NASCAR BCS (DAYTONA) - SERIES NOTES
 |
You’re 21 years old, you grew up only seven miles from Indianapolis, and you’re a rookie in the NASCAR Busch Series.
You’re coming off your best start of the season and your team is just beginning to gel at the mid-way point. You have a new sponsor on board and renewed enthusiasm as you progress toward 2008.
Oh yeah, and with all this momentum, your next race just happens to be in your backyard at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
No pressure.
But if you’re Kyle Krisiloff (No. 14 Lilly-Walgreens Ford), you really don’t feel any type of squeeze. Instead, you’re excited to be back home in front of family and friends. And you hope your performance at ORP is one of your best yet.
“It’s a good time to be going home,” Krisiloff said. “We had our best start of the season (18th) at Gateway. Our car is getting better. We have big things going on with our team in the next couple of months.”
Krisiloff is in his first full season in the series. He competed in his first three races in 2005 as a development driver for Hendrick Motorsports before running in 12 races for Billy Ballew in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2006.
He came on board with Haas-Carter Motorsports just before the NASCAR Busch Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway this year and has had a solid overall season to date despite the late start.
His best finish was a surprising fifth at Talladega Superspeedway last April and he’s currently fourth in the Raybestos Rookie standings.
“There are only two tracks in Indianapolis,” Krisiloff said of ORP and the Brickyard. “Every time I go back I think of what it will be like to [eventually] run at the big track. It’s always been a goal of mine. This is an exciting time.”
Battle Beginning To Take Shape For Series Owner Championship
Carl Edwards (No. 60 Dish-Weather Channel Ford) has a tight grip on the NASCAR Busch Series driver standings lead, but it’s the battle for the owner championship that’s beginning to get a bit tighter.
Edwards has been able to maintain leads in both categories for owner Jack Roush and Roush Fenway Racing, but the pressure is mounting from the Richard Childress Racing duo of Scott Wimmer and Jeff Burton, who have shared time in the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet this season.
The second-place Wimmer-Burton team has moved to within 186 points of the No. 60 heading to ORP where Chevrolet has been dominant, having won 15 of the previous 25 races at the track including the last four in a row.
Different driver and owner champions have been crowned in the series only once before, in 2003 when Brian Vickers (Hendrick Motorsports) won the driver title and RCR won the owner championship with another duo of drivers – Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter.
“I work with Carl but for Jack,” said Edwards’ crew chief Pierre Kuettel. “At the end of the day, my job is to compete for both titles.”
In The Loop: Two-Time Winner Keller Surprisingly Strong In Recent Races At ORP, But “Biff”Lurks
With his start on Saturday night, Jason Keller (No. 27 Huggies Ford) will have made 14 starts at O’Reilly Raceway Park – one less than ORP record-holder Tommy Houston.
The track has treated Keller well over the past 13 years. He has won there twice, in 1995 and 1999. In the 1999 victory, he won from the pole, leading 130 of the 200 laps.
The success has continued for Keller in recent years. Since 2000, the first driver in series history to win $9, $10 and $11 million has finished in the top five in five of the last seven races at the .686-mile track, which include runner-up finishes in 2002 and 2003.
Over the last two years, the 37-year-old native of Greenville, S.C., racked up some of the best stats on the NASCAR Busch Series at ORP.
In the previous two ORP races, Keller had an average pre-race Driver Rating of 102.3, which is the second-best mark of any driver competing Saturday. Additionally, Keller has an Average Running Position of 9.0, 19 Fastest Laps Run and 338 Laps in the Top 15.
In two races at ORP, J.J. Yeley (No. 1 Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet) has excelled. He finished third last season and 13th in 2005. In the last ORP race, Yeley had a Driver Rating of 116.2 and an Average Running Position of 5.6.
Through the last two races at the track, Yeley has an Average Running Position of 10.5, a Driver Rating of 100.1, 13 Fastest Laps Run, 314 Laps in the Top 15 and 37 Quality Passes – passes of cars in the top 15 under green – which is more than any other driver over the past two ORP races.
But 2002 series champion Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford) might be the driver to beat. Thanks to a fourth-place finish last season, Biffle holds some of the best stats of any driver racing Saturday night. He has the top Driver Rating (110.5), the best Average Running Position (7.2), and ran all but five of his laps in the top 15 (195 total). He has never finished outside the top five in each of his four previous races there.
NBS ETC.
