Two years ago, Martin Truex Jr. (#8 Sea Watch Chevy) and Clint Bowyer (#21 AutoZone Chevy) came to Dover International Speedway’s fall race as the two drivers vying for the NASCAR Busch Series championship.

They left as friendly rivals, laying the groundwork for their quick rise in NASCAR’s premier series and a place in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. They’ll compete again this weekend in the NASCAR Busch Series at Dover, where Bowyer is the defending race winner.

In September 2005, Truex – a Mayetta, N.J., native – was seeking his second consecutive series title and third consecutive win at his home track.

Bowyer was the most resurgent – and arguably the most surprising – driver in the series, who was doggedly pursuing Truex.

Bowyer finished second that day to Truex’s 12th and was within 26 points of the standings lead.
Although Truex never relinquished first place, the battle for the crown came down to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Perhaps it will again, albeit at a higher level.

The duo used the NASCAR Busch Series as a developmental opportunity leading to their current success in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.  

Bowyer struck first. He won his first career premier series race last week at New Hampshire International Speedway in the first race of the Chase and is fourth in the standings.

Coming to Dover, Truex – who won his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race there last June – is in sixth place 25 points behind his nemesis– nearly the same deficit Bowyer faced in 2005.
 
Edwards Chases History While Looking To Shoo Second-Half Slump

Carl Edwards (#60 World Financial Group Ford), the series driver standings leader, is also in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and can become the first driver in national series history to hold both titles in the same season.

Bobby Labonte (#77 Dollar General Chevy) is the only driver to claim championships in both series, but did so in different years. He won the NASCAR Busch Series title in 1991 and the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup crown in 2000.

Kevin Harvick was the first to have the opportunity. The reigning series champion finished fourth in the Chase in 2006.

Despite a stout lead in the driver point rankings, Edwards and his #60 Roush Fenway Racing team are seeking a slump-buster.

Edwards hasn’t won since consecutive victories at Dover and Nashville Superspeedway in June. But he’s back on concrete, a surface that has produced each of his four wins this year.

In his last 13 races, Edwards has no wins and has finished 20th or worse six times although he bounced back with a second-place finish at Richmond International Raceway two weeks ago. He’s failed to finish on the lead lap in four of the last six races.

His team also is in a battle for the owner point crown with the #29 Richard Childress Racing Holiday Inn Chevy shared by Jeff Burton and Scott Wimmer. The #29 is 40 points up on the #60 heading to Dover.
 
In The Loop:  Ambrose Boasts Solid Numbers At Dover; Edwards, Wimmer Set For Showdown

NASCAR Busch Series driver standings leader Carl Edwards stole the show at Dover in June, but it was the performance of one of the series’ new names that has forced eyes to open.

Rookie Marcos Ambrose (#59 Kingsford Ford) finished sixth – to date, his career best –and collected impressive statistics in the process.

In June, Ambrose had an Average Running Position of 10.9, a Driver Rating of 93.1 and spent 174 of the 200 laps in the top 15.

But the real story of the race earlier this summer was Edwards. He notched a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0, an Average Running Position of 2.1, notched 58 Fastest Laps Run and spent all 200 laps in the top 15.

Edwards’ perfect Driver Rating was one of just six in series history – including the most recent perfect line by Kyle Busch two weeks ago at Richmond. Dover is the only series track to produce two perfect Driver Ratings – Edwards last June and Ryan Newman in this race in 2005.

Over the past five Dover races, Edwards has a Driver Rating of 113.1, an Average Running Position of 6.5, 119 Fastest Laps Run and 949 Laps in the Top 15 – all of which rank highest among drivers who have raced in each of the last five races at “The Monster Mile.”

Edwards needs to continue his Dover domination if he wants to keep up with the #29 Richard Childress Racing Chevy in the owner championship battle.

The #29 leads Edwards’ #60 Ford by 40 points. Scott Wimmer will pilot the #29 Chevy sponsored by Holiday Inn this weekend in Dover, a track at which he excels.

In the three previous Dover races he has run, Wimmer has an average finish of 9.7, an Average Running Position of 11.5, a Driver Rating of 94.3 and has run 81 percent of his laps in the top 15.

NBS, Etc.

