Green, Wallace brothers look to compete at Kentucky A little sibling rivalry will be added to Saturday nights race at Kentucky Speedway as two sets of brothers will compete against each other in addition to the field. Two of the three racing Green brothers who hail from Owensboro David and Mark will battle on their home track while Kenny (#22 Stacker 2 Ford) and Rusty Wallace (#64 Top Flite Dodge), also two of three brothers involved in NASCAR racing, are ready to meet in a family feud. David and Mark have raced against each other nine times this season, with David, the 1994 series champion, coming out ahead in seven races. Mark has finished better twice, at Talladega and Charlotte. The Wallace brothers have run against each other once this year, the first time at the historic race in Mexico City. Both Rusty (sixth) and Kenny (eighth) garnered top-10 finishes, their best results when racing together. However, the Wallaces are split evenly when it comes to head-to-head competition in the NASCAR Busch Series each has finished higher than the other five times. Kenny is currently fifth in the series point standings; David Green is 11th and Mark stands 37th.
Big mover: Yeley could make solid bid at Kentucky The 2005 season hasnt gone quite the way J.J. Yeley and the #18 Vigoro/Home Depot Chevrolet team expected, but signs are pointing to an upswing. Denny Hamlin (#20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet), Yeleys teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, has become a staple in the NASCAR Busch Series Top 10 as a rookie for 12 of the seasons 15 weeks. Yeley, meanwhile, has posted only two top-10 finishes this year. However, the second of those came last weekend at Nashville, a season-best eighth-place that resulted in the biggest move among drivers in the Top 20. Yeley jumped six places in the standings, from 22nd to 16th, his best ranking since California when he was 14th. The Phoenix, Ariz., native also led his first laps of the year at Nashville. Yeley finished 11th at Kentucky last year, while his crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, has excelled at the facility. While with Brewco Motorsports, Ratcliff produced two top-10 finishes with Jamie McMurray in 2001-02, and led David Green to finishes of eighth and 13th, respectively, in the last two NASCAR Busch Series races at the venue. We were able to bounce back and overcome some self-inflicted adversity [at Nashville], and that’s what good race teams are supposed to do, Yeley said. We performed well [at Kentucky] last year, and nearly left with a top-10 finish. Jason has always prepared good cars at Kentucky, and I’m certain he’ll have [one] capable of running up front on Saturday.
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup regulars pull double duty … In addition to 1989 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion Rusty Wallace, four other premier series regulars plan to race at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night in addition to competing in the Batman Begins 400 at Michigan on Sunday afternoon. Greg Biffle (#66 Duraflame Ford), Carl Edwards, Sterling Marlin (#40 Ferris Industries Dodge) and Michael Waltrip (#99 State Fair Corn Dogs Chevrolet) another Owensboro native are entered in the field. Wallace plans to be at the first practice at Kentucky on Saturday, return to Michigan for qualifying, then make it back to Kentucky for qualifying later that afternoon. Jay Sauter, who won the Busch Pole for the inaugural race at Kentucky in 2001, is in line to practice and qualify if necessary for Biffle. Kerry Earnhardt will do the same for Waltrip, while Hank Parker Jr., who ran in place of Edwards at Nashville last week, will be on call once again.
List of first-time race winners growing Clint Bowyers victory at Nashville marked the fourth time this season the NASCAR Busch Series has produced a first-time winner. The series record is six, and has been accomplished six times, most recently last year. Three drivers had collected their first career wins after 14 races one year ago. Tony Stewart won his first NASCAR Busch Series race to open the season at Daytona, Carl Edwards claimed his first series win at Atlanta after only seven starts and Reed Sorenson won for the first time also at Nashville in the spring race this year. Three drivers currently in the NASCAR Busch Series Top 10 Ashton Lewis Jr. (#25 U.S. Marine Corps Ford), Denny Hamlin and David Stremme (#14 U.S. Navy Dodge) are seeking their first series wins. Drive for Diversity milestone Allison Duncan made history last Saturday night in Stockton, Calif., by winning her first feature event in the Western Late Model Class at Stockton 99 Speedway. Duncan, who competes in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series, is based at the track as part of NASCARs Drive for Diversity program, which is run by Access Marketing and Communications. Her victory marked the programs first win since its 2004 debut. Duncan drives for California-based owner Bill McAnally, as part of Richard Childress Racings driver development program. She currently leads the point standings in the Western Late Model Class at Stockton and is ranked eighth in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Division II point standings. Drive for Diversity seeks to develop diverse and female drivers and crew members. This season, Duncan is one of eight Drive for Diversity drivers competing in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series or the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series. Twelve Drive for Diversity crew members are working with teams in the NASCAR Busch Series or the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
ON THE RIGHT TRACK
There have been four different race winners in each of the previous NASCAR Busch Series races at Kentucky Speedway; the 2005 event will produce the fifth different victor. Stacy Compton (#59 Kingsford/Bushs Baked Beans Ford) in 2003 and Martin Truex Jr. last year have won Busch Poles at Kentucky. Jay Sauter, who will practice and possibly qualify the #66 Duraflame Ford for Greg Biffle, won the inaugural pole at the track in 2001. Biffle has the most top fives (three) of any driver at Kentucky while he and Ashton Lewis Jr. have three top-10 finishes each. Biffle and Jason Keller (#35 McDonalds Ford) have each led a series-high two races. Lewis has completed all but one lap at Kentucky; no driver has finished on the lead lap in all four races.