* Edwards OK For ORP: Despite dislocating his right thumb as a result of an accident during a Late Model race last Sunday at the I-80 Speedway dirt track in Greenwood, Neb., series standings leader Carl Edwards will be ready to participate in Saturday’s Kroger 200 at ORP according to Roush Fenway Racing officials. After an overnight stay in a West Omaha hospital on July 22, Edwards was released and consulted a physician in his hometown of Columbia, Mo., who confirmed the original diagnosis. Edwards had been participating in the race at I-80 on “Carl Edwards Night,” where he was running against his younger brother, Kenny, among others. Edwards finished sixth the night before at Gateway International Raceway in NASCAR Busch Series competition. * McCaskill Debuts For Evernham: Deac McCaskill, the reigning Late Model Stock Division champion at Southern National Raceway Park in Lucama, N.C., is scheduled to make his NASCAR Busch Series debut for Evernham Motorsports at ORP in the No. 9 Puryear Tanklines Dodge. McCaskill, a 29-year-old native of Raleigh, N.C., has won two track tiles over the last three years in Late Models and finished fifth in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series in 2006. * Shepherd Returns To ORP: With the influx of new names into the NASCAR Busch Series, it’s easy to overlook some of the mainstays of the series, like Morgan Shepherd (No. 89 Victory in Jesus Racing Dodge). Shepherd, 65, has 15 wins in series competition with three of those coming at ORP where he is the all-time leader in victories. * Leffler Back To Roots: Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota) is not only the hottest driver in the NASCAR Busch Series over the last six races (775 points, two top-fives, three top-10s) and comes in on a four-race streak where he’s been no lower than sixth in the point standings, but he’s had great results at ORP. Leffler made his first career series start at the track in 1999, won his second career Busch Pole there (2000) and has two top-five finishes in his four races. Add to that he’s won seven times at the track from 1998-2003 in USAC Silver Crown and National Midget competition. * Bires Has Found ORP Victory Lane, Too: Rookie Kelly Bires (No. 47 Clorox/American Red Cross Ford) hasn’t had the opportunity to gain much experience on NASCAR Busch Series tracks, but similar to Jason Leffler’s experiences, ORP is an exception. Bires won the 2006 American Speed Association (ASA) Late Model race at the track en route to the series national championship and has gained most of his experience to date on short tracks around the Midwest. * Keselowski Connection: There will be a family reunion at ORP this weekend when the Keselowski brothers – Brad (No. 88 U.S. NAVY Chevrolet) and Brian (No. 19 Dodge) – will run against each other in NASCAR Busch Series competition for the first time. Brad will drive for his father, Bob Keselowski, a long-time owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Brian has one NASCAR Busch Series start to his credit, last November at Phoenix International Raceway where he subbed for Brad in order to maintain his brother’s Raybestos Rookie status for the 2007 season. * ORP ETC: Reigning series champion and last year’s race winner Kevin Harvick is the only repeat winner in the last 10 at races ORP – in 2001 and 2006, which were his last two appearances at the track. … The winner of five of the last six events at ORP has gone on to win the NASCAR Busch Series championship while the winner of the other race, Kyle Busch (2004), went on to capture the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award that season. … The Kroger 200 is the only race on the NASCAR Busch Series schedule that has had the same sponsor for each of the series’ 26 seasons.
The Director’s Take: ORP
INSIGHT FROM JOE BALASH, NASCAR BUSCH SERIES DIRECTOR
“ORP is going to race a lot like The Milwaukee Mile. Teams will be using their flat-track setups with softer springs and will really be working hard on their coil bind setups, too.
ORP also has the potential to be a fuel strategy race.
A unique aspect of our series at this track is that we base pit selection for the top 30 cars on qualifying from last week’s race at Gateway because of the tight time frames we’re under there. The balance of cars will pick pits after qualifying at ORP.”
News From The NAPA Auto Parts 200
Road Course Specialists Lining Up For Montreal: Although a road-course “ringer” has yet to break through for a victory in the previous three international races the NASCAR Busch Series has held from 2005-07 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, many of those specialists are entered for the Aug. 4 inaugural race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to try their hand once again.
Patrick Carpentier (No. 22 Fitz Motorsports Dodge), Ron Fellows (No. 33 KHI Chevrolet), Robby Gordon (No. 55 Robby Gordon Motorsports Ford), Max Papis (No. 1 Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet), Scott Pruett (No. 41 CGRFS Dodge) and Boris Said (No. 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge) headline the road-racing group which has had some recent additions.
Michel Jourdain Jr. and Jorge Goeters, who like Fellows and Said, have participated in each of the three races in Mexico City, are entered for Roush Fenway Racing in the No. 17 Ford and Brewco Motorsports in the No. 27 Ford, respectively. Marc Goossens is scheduled to drive the No. 91 Toyota for Riley-D’Hondt Motorsports.
Additionally, Andy Pilgrim will drive the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet; Andy Lally has been announced as the driver of the No. 47 Wood Bros./JTG Racing Ford; Nic Johnssen is entered in the No. 28 Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet and Canadian Michael Viliante has been named to drive the second CGRFS entry (No. 42 Dodge).
