Bashas' 200 - Same Day Coverage
Phoenix, Az.
by Stan Creekmore and Bobby Bennett, Jr.

FRIDAY RACE - HARVICK TURNS A TWOFER

(4-21-2006) - Kevin Harvick picked up his19th career NASCAR Busch Series victory with a win in the Bashas' Supermarket 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. It was Harvick’s second straight victory of 2006 and his eighth top 10 finish in nine starts for the year. This team also won the Atlanta race earlier this season with Jeff Burton behind the wheel.

The race was slowed by ten caution periods with Denny Hamlin, who came into the event second in points, getting caught up in a late race incident dropping him to third in points. The big story of the race was the run by pole sitter Jason Leffler. The Busch Series regular led 78 laps, the most of any NASCAR Busch Series driver this season. He was in contention for the lead throughout the race, consistently running in the top five, until a tap by Clint Bowyer on lap 189 sent Leffler spinning into the Turn 3 wall. Leffler came back to finish 16th in his crumpled mount. Bowyer originally was to be held on pit road for one lap due to rough driving but the penalty was amended sending Bowyer to the rear of the field instead.

The final caution flew on lap 197 when Bowyer clipped the damaged car of David Gilliland going into Turn 1 sending both cars into the wall. This set up a green-white-checker shootout for the win between Harvick and runner-up Reed Sorenson. Despite his good jump on the restart, Sorenson was not able to beat Harvick to the checkered flag. Carl Edwards came home third with Kurt Busch and Mark Martin rounding out the top five.

Kevin Harvick maintains the point lead by a margin of 289 markers over Clint Bowyer. Denny Hamlin drops to third with J.J. Yeley in fourth and Carl Edwards 341 points out of the top spot for fifth. David Green was the top finishing NASCAR Busch Series regular coming home in ninth spot.

The NASCAR Busch Series takes on the ultra-fast Talladega Superspeedway next Saturday April 29 for the Aaron’s 312.

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK -

It's a Lemon - Todd Kluever, tagged as the eventual replacement for Mark Martin, has had enough of the current chassis the team is running saying,

"We've struggled with that car everywhere it's been. That's the same car that ran terrible at Las Vegas, same car that tested terrible at Richmond. We finished 12th with it a California but we were not very good there either. The car has been a handful everywhere we've ever taken it.

"We can never make it work. It doesn't react to anything."

Kluever was an innocent victim midway through the Busch Series race and parked his No. 06 3M Ford.

THURSDAY NOTEBOOK - Local Yokels, The Soft-Talking Menard and Pink Slips

(4-20-2006) - Rookie News - Burney Lamar was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the April 15 Pepsi 300 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.  Lamar finished seventh, scoring his third top 10 of the 2006 season.  He took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the third time this season.

Lamar leads Todd Kluever by 16 points (89-73) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the April 21 Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Lamar climbed five spots in the NASCAR Busch Series championship standings with his performance at Nashville.  He is 10th in points, four behind ninth-place Kyle Busch and 25 ahead of 11th-place Jason Leffler.

Speak up a bit, fella – At times, one almost has to strain to hear Paul Menard (No. 11 Menard’s Chevrolet) speak. He has a quiet, reserved demeanor and prefers to stay away from the limelight.
That combination is a camouflage for a driver who is quickly climbing in the NASCAR Busch Series points standings.

Thirty-eighth in points following Daytona, Menard comes to Phoenix for Friday’s night race ranked sixth, his highest standing of the year.

“We really only started out 38th because we had an unlucky episode at Daytona,” he said. “The car was capable of winning and we just got caught up. But unlike last year at the beginning, we’ve made the best of some not-so-good races. Finishing in the top 20 in those was really a sign of our experience. A year ago maybe, I didn’t know the car wasn’t capable of a top 10 and would over-drive it.

“Right now, I think we’re back to hitting our stride and coming to the track confident that we belong in the top five and maybe have to settle some days for a top 10. Hopefully, there are a few where we’re the best, too, and win.”
That consistency is showing as Menard has posted three top 10s in his last four races. “Confidence is really king,” he said. “[Crew chief] Dan [Stillman] and I work really well together with this team where we expect to be up front and make the changes to get us there.”

In addition to besting his points standing after every race this year, the 25-year-old from Eau Claire, Wis., has also improved his finishes each year in all but one NASCAR Busch Series race at the one-mile track in the desert.

“Phoenix is one of my favorite tracks,” he said. “It’s a lot like the tracks I grew up racing on in the Midwest in that it’s shorter and pretty flat. Those places to me are fun because it really puts a lot of the racer into the equation.
“Winning here back in the (NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest) Series [in 2002] was a big day for me and my career, so I definitely look forward to coming to Phoenix.”

