Stand-alone excitement resumes SSaturday night
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 6, 2006) -- The month of June signals the halfway
portion of the NASCAR Busch Series season. It also marks the start of the
series' stand-alone schedule when the next three races -- beginning Saturday
at Nashville Superspeedway -- can change the standings in a hurry.
 
Last June, Carl Edwards (No. 60 Ameriquest Ford) came to Nashville as the
NASCAR Busch Series leader. But heavy rain forced a one-day postponement of
the race, forcing Edwards to leave the Music City and head back to Pocono
Raceway for his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series duties.
 
Edwards lost both the opportunity to compete and the points lead to Reed
Sorenson (No. 41 Discount Tire Co. Dodge), who also won the race. He tumbled
to fourth in the rankings and never recovered. He did win at Pocono, and
dedicated the victory to his NASCAR Busch Series crew, vowing to return to
the series full-time to challenge for the title he felt he lost that day.
 
Edwards and Sorenson are among seven drivers attempting to run a full season
in both the NASCAR Busch Series and in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Until this weekend,
the previous two stand-alone events at Mexico City and the first race at
Nashville in April were staged during NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series off-weekends.
 
Kevin Harvick (No. 21 U.S. Coast Guard Chevrolet), the series leader by 297
points over second-place Edwards, also is among those pulling double duty.
 
"The thing I look at is that the next five guys behind me are in the same
boat I am," Harvick said. "If it's weather, it's going to be for everyone.
It's nice to have a big lead. You can lose it in a hurry."
 
"I really have no worries as far as weather is concerned," said
Chad Walter,
crew chief for Kyle Busch (No. 5 Lowe's Chevrolet), who stands fifth in the
points and also is attempting a full season in both series. "There's nothing
I can do about that. It's out of my control. I mean, I hope it's not an
issue, but if it becomes one, I can't get worried about it.
 
"Going into these three weeks I'm not too worried overall. Kyle has won at
Nashville. He dominated at Kentucky. He's had quite a bit of seat time at
Milwaukee, too. So, at least we're not going into anything blindly. I know
the driver is going to be ready when he gets there. As a team, we have to
make sure the car is adjustable to his needs come race time."
 
Harvick experiencing first "slide" of season ... Leader Kevin
Harvick (2,221)
returns to Nashville as the winner of the April race. Although hardly in a
slump, Harvick is in the midst of his "worst" outings of the year, having
finished 13th at Dover International Speedway last Saturday while Edwards'
finished second. Harvick finished eighth at Charlotte as Edwards won his
first race of the year. Harvick's result at Dover International Speedway was
his lowest finish of the year; his previous low finish was 11th at Atlanta.
Nashville might be the perfect spot for a rebound. In his two races at the
1.33-mile track, Harvick has a win and a seventh-place finish. Since
finishing 43rd at Texas, Edwards has one win, four top fives and seven top
10s in his last seven races.
 
##MMR 2.61(beta).  (copied MP MMR 2.61(beta), was  6-08-06 (0xae)AS:E01/027
NASCAR - All Levels(0xaf)) 


--- GTMail 1.26