2007 NASCAR BUSCH SERIES RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS
Driver Points 1. David Ragan 194 2. Marcos Ambrose 171 3. Juan Pablo Montoya 162 4. Kyle Krisiloff 152 5. Brad Keselowski 106 6. Brad Coleman 95 7. Robert Richardson Jr. 76 8. Justin Diercks 51
ESPN/ABC
ESPN2 will feature NASCAR Busch Series racing live in prime time on Saturday night. The telecast presented by Hormel Compleats begins with NASCAR Countdown at 7:30 p.m. ET; the race starts at 8 p.m.
ORP holds a place in NASCAR history as the location for the first NASCAR-sanctioned race ever to be held in Indianapolis when the NASCAR Busch Series raced at the track in the series’ inaugural season of 1982. Since then, the race has always been a season highlight for the series, taking on even more importance when the NASCAR Cup Series began racing at nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994.
ESPN’s Marty Reid will anchor coverage from ORP, joined in the booth for expert analysis by two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion Randy LaJoie. Pit reporters will be Jack Arute, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch. Reid will also host NASCAR Countdown.
In addition to coverage of the race, ESPN2 also will televise NASCAR Busch Series practice from ORP at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and qualifying at 4:30 p.m.
2007 At-A-Glance: NASCAR Busch Series Leaders After 21 Of 35 Races:
Traditional Statistics: Driver points – Edwards (3229) Victories – Edwards (4) Races led – Edwards (16) Laps led – Edwards (681) Top-five finishes – Edwards (12) Top-10 finishes – Edwards (16) Owner points – Roush (No. 60) - (3229) Money Won – Edwards ($839,985) Miles led – Ky. Busch (1015.53) Busch Poles – Hamlin (4) Closing in on Top 10 – Ambrose10th (2048 pts): Bowyer (-50) Consecutive Weeks in Top 10 – Blaney, Edwards, Harvick (21)
Loop Data Statistics: Driver Rating – Edwards (115.2) Average Running Position – Edwards (7.0) Fastest Laps Run – Edwards (444 fastest laps) Quality Passes – Edwards (794) Laps In Top 15 – Edwards (3,580 of a possible 3,966)
Dodge Gains Third-Place Breathing Room; Chevrolet Is The One To Beat At ORP
Reed Sorenson’s win at Gateway International Raceway last Saturday was a run of lucky sevens for Dodge in this year’s Bill France Performance Cup standings.
The victory was the first for the manufacturer in seven races – and third overall on the season. The win increased third-place Dodge’s lead over fourth-place Toyota by seven points, its biggest margin since a seven-point advantage following Milwaukee four races ago.
Dodge, Toyota and second-place Ford have their work cut out for them at ORP of Saturday. First-place Chevrolet has won 15 of the previous 25 races at the track, 14 of the last 15 and the last four in a row, including last year’s victory by reigning series champion Kevin Harvick.
Ford’s win in 2002 by Greg Biffle is the only dent in Chevy’s recent run of success.
Manufacturers' Championship 2007 Point Standings
Chevy 157 Ford 131 Dodge 91 Toyota 83
Up Next: NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge At Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
The NASCAR Busch Series competes on its second road course of the season at its second international venue of the year next Saturday afternoon with the inaugural NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge at the famous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. ESPN2 will carry the race live beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET.
The race will be the first for the NASCAR Busch Series in Canada. Two-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Terry Labonte turned NASCAR’s first laps at the 2.709-mile road course this past June 12.
The event will be a mix of NASCAR Busch Series regulars, double-duty drivers like Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle, road course specialists such as Robby Gordon, Boris Said and Marc Goosens and Canadian entries including Patrick Carpentier and Ron Fellows.
The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will also race at the track prior to the NAPA 200
FAST FACTS
The Race: Kroger 200 benefiting Riley Hospital for Children The Place: O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis The Date: July 28, 20071 The Time: 8:00 p.m. (ET) TV: ESPN2, 7:30 p.m. (ET) Track Layout: .686-mile oval Race Purse: $1,027,504 2006 Winner: Kevin Harvick 2006 Pole: Denny Hamlin
2007 Point Standings
No. Driver Points 1 Edwards 3229 2 Reutimann 2377 3 Harvick 2358 4 Ragan 2271 5 Leffler 2257 6 Blaney 2252 7 Hamilton Jr. 2183 8 Leicht 2094 9 M Wallace 2055 10 Ambrose 2048
Schedule: Sat.: 9 – 10:10 a.m. – Practice; 10:20-10:50 a.m. – Rookie Practice; 11:00 a.m. – Noon – Final Practice; 4:35 p.m. –Qualifying (Impound).