ETC.
Clint Bowyers win at Nashville enabled Chevrolet to re-take the lead in the Bill France Performance Cup standings for the first time in eight races. Chevy has seven wins and 103 points while Ford has six wins and 100 points in the see-saw battle between the two manufacturers. Dodge is in third place with two wins and 82 points. In addition to taking over the NASCAR Busch Series points lead, Reed Sorenson has also pulled ahead of Carl Edwards in the the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings for the first time since the California race. Martin Truex Jr. has scored 905 points in the last six races, the most of any driver, to catapult to second place in the NASCAR Busch Series standings. Truex was in seventh place, 344 points out of the lead, following Texas. Chad Blount will drive the #32 WINFuel Chevrolet for Braun Racing at Kentucky, while Regan Smith will be back in the #58 Serta Racing Dodge for the second week in succession. Casey Atwood, Tracy Hines and Mike Wallace are scheduled to drive the #6 Hungry Drivers Dodge for Evernham Motorsports in the next three races, respectively, starting with Atwood at Kentucky. Atwood, who competed for Evernham in the NASCAR Busch Series from 2001-02 became the youngest driver in series history (18 years, 10 months) to win a race when he was victorious at Milwaukee in 1999. Two teams make their shop homes in Kentucky: Brewco Motorsports, the team for which David Green and Greg Biffle drive, is headquartered in Central City, while Keith Coleman Racing, Mark Greens team, has its shop and offices in Eddyville. Ferris Industries and Supercuts, sponsors of the #40 Dodge driven by Sterling Marlin and the #12 Dodge of Tim Fedewa, will host a lawnmower race as part of the grand finale in Supercuts Fathers Day Lawn Mower Giveaway immediately following Saturdays final practice. Participants in the race include Fedewa, select members of the media, and executives from Ferris Industries.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
The NASCAR Busch Series first competed in Kentucky at the Louisville Motor Speedway in 1988. The speedway was one of the smallest tracks on which the series competed and possessed one of the oddest shapes of any speedway. The track was only .354-mile in length and was shaped like a tight triangle. A lap around the tiny speedway was comparable to being on a merry-go-round.
The first race was a 200-lap affair held on June 25, 1988. Bobby Dotter won the pole with a speed of 96.058 mph and a lap time of 14.054 seconds. Virginian Tommy Ellis won the event, beating L.D. Ottinger by just over four seconds.
The second and final race took place on June 24, 1989. Rookie Kenny Wallace won the pole with Michael Waltrip taking the outside front row spot. Another Tommy won the event, but this time it was Tommy Houston. He held off runner-up Waltrip by one second. The NASCAR Busch Series returned to the Blue Grass state in 2001 with the opening of the Kentucky Speedway.
ON DECK: THE MILWAUKEE MILE
The NASCAR Busch Series travels north to Wisconsin and an appearance at The Milwaukee Mile on Saturday, June 25. The event will be the series third consecutive night race and will feature homecomings for Johnny Sauter (#1 Yellow Transportation Dodge) who is from Necedah, and Paul Menard (#11 Menards Chevrolet), who is a native of Eau Claire. Ron Hornaday Jr. is the defending race champion and is scheduled to driver the #32 WINFuel Chevrolet in the event, while David Stremme won the Busch Pole one year ago.
FAST FACTS
What: Meijer 300 presented by Oreo (Race #16 of 35 in the NASCAR Busch Series).
Where: Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Ky.
When: 8:05 p.m. ET, Saturday, June 18.
Track Layout: 1.5-mile oval.
Race Length: 300 miles/200 laps.
Posted Awards: $1,336,489.
TV: FX, 7:30 p.m. ET.
Radio: MRN, XM Satellite.
2004 Winner: Kyle Busch.
2004 Polesitter: Martin Truex Jr.
Pre-race schedule (all times local): Sat., June 18: Practice 10 11 a.m.; 11:30 a.m. 1 p.m. Qualifying 5:05 p.m. Cars impounded on pit road following qualifying.(NASCAR PR)(6-15-2005)
