Meijer 300 Nes and Notes

Driver to win the Meijer 300

801 Carl Edwards +175
802 Denny Hamlin +300
803 Scott Wimmr +800
804 Greg Biffle +800
805 Juan Montoya +1200
806 Reed Sorrenson +1400
807 Mike Bliss +1800
808 Jason Leffler +1800
809 David Reutimann +1800
810 Dave Blaney +2000
811 Boris Said +2000
812 JJ Yeley +3000
813 David Green +4000
814 Ward Burton +4000
815 David Ragan +4000
816 Todd Kleuver +5000

@TheGreek

Busch Series News & Notes - Kentucky

Competitive Balance The Norm At Kentucky Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 12, 2007) – The only sure thing when the NASCAR Busch Series comes to Kentucky Speedway is that you’ll be unsure about predicting a winner – or a Busch Pole winner for that matter.

In the series' first six events at Kentucky Speedway, there has never been a repeat winner or polesitter. Also, only once has a driver won from the pole and that was Carl Edwards (No. 60 Scotts Ford) – the current series points leader – in 2005.

Kentucky is a 1.5-mile oval that always seems to turn up a new talent looking to advance to NASCAR’s premier series: NASCARE NEXTEL Cup. Example: David Gilliland, who turned up in 2006 with an upset Kentucky win and now finds himself driving for Robert Yates Racing.

Another series regular, Bobby Hamilton Jr. (No. 35 McDonalds Ford), grabbed his first win of 2003 at Kentucky en route to his best overall season as he finished fourth in the final series standings. Kyle Busch in 2004 racked up five wins, one at Kentucky, and went on to finish as the series runner-up. In both drivers’ cases, they moved to NASCAR NEXTEL Cup the following year.

NASCAR Busch Series Tests In Montreal
Two-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Terry Labonte – who also has 11 NASCAR Busch Series wins, four of those at the Watkins Glen International road course – is participating in a one-day test at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal today (June 12).

Labonte will drive the No. 21 Chevrolet of Richard Childress Racing and similar to Jeff Burton’s test in Mexico City three years ago, also in RCR equipment, will be on point for information to be shared among all teams participating in the Aug. 4 event. Labonte, like Burton, was an appropriate choice, since he’s not running in the event.

The test consisted of two sessions at the 2.709-mile road course located on a man-made island on the St. Lawrence River.

In The Loop: Wallace On A Roll

A snowball effect may be in the works for Steve Wallace (No. 66 HomeLife Community Dodge).

Wallace won the Busch Pole last week in Nashville and scored his best finish of the year – 12th. This weekend, Wallace returns to the site of his best career NASCAR Busch Series victory – Kentucky Speedway. A string of success seems possible, if not likely.

Wallace finished 11th at Kentucky last year, and Kentucky has a history of making careers (see David Gilliland, 2006). That could happen for the 19-year-old this weekend, as he racked up impressive numbers last year at this race.

Last year, Wallace had a Driver Rating of 99.1 (ninth-best) and an Average Running Position of 9.235 (sixth-best). He also had 30 Quality Passes – passes of cars in the top 15 under green – which was tied for the four-highest number and just three off Kevin Harvick’s total of 33.

NASCAR Busch Series standings leader Carl Edwards, who his coming off his fourth win of the season, will attempt to become the first repeat winner at Kentucky this weekend. Edwards has had a love-hate relationship with Kentucky over the past two years – he’s won and finished 36th in his past two visits.

In his 2005 win, though, Edwards dominated. He scored a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0, had a Average Running Position of 2.055, ran the fastest lap 75 times and led 150 of 200 laps, a series-best Driver Rating of 128.4 and an Average Running Position of 4.434.

J.J. Yeley is another double-duty driver who will run both the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race in Michigan and the Busch Series race at Kentucky. If past history is any indication, the trip to Kentucky could be a worthwhile trek. In two Kentucky races, Yeley has an average Driver Rating of 117.6 (which is best of any driver who has ran each of the last two races there), an Average Running Position of 6.380 and 28 Fastest Laps Run.

