had suffered a 14 event dry spell since winning the Gould's Pumps 200 at Nazareth, Pa. near the end of May.

Following Truex across the finish line in the top ten were Mike McLaughlin, Kasey Kahne, Jason Leffler, Johnny Sauter, Kevin Harvick, Ron Hornaday, Mark Martin, David Green, and rookie Kyle Busch. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Kasey Kahne -- #38 Dodge -- finished 3rd
2. Martin Truex Jr. -- #8 Chevy -- finished 1st
3. Mike McLaughlin -- #25 Ford -- finished 2nd
4. Kyle Busch* -- #5 Chevy -- finished 10th
5. Kenny Wallace -- #23 Chevy -- finished 20th
6. Kevin Harvick -- #21 Chevy -- finished 6th
7. Michael Waltrip -- #99 Chevy -- finished 11th
8. Johnny Sauter -- #27 Chevy -- finished 5th
9. Casey Mears -- #1 Dodge -- finished 19th
10. Jason Keller -- #22 Ford -- finished 12th

Truex Jr., driving the #8 Dale Earnhardt Inc./Chance II Chevrolet, lengthened his point's lead to his best spread of the season. He now leads second place Kyle Busch by 152 points. The top eight drivers in the driver's points remain in the same positions, just the numbers have changed: #3, Jason Leffler, -478; #4, Greg Biffle, -582; #5, David Green, -673; #6, Ron Hornaday, -757; #7, Jason Keller, -793; #8, Mike Bliss, -936. Kasey Kahne's third place finish moved him up fur spots to ninth listed now with a -1149, followed by Kenny Wallace, who dropped down one spot to round out the top ten with a -1168.

In other news, Ron Hornaday found himself looking for a ride after the 2004 season, when it was recently revealed that he and Richard Childress Racing had agreed that it was time to split. As listed above, Hornaday is sixth in Busch Series driver's points, without any chance of even getting close to winning the championship with just seven events left in the season.

In the 27 starts he's made this season, Hornaday has one win at The Milwaukee Mile, five top five, and 12 top ten finishes. He's also had five top five, and 13 top ten starts. The 46 year old veteran was first hired for the Busch Series by Dale Earnhardt to driver his #8 Chevy entry. When Earnhardt passed Hornaday over in favor of Michael Waltrip for his Cup Series team, Hornaday joined the Richard Childress Racing team. It remains to be seen if an owner/team will pick up the wily veteran for the 2005 season. He is still a serious racer, and can contribute a lot of knowledge and experience to any team.

Next week the Busch Series has a weekend off. They will continue with their season in two weeks at the Kansas Speedway. The Mr. Goodcents 300 will be aired by the TNT channel on Saturday, October 9th at 2 pm eastern. Qualifying for the event will be aired on the SPEED channel on Friday, October 8th at 2:30 pm eastern.

Last season's winner at Kansas was David Green. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, Jason Keller, Hank Parker Jr., Ashton Lewis Jr., Scot Wimmer, Stacy Compton, Joe Nemechek, and Jamie McMurray.

Michael Waltrip won the Bud Pole Award in the #99 Aaron's Chevy with a speed of 178.365 miles per hour. There were 10 caution periods for a total of 46 laps out of the 200 lap event on the 1.5 mile oval.