• Another Milestone For Keller: Should Jason Keller (#11 Investlinc Ford) qualify for Saturday’s race, he’ll not only stand one start closer to breaking Tommy Houston’s all-time series record of 417, but he’ll also become the all-time leader in series starts at “The Monster Mile.” Keller seeks career start #416 at Dover – one away from tying Houston. He tied three others – Houston, Randy LaJoie and David Green – for the event starts lead at Dover (25) in June (he finished 13th) and will earn the distinction of holding the most starts at an active track for the sixth time in his career if he takes the green flag there Saturday. (Media outlets may download the Keller starts record graphic at right by logging on to www.nascarmedia.com.)
• Johns To Finish Year In #25: Team Rensi Motorsports announced that Richard Johns will finish out the 2007 season in the team’s #25 FreeCreditReport.com Ford starting with Saturday’s race at Dover. Johns had shared the ride with David Gilliland, whose storybook win at Kentucky Speedway in 2006 vaulted him into full-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup competition. Gilliland pointed to his need to focus on his #38 Ford in the premier series while also allowing Johns – who serves as Team Rensi’s head engineer when not racing – to do the same in the NASCAR Busch Series.
• Notes: Donnie Neuenberger (#52 Plan B Technologies Ford), a native of Brandywine, Md., and a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County will attempt to qualify for the RoadLoans.com 200 at his home track in between appearances as a NASCAR analyst on Comcast SportsNet. … Casey Atwood (#37 Kickbutt Amped Energy Ballz Ford) who won at Dover as a 19-year-old in 1999, returns to the series for the first time since 2006.

The Director’s Take: Dover

“Dover’s high banking and high speeds place a great deal of load on all of the chassis parts and a lot of stress on the suspension parts.

“The concrete surface plays havoc on tires, too. When we were here back in June, it was one of four tracks where teams were permitted to use five sets of tires.

“But because the track didn’t ‘rubber in’ then, we’re giving the teams the opportunity to purchase up to six sets of tires for this race. We want them to get ample practice time and not ‘save the tires’ for the race. 

“As always at this track, pit strategy will play an important role. Pit road is really compact here – and has those concrete boxes – so drivers need to have their cars under control when they come in and not slide their tires, which is a big key on a two-tire stop.

“Fuel strategy will most likely play into the final outcome, too, since some teams will probably take a chance on taking fuel only to gain track position.”

Rookie Spotlight: Layoffs Between Track Debuts Don’t Bother Coleman; Another Set For Dover

• Coleman Returns:  Brad Coleman (#18 Carino’s Italian Grill Chevy) will make his first start at Dover, but seeing tracks for the first time hasn’t prevented him from posting some impressive inaugural numbers. He was fourth at the Milwaukee Mile, ninth at Talladega Superspeedway (plus his first pole), eighth at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, fifth at Watkins Glen International and had top-20 finishes at Texas Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway. Coleman hasn’t been in a series race since last month’s event at Bristol, where he finished 17th – one of three rookies in the top 20. Layoffs don’t seem to affect the 19-year-old; after his first schedule gap, he returned to post a top 10 at Talladega. Following a six-week layoff he turned in consecutive top fives with a second at Kentucky and the fourth at Milwaukee. After the next four-week layoff he was running top 10 at Gateway International Raceway prior to a late-race incident, followed by his top 10 at Montreal and top five at the Glen. Coleman isn’t scheduled to run again for Joe Gibbs Racing until the Oct. 27 event at Memphis Motorsports Park.
• Battle of the Brads:  Now that Brad Keselowski (#88 U.S. NAVY Chevy) has secured his ride with JR Motorsports for the remainder of 2007, the Raybestos Rookie “Battle of the Brads” marches on for the final seven races. Brad Coleman (fifth) holds a three-point advantage over Keselowski (sixth); Coleman’s advantage has been built even though he’s run in six fewer races than has Keselowski – 14 to 20. Coleman is scheduled for three more races this season – Dover, Memphis and Phoenix International Raceway – while Keselowski is slated to finish out the string.

2007 NASCAR BUSCH SERIES
RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS

     Driver                         Points
 1. David Ragan                   213
 2. Marcos Ambrose            188
 3. Kyle Krisiloff                   170
 4. Juan Pablo Montoya        165
 5. Brad Coleman                 150
 6. Brad Keselowski             147  
 7. Robert Richardson Jr.        90
 8. Justin Diercks                   51

ESPN2

ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Busch Series with live racing from Dover International Speedway. The telecast of the RoadLoans.com 200-mile race begins at 3 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown.