NBS ETC.

# Double-Duty Drivers: Another stand-alone this weekend where double-duty drivers will have subs for practice and qualifying. Seven drivers are scheduled to sub at Kentucky this weekend. Matt McCall will sub for standings leader Carl Edwards, while Auggie Vidovich does the same for Edwards’ teammate David Ragan; Chad Blount for Dave Blaney (No. 10 Camping World Toyota); Chad Chaffin for J.J. Yeley (No. 1 Miccosukee Resort Chevrolet) and Casey Atwood for Greg Biffle. Two drivers will be filling in for the whole weekend; Kertus Davis and Cale Gale will be subbing in the No. 77 Dollar General Chevrolet and No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet, respectively.

# Huffman Makes His First Appearance: J.R. Motorsports’ Shane Huffman (No. 88 NAVY Chevrolet) will make his first ever start at Kentucky Speedway. He heads into this weekend with two top-10 finishes looking to be the next fresh face to win at Kentucky and keep the streak alive of never having a repeat winner. Though he has a big challenge ahead of him, he has raced on several 1.5-mile tracks, notching a ninth place at Las Vegas this past March.

# Bires Replaces Wood At Kentucky: Wood Brothers/JTG Racing announced June 5th that developmental driver Kelly Bires, driver of the team’s No. 21 Ford in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition, will stand in for Jon Wood in the No. 47 Clorox/American Red Cross Ford this weekend at Kentucky. Bires (pronounced BY–ers) is a 22-year old native of Mauston, Wis., who has started six races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season, five for Wood Bros./JTG Racing. He posted his career-best finish (10th) at Atlanta earlier this year.
Prior to Dover, Wood had started 83 consecutive races in the NASCAR Busch Series dating back to 2004, his first full season in the series. He was 22nd in the point standings with one top-10 finish this season – 10th at Mexico City in March – prior to Dover.

The Director’s Take: Nashville

WHAT TO WATCH FOR AT NASHVILLE: THOUGHTS FROM JOE BALASH, NASCAR BUSCH SERIES DIRECTOR

Kentucky Speedway, like most 1.5-mile tracks, is a track where finding the best balance in the car to make the car turn is key.

Most teams will be trying to optimize a "Coil Bind" set-up. This is where the front spring is fully compressed. It makes the car look like it is riding on the front bumper. With this set-up, the nose seals to the track giving the best aerodynamic advantage to the team that can use their shocks to hold the car down the best.

This set-up also helps the car rotate in the corner so the car turns. The last part of the equation is how the driver uses his brakes to "set" the car down on the spring. They do not want it to slam; it must be a smooth compression of the spring.

Rookie Spotlight: Ragan At Top Of Leader Board

# Ragan Answers The Call: David Ragan (No. 6 AAA Ford) came back in impressive fashion this weekend by grabbing the Raybestos Rookie of the Race award and re-taking the lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings after finishing seventh in Nashville. Marcos Ambrose (No. 59 Kingsford Ford) finds himself back in second after catching Ragan last weekend to tie-up the points lead. This season, Ragan has posted nine top-20 finishes.

# Coleman Knows Kentucky: Brad Coleman (No. 18 Carino’s Italian Grill Chevrolet) will be making his first start at Kentucky in the NASCAR Busch Series, but this won’t be the first time the rookie driver has taken on the 1.5-mile track. Last year in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Coleman won at Kentucky defending the lead from eight-time ARCA Series champion Frank Kimmel. After he won he got out of his car (below) and did his signature “‘Brad Coleman Bow.”

ESPN/ABC

ESPN2 will feature NASCAR Busch Series racing live Saturday, June 16, from Kentucky Speedway as the series makes its only appearance of 2007 at the 1.5-mile track located near Cincinnati. The telecast begins with NASCAR Countdown at 8 p.m. ET, and the 300-mile race starts at 8:30 p.m.

