NASCAR Busch Series News & Notes - Lowe's Motor Speedway

This Week’s NASCAR Busch Series Leaders through 12 races of the 35-race season
Driver points leader – Harvick (1,945) 
Owner points leader – Childress (#21)-(1,954)
Closing on Top 10 (Jo. Sauter 10th – 1,302 pts.) –Lamar (-35), Kenseth (-36), Wood (-46) Weeks in Top 10 –Bowyer, Harvick, Yeley (12)
Money won – Hamlin ($488,139) 
Races led – Harvick (7)
Laps led – Harvick (407) 
Miles led – Harvick (523.58)
Victories – Harvick (3) 
Busch Poles – Hamlin (3)
Top-five finishes – Harvick (8) 
Top-10 finishes – Harvick (11)

• Catching Kevin – no give in the competition … Despite his 347-point lead over his nearest competitor, points leader Kevin Harvick (#21 U.S. Coast Guard Chevrolet) remains a marked man. “He’s very good in [NASCAR] Busch [Series] cars and he’s very consistent,” said Clint Bowyer (#2 ACDelco Chevrolet), Harvick’s teammate with Richard Childress Racing. “He does everything you need to do to win a championship. He’s out there quite a ways, but obviously anything can happen. I shrank a 200-point deficit last year pretty quick and all it took was some bad luck on Martin’s (Truex Jr.’s) part. You can’t hand him the trophy yet, but we need to get things turned around pretty quick.” Kyle Busch’s crew chief, Chad Walter, agrees. “We could be taking risks right now in a desperate fight to catch up, but we’re thinking more conservatively and playing the safe role,” he said. “We need solid top-five finishes. That’s what we’re aiming for. If we get those, and he has some bad luck, we’ll be right there to challenge him.”
• Hamlin hopes to end month on strong note … The fast start by Kevin Harvick has somewhat overshadowed solid performances by other series drivers, Denny Hamlin (#20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet) being one. The 25-year-old from Chesterfield, Va., is third in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings, only 32 points behind Clint Bowyer. Hamlin has posted his first two series wins this year at Mexico City and Darlington, making him the only driver other than Harvick with multiple victories. He also leads the series with three Busch Poles, and had two in succession at Texas and Nashville. Despite an injury to his hand that required 19 stitches three weeks ago, he comes to Charlotte on the heels of his Darlington win and refreshed to boot. “Other than my hand, I’ve had a really good May,” he said. “It was really exciting to run so well at Richmond and then to win Darlington after starting on the pole, especially representing a team [that has] such a large presence in South Carolina, was big. Last week, I had some friends from Chesterfield come down and we spent the week getting away from racing. I feel my batteries are recharged for the long summer ahead.”
• Series drivers well-represented in another NASCAR anniversary celebration … In commemoration of the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series’ 25th season in 2006, NASCAR and NASCAR Insider magazine have named the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series All-Time Top 25 drivers, and some current NASCAR Busch Series drivers are among that elite group. Greg Biffle (#16 Ameriquest Ford) was a two-time track champion at the former Portland (Ore.) Speedway and Tri City Raceway in Washington and was runner-up for the 1995 NDWS Regional championship. From 1994-96, Biffle recorded 54 Late Model wins and 67 top-five finishes in 98 starts. Clint Bowyer won his first track championship in 2001, then came back to win two more in 2002 – one on dirt and another on asphalt in the same season. He was the 2002 NDWS Regional champion. Denny Hamlin won more than 50 feature races from 1997-2004 and was the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Mini Stock track championship at Langley Speedway (age 16). He was also the 2003 Late Model track champion at Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly, N.C. Mark McFarland (#88 U.S. NAVY Chevrolet) won more than 90 feature races throughout the Southeast region and won the 2003 NDWS national championship and the richest payout in series history at $213,500. He was the first Virginian to win the national championship, the third-youngest driver to win the title at age 25, and the first asphalt Late Model Stock Car driver to claim the title since 1997.
• Message delivered: Tim Sauter aids in fundraising for local youngster …. The #36 Lester Buildings Chevrolet of Tim Sauter will carry a special message this weekend. His car will display a photo of 14-year-old Raine Angelley, a Charlotte-area boy who has been stricken with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a disorder that causes the formation of cysts in the kidneys and requires a transplant. Angelley was born with the disorder and his kidney function is now below 20%. Several donors have been located for a transplant, but the family will have to bear the medical costs. Sauter’s car will also carry the phone number for donations to a fund established for Angelley. He and his father will be at the track Saturday as guests of Sauter’s team. Sauter heard about the situation from long-time friends Vic and Donna Gelzoff. “[They] have been involved in motorsports for years, all the way back to Vic being Dick Trickle’s crew chief for many years back in Wisconsin,” he said. “They helped me in both ASA and the NASCAR Busch Series. Donna called me a few weeks ago and I thought we could help raise some awareness for Raine’s condition.” Monetary donations can be made to: Raine Angelley Fund, Triplett United Methodist Church, 838 Mazeppa Rd., Mooresville, N.C., 28115, (704) 663-4619.
• IN THE LOOP: Charting “Shrub’s” climb … Kyle Busch has improved seven positions in the point standings over his last seven races, and NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics show the reasons behind that marked improvement. Busch has gained two places in his Driver Rating over that span, from seventh to fifth, and carries a rating of 95.2, up one point from his 94.2 mark after Bristol. He has also jumped his Average Running Position from eighth (16.084) to sixth (13.270). Two other telling catagories are his improvements in Percentage of Laps Run on the Lead Lap and Time Trailing at the Finish. Busch was languishing in 19th place among drivers running on the lead lap, having completed only 70.41%. Eight races later, Busch was up to 11th, and had run 84% of his laps on the lead lap. And although he’s only moved up one position, from 12th to 11th, his incremental gains in time have been monumental. Through the first six races of the year, Busch had trailed 147.264 seconds at the finish. Since then, his Time Trailing at the Finish total is 159.608, a loss of just 12.344 seconds.