Despite his hope to be more incognito, Menard, runner-up for the NASCAR Busch Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year award in 2004 and a top-10 finisher (sixth) in the final points standings last year, is a rising star in a series packed with gifted drivers. “The NASCAR Busch Series is tough, no doubt about it,” he said. “We’ve got the added competition of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series drivers racing us most weekends, but I like that.
Certainly, if you win here in the NASCAR Busch Series, you’ve earned it and beat some great drivers and teams.”

Local Yokels - J.J. Yeley (No. 18 Vigoro/Home Depot Chevrolet), one of seven drivers attempting to compete fulltime in the NASCAR Busch Series and in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, returns home to Phoenix for this weekend’s races. Yeley has finished 10th in his last two NASCAR Busch Series races at Phoenix, and last November, was introduced at his home track as the driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup competition for Joe Gibbs Racing. Yeley is fourth in the NASCAR Busch Series points, and has finished in the top 10 in six of his first eight series races. At least three other NASCAR Busch Series team members will join Yeley for a Phoenix homecoming.

Pierre Kuettel, the first-year crew chief for Carl Edwards (No. 60 Henkel Ford), is a Phoenix native as is Gannon Pritchard, the jack man for Raybestos Rookie Mark McFarland (No. 88 U.S. NAVY Chevrolet).

Todd Drakulich, the tire specialist for points leader Kevin Harvick’s No. 21 U.S. Coast Guard Chevrolet, is from nearby Tucson.

In the Navy - Mark McFarland and his JR Motorsports teammate Shane Huffman, driver of the No. 88 Champion Chevrolet in the USAR Pro Cup Series, ventured to the west coast a few days ahead of schedule to visit naval installations in California before traveling to Phoenix. On Tuesday, the drivers visited Naval Base Ventura County – Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme to learn more about the Naval Construction Force referred to as the “Seabees.” Wednesday, McFarland and Huffman are scheduled to appear at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado, Calif., to experience what it takes to become an elite member of the Navy SEALs Team.

Pink Slips - Phoenix Racing owner James Finch announced a driver change in the No.1 Miccosukee Resort Dodge effective at Phoenix. Mike Wallace will take over driving duties from Jason Keller on an interim basis as the team evaluates its program. "We have the utmost respect for Jason and his accomplishments in the sport and wish him the very best," said Finch. Keller, a 13-year veteran, was scheduled to make his 400th career NASCAR Busch Series start this weekend. Currently second on the all-time starts list, Keller was on pace to break the mark of 417 held by Tommy Houston. The only driver to surpass $9 and $10 million in series career winnings was 12th in the series points standings following last Saturday’s 16th-place finish at Nashville.

Additionally, Chris Wimmer and Keith Coleman Racing have parted ways effective immediately. “I wish things would have worked out differently,”

Wimmer said. “Sometimes, a fresh start is what both the driver and the team need.” Wimmer, a Raybestos Rookie, drove the No. 23 KCR Chevrolet; no replacement had been announced as of Tuesday.

By the Numbers - Greg Biffle (No. 16 Ameriquest Ford) is the only multiple race winner at Phoenix; Jamie McMurray (No. 64 Top Flite Golf Co. Dodge) and Carl Edwards have one win each. … There have been eight different Busch Pole winners at Phoenix; six of those drivers – Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Jason Leffler (No. 32 Ft. McDowell Resort Destination Chevrolet), Ken Schrader (No. 66 Yard-Man Ford), Kyle Busch (No. 5 Lowe’s-Hitachi Chevrolet) and Edwards are entered this week. Edwards is the only driver to have won from the pole having accomplished the feat last November. … Biffle has finished in the top 10 in each of his six series races at Phoenix.
200 is the Charm - Ashton Lewis Jr. (No. 25 U.S. Marine Corps Ford) is scheduled to make his 200th NASCAR Busch Series start at Phoenix. Likewise, Johnny Sauter (No. 00 Yellow Transportation Chevrolet) is on track to make his 150th career start, while McMurray is eyeing career series start No. 125.

Pole Vaulting - Denny Hamlin became the first driver to win two Busch Poles this season when he captured his second straight at Nashville last Saturday. There have been eight different winners in the first eight races this year, 10 different winners dating back to last November’s race at Phoenix. The series record is 13 consecutive different winners, which occurred at the start of the 1988 season.

Time Flies – Carl Edwards ran in his first pavement race just five years ago in the 2001 Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway.
Racing for a good cause - April is National Autism Awareness month, and Jamie McMurray will run a special logo on his car at Phoenix. A neurological disorder that effects social interaction, communication and the sensory system, Autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability in the U.S. “As most know, this cause hits home for me as my niece is autistic,” he said. “Anything I can do to help raise awareness is directly helping my family out. Having the Autism Awareness Month logo on my car is just a tiny way that I can help raise awareness to a cause that is extremely important to me.”

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