Rusty Wallace, the 1989 NASCAR Cup Series champion and ESPN’s lead auto racing analyst, and anchor announcer Marty Reid will call the race from the booth. Pit reporters will be Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch. Mike Massaro will host NASCAR Countdown at Kentucky, joined in the ESPN Pit Studio by analyst Brad Daugherty. Tim Brewer will be at the ESPN Chevy Cutaway Car.

In addition to the Busch Series race telecast on ESPN2, ESPN’s signature broadband service, ESPN360.com, will deliver a live online simulcast of Busch Series events in June, ESPN360.com’s most explosive month of coverage yet, with up to 102 live events. A Spanish-language version of the race will be televised on ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s domestic Spanish-language network.

2007 At-A-Glance: NASCAR Busch Series Leaders After 15 Of 35 Races:

Traditional Statistics:
Driver points – Edwards (2460)
Victories – Edwards (4)
Races led -- Edwards (11)
Laps led – Ky. Busch (536)
Top-five finishes – Edwards (11)
Top-10 finishes – Edwards (13)
Owner points – Roush (No. 60) - (2,460)
Money Won – Edwards ($654,900)
Miles led – Ky. Busch (766.03)
Busch Poles – Hamlin (3)
Closing in on Top 10 – Biffle 10th (1,513 pts) Ambrose (-5), Leffler (-31)
Consecutive Weeks in Top 10 – Blaney, Edwards, Harvick (15)

Loop Data Statistics:

Driver Rating – Edwards (116.6)
Average Running Position – Edwards (6.892)
Fastest Laps Run – Ky. Busch (252 fastest laps)
Quality Passes – Edwards (634)
Laps In Top 15 – Edwards (2,590 of a possible 2,814)

Ford On A Charge For Manufacturers’ Lead

Carl Edwards’ series-leading fourth win of the season has helped Ford close the gap on Chevrolet in the Bill France Performance Cup standings as the series heads to Kentucky this weekend.

In the last couple of weeks, Ford has been climbing back into contention for the lead with the Roush Fenway Racing teammates Matt Kenseth (No. 17 Arby’s Ford) and Edwards blazing the path. Chevrolet still holds on to the lead by nine points with a series-high seven wins.

Dodge is still ahead of Toyota in third place, but Jason Leffler’s (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota) third-place finish at Nashville helped Toyota chip away at the nine points that separate the two.

Up Next: AT&T 250 At The Milwaukee Mile

The NASCAR Busch Series travels to The Milwaukee Mile next week for the AT&T 250.

Last year, Paul Menard (No. 11 Menard’s Chevrolet) captured his first series win at his hometown track The Milwaukee Mile. Menard went on to finish the season with seven top-fives and 16 top-10s.

Aric Almirola (No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet) subbing for Denny Hamlin put the No. 20 on the Pole last June. Hamlin then drove to a second-place finish.

The action kicks off on June 23 at The Milwaukee Mile. NASCAR Busch Series practice, qualifying and the race are all on Saturday. The garage opens at 7:30 a.m. and practice starts at 9 a.m.

The Race: Meijer 300 presented by Oreo
The Place: Kentucky Speedway
The Date: June 16, 2007
The Time: 8:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN2, 8:00 p.m. (ET)
Track Layout: 1.5-mile oval
Race Purse: $1,441,056
2006 Winner: David Gilliland
2006 Pole: Denny Hamlin

Schedule:
Friday–Practice, 5-6 p.m.
Rookie Practice, 6:15-6:45 p.m.
Final Practice, 7-8 p.m.
Saturday–Qualifying, 5:10 p.m.

