Beating Around the Busch - Busch Race Notes Charlotte

There is no joy in Mudville (or at least for Fitz/Bradshaw), as the mighty Casey stuck out at Charlotte. Former Evernham Motorsports driver Casey Atwood signed on with Fitz/Bradshaw Racing, with the newly acquired Navy sponsorship, Atwood is to run a combination of nine events in Busch and Cup starting with the Carquest 300. The team failed to make the race on speed, and did not have previous owners points to be awarded a provisional.

Nestle announced this week that it will not be returning to PPC Racing in 2004. The Nesquick brand has sponsored the number ten entries since 2000. During their tenure they the team has accomplished, the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series Championship with Jeff Green and the 2002 Rookie-of-the-Year honor with driver Scott Riggs.

The departure of a primary sponsor from a top team is again an indication that sponsorship concerns in the series may be reaching critical conditions.

Current series point’s leaders Herzog/Jackson Motorsports, with driver Todd Bodine remain uncertain, as they have yet to acquire a sponsor to carry them through the remainder of the season.

2000 series champion crew chief Harold Holly returned to the series as he teamed with driver Jeff Green to field a one-race deal for Amik Motorsports. Greens hope of three spring Charlotte wins in a row went up in smoke as engine failure ended the day early. However that is not the end of Harold Holly, who announced early in the week that he accepted a position with Team Rensi, taking over the chief position for Bobby Hamilton Jr.

Kasey Kahne is making a name for him as a top qualifier in the series.” I didn't realize I had qualified in the top 10 for nine races," said Kahne. "That's pretty cool. I have always liked qualifying. You put everything on the line for those two laps and you give it all you've got. Now that I think about it, I guess I have always qualified well in my sprint and midget cars also. Hopefully I can keep the streak going for the rest of the season and get a Bud pole for Great Clips." Khane is currently eleventh in the series championship race.

Hank Parker Jr returned to the series behind the wheel of the Earnhardt owned S2 Motorsports entry. In a ride originally slated for Steve Park, Parker started the event fourteenth ands wheeled his way to finish seventh.

S2 Motorsports will continue to field entries combining with drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr, Martin Truex, and Parker Jr. In addition, they announced they would field an entry for Winston cup Champion Tony Stewart at the Michigan International Speedway.

2002 Series Champion Greg Biffle returned to the Busch ranks for the first time since claiming his championship. Driving the number Nine Roush entry, Biffle never seemed to get the handle on car, starting twelfth, and finishing eleventh Biffle, who ran in the top ten, spun late in the race, bringing out the final caution that put the race under yellow for the last three laps

Dave Blaney finished twelfth in his Wheelen sponsored ride. The event marked the first time the team fielded a Ford entry, and appeared to be heading for the front when Blaney scraped the wall half way through the event.

“I hit the wall pretty good," Blaney said. "It was plowing after that. Up until then we were going pretty good." Coy Gibbs has taken a commanding lead in the Raybestos Rookie Of The Year competition. Gibbs, who crashed earlier in the week testing at Dover had been swapping the lead in the contest with Braun driver Chad Blount, has been handed the lead as Blount was released from his ride prior to the event at Nazareth.

“We're not really racing yet. We're just kind of staying alive and staying out of the fence. I'll be excited when we start racing." Noted Gibbs who remains the only full time rookie in the series.