July 29, 2004

The team of Bobby Hamilton Jr. and crew chief Harold Holly are moving up to the Cup Series for 2005. Bobby will drive the #32 Tide ride, which was announced last week that Ricky Craven was leaving.

International Speedway Corp. has agreed to buy a chunk of land on Staten Island to eventually bring NASCAR racing to New York City. Word is it'll be an 80,000 seat, 3/4 mile track and could be ready for the 2009 season.

Johnny Benson will drive the #23 Toyota in this weekends Truck race at Michigan. Johnny doesn't have a full time ride after losing the #1 Busch car.

ON TV

NEXTEL CUP QUALIFYING @ 3 p.m. Friday on TNT

BUSCH SERIES QUALIFYING @ 5 p.m. Friday on Speed

CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES RACING (MICHIGAN) @ 1 p.m. Saturday on Speed

NEXTEL CUP HAPPY HOUR @ 2:30 p.m. Saturday on TNT

BUSCH SERIES RACING (COLORADO) @ 3:30 p.m. Saturday on TNT

NEXTEL CUP RACING (POCONO) @ 1 p.m. Sunday on TNT

All times are eastern

July 28, 2004

I'm sure you've seen drivers in victory lane knocking all the bottles off of their cars during the celebration. That's normally because it's a conflict with one of their own sponsors...like Poweraid and Gatoraid. Well NASCAR president Mike Helton has asked all the drivers to stop doing this, but did not go as far as saying if their will be fines given.

J.J. Yeley, part time driver for Joe Gibbs Racing will make his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Michigan this weekend. He'll be driving the #47 Acxiom Silverado.

POINT STANDINGS | BUSCH SERIES

5 David Green
4 Jason Lefler
3 Ron Hornaday
2 Kyle Busch
1 Martin Truex Jr. leads by 94 points

POINT STANDINGS | TRUCK SERIES

5 Chad Chaffin
4 Matt Crafton
3 Carl Edwards
2 Bobby Hamilton
1 Dennis Setzer is on top by 64

July 27, 2004

Since Martin Truex Jr. will be at Pikes Peak for the Busch Series race this weekend, John Andretti will be on stand-by to drive the 8 car for Dale Jr. at Pocono if needed. It's still to early to tell if Jr will be healed enough to handle the duties himself.

Mike Beam will take over as crew chief of the #32 Tide ride starting this weekend. Beam was Ricky Craven's crew chief during 2001 and 02 and scored a win, and three polls.

POINT STANDINGS | CUP SERIES

10 Ryan Newman
9 Kevin Harvick
8 Elliott Sadler
7 Bobby Labonte
6 Kurt Busch up 3 spots with his win
5 Matt Kenseth
4 Tony Stewart
3 Jeff Gordon
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
1 Jimmie Johnson leads by 165

On the outside looking in:
Jeremy Mayfield is 11th, 106 points out
Dale Jarrett is 12th, 127 points out
Jamie McMurray is 13th, 134 points out

July 26, 2004

© CIA Stock Photo, Inc.

RACE RECAP | NEW HAMPSHIRE

10 Jeremy Mayfield
9 Dale Jarrett
8 Kasey Kahne
7 Jamie McMurray
6 Michael Waltrip
5 Tony Stewart
4 Matt Kenseth
3 Ryan Newman led the most laps at 187
2 Jeff Gordon 4th straight top 5

VICTORY LANE
1 Kurt Busch takes his second win of 2004, and jumps from 9th to 6th in points

OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY

-Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran the first 61 laps in the Budweiser Chevrolet, Martin Truex Jr. finished up the race and ended up 31st. after Ken Schrader tapped the car.

-There were 12 cautions, including several hard wrecks from Greg Biffle, and Ricky Rudd

-Elliott Sadler was able to hang on to a 15th place after damaging his M&M's Ford in the first caution

-Late in the race while running in the top 10, Dale Jarrett bumped the 2 of Rusty Wallace, sending Rusty into the wall, and Jarrett to a 9th place finish.

-Points leader Jimmie Johnson finished 11th, but still extended his lead to 165 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr.

BUSCH SERIES

-Matt Kenseth picks up his second series win this year, leading 50 of 200 laps

Updated: Sunday, October 31, 2004 | 9:43 AM Pacific