NASCAR - Busch - Meijer 300 Preview

Date: Saturday, June 16th

Start Time: 8:30 p.m. (et)

Site: Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Kentucky

Track: 1.5-mile tri-oval

Laps: 200

Miles: 300

Capacity:

Total purse: $1,441,056

Payouts: 1st Place - $101,300; 2nd - $60,750; 3rd - $46,375 (2006 figures)

Year: 7th

On TV: ESPN 2

Race record: 136.123 m.p.h. (Bobby Hamilton Jr, 2003)

Qualifying record: 181.287 m.p.h. (Carl Edwards, 2005)

2006 Finish

Defending champion: David Gilliland (Not defending)

Runner up: J.J. Yeley

Pole winner: Denny Hamlin (177.772 m.p.h.)

Top 10:

1. David Gilliland (Start: 4)
2. J.J. Yeley (10)
3. Denny Hamlin (1)
4. Mike Wallace (17)
5. Ashton Lewis Jr (32)
6. Kevin Harvick (13)
7. Greg Biffle (30)
8. David Reutimann (25)
9. Paul Menard (8)
10. Stephen Leicht (28)

Average speed: 116.004 m.p.h.

Time of race: 2 hours, 35 minutes, 10 seconds

Margin of victory: 0.306 second

Caution flags: 10 for 47 laps

Lead changes: 9 among 7 drivers

Past winners

2006 David Gilliland, Chevrolet, David Gilliland (Chevrolet) - 116.004 m.p.h.

2005 Carl Edwards, Ford, 117.111 m.p.h.

2004 Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 126.642 m.p.h.

2003 Bobby Hamilton Jr, Ford, 136.123 m.p.h. (race record)

2002 Todd Bodine, Chevrolet, 127.164 m.p.h.

2001 Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 118.590 m.p.h.

Notes

Last year, David Gilliland recorded his first career Busch Series title, as he crossed the finish line 0.306 of a second ahead of J.J. Yeley. Gilliland, who won in only his seventh Busch Series start, led the final 11 laps in front of an estimated crowd of 73,000. Pole sitter Denny Hamlin finished third, while Kyle Busch, who led for a race-high 61 laps, placed 13th. Yeley held the lead from lap 136 to 189, but could not hold off Gilliland.

Kentucky Speedway became the 43rd track at which the NASCAR Busch Series has competed, the 20th Superspeedway. It is the second track in the Bluegrass State that has held a NASCAR Busch Series race. The Louisville Speedway (.354 mile ) hosted two races, 1988 won by Tommy Ellis and 1989 won by Tommy Houston. Kenny Wallace won the pole for the 1989 race. One NASCAR Nextel Cup race was contested in Kentucky. On August 29, 1954, Lee Petty won the 200 lap race at the one-half mile dirt Corbin Speedway in Corbin, Kentucky.
In 2005, Carl Edwards dominated this race, leading 89 of the first 100 laps, but still needed to pass Martin Truex Jr on the white flag lap to win the 2005 Meijer 300 by less than a second over Truex Jr. The win was the third of Edwards' five-win season, helping him to a third-place finish in the final Busch points standings.

With 20 laps to go, Edwards was in fourth place, but 4.163 seconds behind the 2004 Busch champion Truex Jr. Fortunately for the No.60 team, Biffle and Tyler Walker spun out on lap 185 of 200 and Truex Jr's big margin was gone. On the restart with eight laps to go, Edwards blew by Reed Sorenson on the outside and then underneath Clint Bowyer. Now he was right behind Truex Jr and coming on fast. But another caution involving Biffle brought out the final caution making the race into a two-lap shootout for the victory. Truex Jr tried vainly to hold off the much faster Edwards, but it was not to be and in turn three of lap 199 Edwards made the winning pass.

Kyle Busch will be making his 100th Busch Series start this week. Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Bobby Hamilton Jr are the past champions in the field.

The NASCAR Busch championship moves to The Milwaukee Mile on Saturday, June 23rd for the AT&T 250, where Paul Menard captured the 2006 race.

