(NASCAR Statistical Services)

(NASCAR Statistical Services)

NASCAR Busch Series News and Notes – Talladega

• Driver points leader – Kevin Harvick (1,469)
• Closing in on Top 10 (Greg Biffle 10th – 999 points) – Reed Sorenson (-13), Jason Leffler (-16), Johnny Sauter (- 49)
• Owner points leader – Richard Childress (#21) – (1,478)
• Money won – Denny Hamlin ($402,789)
• Laps led – Kevin Harvick (358)
• Miles led – Kevin Harvick (456.65)
• Victories – Kevin Harvick (2)
• Busch Poles -Denny Hamlin (2)
• Top-five finishes – Kevin Harvick (6)
• Top-10 finishes – Kevin Harvick (8)
• Raybestos Rookie Leader – Burney Lamar (+20 over Todd Kluever)
• Races led – Kevin Harvick (6)
• Weeks in Top 10 – Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, J.J. Yeley (9)

Martin Truex Jr.’s two wins at Talladega are the most among drivers entered in Saturday’s field. … David Green (#27 Kleenex Ford) has 11 starts at Talladega, fifth all-time. … Three other Busch Pole winners join Paul Menard in the field – Ken Schrader (#66 Yard-Man Ford), Johnny Sauter and Clint Bowyer; the poles were the first of their career for Sauter and Bowyer. … Michael Waltrip (#99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Dodge) is tied for second with five top 10s at Talladega. Waltrip is also second in races led (seven) and laps led (114) after 10 races there.

Kevin Harvick’s back-to-back wins have stretched Chevrolet’s lead in the Bill France Performance Cup Standings to 12 points over second-place Dodge. Chevrolet – the manufacturer leader in NASCAR Busch Series wins at Talladega with 10 – has six victories this season and totals 66 points in the standings. Dodge, seeking its first series win at Talladega, has two wins and 54 points, while Ford, with three series wins at Talladega, has one win and 51 points this year. Harvick is the first driver to record multiple wins in the NASCAR Busch Series this year. … Randy Armstrong, the front tire changer for Mark Green’s #4 GEICO Chevrolet, is from Mobile, Ala. … Speaking of Green, who secured his best finish (15th) of the season last year at Talladega, his 17-year-old son, Tyler, has four wins this year in Legends Pro Division competition. … Mark McFarland’s #88 Chevrolet will feature the Dale Earnhardt Legacy logo on the decklid this weekend in honor of the 10-time Talladega Superspeedway winner. His JR Motorsports team is owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. … The NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southeast Series is scheduled to begin its 2006 season Saturday night at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway, and Steve Wallace will be in the field. Wallace – the youngest son of 1989 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion Rusty Wallace – is entered in the race while teammate Jamie McMurray (#64 Top Flite Dodge) competes at Talladega. … Six-year-old Benee Calderon of Buena Park, Calif., won a nationwide “Color your Way” to Talladega Sweepstakes and will be at the track to watch Michael Waltrip run in the paint scheme designed by the youngster.

•”It’s a lot easier to lose the points than it is to gain the points. This NASCAR Busch Series is tough and there will be somebody who will make a run at me sooner or later.” – Kevin Harvick.

•”I have never been to Talladega before so you better believe that for the next three days I am going to be racing the Talladega track on my X-Box and trying to learn as much as I can.” – Stephen Leicht (#90 CitiFinancial Ford).

•”You hear about drivers who dread restrictor plate racing, but I absolutely love it. I’m excited to go to Talladega and try to get some redemption from earlier this year. I thought we had a really good car at Daytona and just never got to show it. Getting the penalty near the end of the race and then involved in the last lap wreck, I just left feeling empty.” – Denny Hamlin (#20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet).

Ken Schrader has always been known as one of the busiest drivers in all of auto racing, winning in all forms of motorsports competition. And he shows no sign of slowing down. One of Schrader’s wins came in the 1994 NASCAR Busch Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway. Schrader came from 17th starting position in his self-owned Chevrolet, staying near the front of the field for most of the race. He took the lead from Sterling Marlin with two laps to go and held off a charge by Terry Labonte to win by .008 second – one of the series’ closest margins of victory. The win was no easy matter. It was a hard-fought victory in an event that saw a record 30 lead changes among 14 drivers. Schrader’s winning speed of 167.473 mph still ranks as the second-fastest average speed in the history of the event, which was slowed by caution periods only twice for 10 laps.

“The competition was great, the people were great. That’s what made the NASCAR Busch Series good for me.” – Tommy Ellis, 1998 NASCAR Busch Series champion.

Richmond International Raceway is the next stop for the NASCAR Busch Series on May 5, where the Circuit City 250 will be held under the lights. Mark Martin, the series all-time leader in wins (47) also has the most wins at Richmond (five), while Kenny Wallace (#22 AutoZone Ford) is third all-time with three victories. Michael Waltrip has captured five Busch Poles, tied for first with 1998 series champion and Richmond native Tommy Ellis. Virginia native Jeff Burton is scheduled to make his 250th series start at his “home” track. Richmond is one of seven tracks to have hosted NASCAR Busch Series races since the series’ inception in 1982.