Allen Bestwick will host the Dover episode of Countdown. He’ll be joined in the ESPN Pit Studio by analyst Brad Daugherty, a former winning team owner in the NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR CraftsmanTruck Series.

Dr. Jerry Punch will anchor ESPN2’s coverage from Dover, with analysis by 1989 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion Rusty Wallace and two-time champion crew chief Andy Petree. Pit reporters will be Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake, while two-time champion crew chief Tim Brewer will report from the ESPN DISH Tech Center.

2007 At-A-Glance: NASCAR Busch Series Leaders After 28 Of 35 Races:

Traditional Statistics:       
Driver points – Edwards (3998) 
Victories – Harvick (5) 
Races led – Edwards (17)
Laps led – Ky. Busch (941)
Top-five finishes – Edwards (14)
Top-10 finishes – Edwards (18)
Owner points – Richard Childress (#29) - (4,038)
Money Won – Edwards ($1,040,060)
Miles led – Ky. Busch (1260.58)
Busch Poles – Hamlin (5)
Closest to 10th – M. Wallace 10th (2672 pts), Kenseth, 11th (-116)
Consecutive Weeks in Top 10 – Edwards, Harvick (28)

Loop Data Statistics:
Driver Rating – Edwards (107.6)
Average Running Position – Edwards (9.531)    
Fastest Laps Run – Edwards (477 fastest laps)
Quality Passes – Edwards (906)
Laps In Top 15 – Edwards (4,278 of a possible 5,098)

Having Clinched 14th Bill France Performance Cup, Chevy Sets Sights On Owner Championship

Kyle Busch’s win at Richmond two weeks ago cemented Chevy’s 14th NASCAR Busch Series Bill France Performance Cup and its fourth consecutive manufacturer’s championship trophy.

Now, the manufacturer looks to add to its place in series lore, counting on the Richard Childress Racing driver combination of Jeff Burton and Scott Wimmer to bring home only the second split driver/owner championship in NASCAR’s national series history. In 2003, RCR – in a Chevy – captured the owner title with drivers Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter while Brian Vickers won the driver championship.

The #29 has put up three wins this year (all by Burton) along with 14 top fives (10 by Burton, four by Wimmer) and 21 top 10s (13 via Burton, eight from Wimmer). Wimmer will drive the car this weekend at Dover.

Conversely, Edwards, the lone driver of the #60 Ford, has four wins, 14 top fives and 18 top 10s.
 
Manufacturers' Championship 2007 Point Standings
Chevy 210
Ford        164
Dodge     128
Toyota     114

Up Next: RoadLoans.com 200 At Kansas Speedway

The final opportunity of the season for a driver to break the string of single winners at a NASCAR Busch Series track comes next Saturday afternoon at Kansas Speedway. ESPN2 will carry the Yellow Transportation 300 live beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

There have been six different winners at Kansas, the most recent being reigning and two-time series champion Kevin Harvick last season. Kansas Speedway is one of five tracks – along with Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Kentucky and New Hampshire – where there has yet to be a repeat winner.

Matt Kenseth won the Busch Pole for this event last year, the third different pole winner in the last three events. Michael Waltrip won back-to-back poles at Kansas in 2002-03, the only driver to have multiple poles at the 1.5-mile track.
 
FAST FACTS

The Race: RoadLoans.com 200
The Place: Dover International Speedway
The Date:  Sept. 22, 20071
The Time: 3:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN2, 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Track Layout: 1-mile oval
Race Purse: $1,127,483
2006 Winner: Clint Bowyer
2006 Pole: Scott Riggs

2007 Point Standings
Pos. Driver          Points
1      Edwards        3,998
2      Harvick          3,265
3      Reutimann     3,265
4      Leffler            3,172
5      Ragan           3,021
6      Hamilton        2,919
7      Ambrose        2,795
8      Leicht             2,791
9      Biffle               2,776
10     M. Wallace     2,672

Pre-Race Schedule:
Friday – Practice, 9–10:10 a.m.; Rookie Practice, 10:20-10:50 a.m.; Final Practice, 1:50–3:00 p.m. Saturday – Qualifying, 12:05 p.m.