Driver to win the Meijer 300

801 Carl Edwards +175
802 Denny Hamlin +300
803 Scott Wimmr +800
804 Greg Biffle +800
805 Juan Montoya +1200
806 Reed Sorrenson +1400
807 Mike Bliss +1800
808 Jason Leffler +1800
809 David Reutimann +1800
810 Dave Blaney +2000
811 Boris Said +2000
812 JJ Yeley +3000
813 David Green +4000
814 Ward Burton +4000
815 David Ragan +4000
816 Todd Kleuver +5000

@TheGreek

I wonder how they grade this since the winner isn't listed and there is no field bet. ???

Leicht gets first Busch win in Kentucky
June 16th, 2007

Sparta, KY (Sports Network) - Last year unknown David Gilliland won this race and this time around 20-year-old Stephen Leicht made his first trip to a Busch Series Victory Lane.

The No.90 Robert Yates Racing Ford won Saturday night's Meijer 300 crossing the finish line 1.851 seconds ahead of best friend Brad Coleman.

"These guys have worked so hard...I'm almost in tears," said Leicht. "The last four weeks we've been running good and hard the worst luck you could possibly have."

Pole winner Regan Smith brought the field to the green flag for 200 laps of racing, but the field didn't even get one lap before the yellow caution flag came out.

The early portion of the race was plagued by more flags, but Carl Edwards took over the lead on lap 21. He was still in the lead until lap 37 when Smith ducked to the bottom of the track and got around Edwards. Smith began to open up a pretty nice cushion on the points leader. By lap 55 his margin was more than three seconds over Edwards.

Meanwhile, the man on the move was Coleman, who was in the top-five and threatening to take fourth place from J.J. Yeley.

Normal green-flag pit stops began on lap 64 and it was a disaster for Smith. He stalled the car and couldn't get it restarted until he was down three laps to the leaders.

After the round of stops were complete, Edwards was leading Coleman by a few car lengths and Yeley by almost five seconds.

At the mid-point, Edwards was still showing the way with Steve Wallace, Yeley and Coleman just behind as more caution flags disrupted the flow of the race.

On the next restart, Edwards and Wallace broke away from the rest of the leaders.

But there is a reason Edwards leads the series by more than 600 points. He slowly but surely began to walk away from Wallace and on lap 130 his margin was 3.150 seconds. Ten laps later the lead was 6.056 seconds. Ten more laps and Edwards was almost out of sight. With 51 laps remaining, Edwards' lead was a whopping 11.084 seconds.

But as luck would have it, NASCAR saw some debris on the track and brought out the yellow flag to erase the No.60 Roush Racing Ford's huge lead.

Edwards, Wallace and Coleman came off pit road one-two-three with 46 laps remaining. On the restart, Wallace got into the back of Edwards and sent the No.60 Ford spinning. Edwards got the worst of the deal and took his car directly to the garage - his chance of winning over.

"That was just a case of both of use wanting to win the race," said Edwards.

Coleman inherited the lead after the accident with Scott Wimmer and Stephen Leicht in second and third, respectively.

Coleman got a good start, but Wimmer stuck right with him. So did Leicht and the trio broke away from the rest of the field. Another yellow flag, the eighth of the race, slowed the race with 36 laps to go.

The race restarted with 30 laps to go. Wimmer immediately took a look underneath, but couldn't make it stick. Leicht was sitting in third waiting to see what would happen.

Wimmer got back in line and the top-three cars began to pull away. But again, a crash brought out the caution flag. NASCAR cleared the track and the green flag dropped with 16 laps to go.

Coleman and Wimmer went down the backstretch side-by-side but Wimmer couldn't complete the pass. On the next lap Leicht went to the outside and got around Wimmer.

"I remembered that last year the high line was working good," said Leicht. "I drove it in there and it stuck."

Could he get around Coleman for the win?

Leicht stayed at the top of the track and with 12 laps remaining went flying past Coleman for the lead, his first of the race.

Ten laps remaining and Leicht's lead was about six lengths. Three laps later, the gap was 0.896 seconds and he was never headed.

The next Busch race is scheduled for Saturday, June 23rd at the Milwaukee Mile.

Busch Breakdown – Meijer 300 presented by Oreo
Mike Neff

In a Nutshell: Carl Edwards was marching away to another Busch victory when he was taken out on a restart. The door swung wide open for the Busch series regulars and Stephen Leicht took all of the knowledge he garnered at the defensive driving classes and took the checkered flag to be the first non-Cup winner this year. Leicht made good on an effort that started with disappointment last weekend when his engine blew while he was leading convincingly at Nashville. Brad Coleman, Scott Wimmer, David Stremme and Shane Huffman rounded out the Top 5.

Who Should Have Won: Carl Edwards was the car to beat before he was taken out on a restart on lap 155 by Steven Wallace. Edwards had a ten second lead when the caution flew for debris before the restart. Regan Smith is the only driver, other than Edwards, who has any claim to possibly having had a chance to win this race. Smith, who was on the pole for the first time in his career, was leading when he ran his car out of gas before his first pit stop on lap 64. By the time the team was able to get the car refired and back into contention, they were two laps down. If that miscue hadn’t happened, Smith might have actually been able to win.

Three questions you should be asking after the race this weekend.

1) Did the folks at Meijer get a deal on white towels?

The 70,000 fans at Kentucky were waving white towels on every restart throughout the night and made the place look like a UK basketball game more than a Busch race. It may not help Kentucky Speedway land a Cup date, but it was definitely something that isn’t seen at a NASCAR race on a regular basis.

2) Does Kentucky deserve a Cup date?

70,000 people at a stand alone Busch series race, with only seven Cup regulars in the field is a pretty impressive achievement. The facility has plans to add another 35,000 seats and 50 luxury boxes if they are ever able to land the elusive Cup date. Having that kind of attendance at a stand alone event speaks volumes for the kind of support that the area has for racing and definitely sends a strong message to the folks in Daytona that the Bluegrass state is ready to host a Cup race.

3) Does Carl Edwards really need to come back out in a damaged racecar to salvage points?

After being wrecked out of the event, Carl Edwards came back onto the track some 20 laps down to try and log more miles and possibly pick up more points in a damaged racecar. With a points lead that was assured of being more than 700 points by the end of the night, it really isn’t necessary for Edwards to come out and limp around the track to try and gain a spot or two. It seems like a bit of an unnecessary exercise.

Worth noting/points shuffle:

Danny O’Quinn actually was given a chance to drive in a Busch race again when he was given the keys to the No. 17 car this week. Unfortunately for O’Quinn, the night ended early when he lost it and hit the wall on lap 92.

Carl Edwards was taken out of the race on lap 155 and saw his point lead ONLY expand from 662 to 701. Edwards was well on his way to another dominant victory when Stephen Wallace got into his left rear quarter panel on a restart and ended his night prematurely. Dave Blaney’s 15th place finish was good enough to leapfrog Kevin Harvick, who was not running in the race, for second in the points standings.

Buschwhacker watch:

Buschwhackers in the race: 7
Starting spots taken by Buschwhackers YTD: 307 of 641
Buschwhackers finishing in the Top 10: 4
Buschwhackers finishing in the Top 10 YTD: 121 of 160
Races won by Buschwhackers YTD: 15 of 16
Buschwhackers ranked in the Top 10 in Busch Series points standings: 6

Quoteable:

“I told my spotter to tell him to take it easy on the restart. We were both going for the win, we both really wanted to win this race. He got a run on me, I tried to ease down and block him. If I hadn’t tried to block him, or if he’d been more patient, we wouldn’t have wrecked.” Carl Edwards

“I have mixed emotions. My best friend just one his first race, and he beat me to do it. We ran a great race, and I had him on every restart but that last one. He did and awesome job and I am glad for him.” Brad Coleman

“That was totally uncalled for.” Morgan Shepherd

Next up:

For the third week in a row, the Busch series will be running an event separate from a Cup race when they head to Milwaukee to run on the flat one mile oval at the fair grounds on Saturday. The AT&T 250 will be covered by ESPN2 and MRN starting at 8:00 PM.

www.frontstretch.com