March 4, 2004

Vegas hometown driver Kyle Busch will attempt to make his Nextel Cup debut this weekend in the #84 Carquest Monte Carlo. Kyle tried to make his debut last fall, but his car was impounded by NASCAR for a rules violation.

Bill Elliott fans this is one of the few times this year to cheer on your favorite driver. Bill will be driving the #91 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports. It's still unclear how many races Awesome Bill will run this year.

TESTING | ATLANTA

Topping the speed chart this week was Scott Riggs and his #10 Valvoline ride, followed by Kasey Kahne and the 99 of Jeff Burton. Atlanta is up next after this weekend.

ON TV

BUSCH SERIES QUALIFYING @ 4:30 p.m. Friday on Speed

NEXTEL CUP QUALIFYING @ 6 p.m. Friday on Speed

BUSCH SERIES RACING @ 3:30 p.m. Saturday on FX

NEXTEL CUP RACING @ 2:30 p.m. Sunday on Fox

All times Eastern

March 3, 2004

NASCAR has suspended Busch part-timer Kevin Grubb indefinitely for violating the substance abuse policy. He was slated to run a partial schedule of about 10 races for Team Rensi Racing, but now Kevin cannot race until he is reinstated by NASCAR.

Television ratings in Los Angeles have skyrocketed 86% for the first two races of the year compared with last year. According to California Speedway, this is the biggest growth of any city in the US.

Jason Keller's start this weekend in the Busch race will move him up one spot in all time starts. He'll jump over Dale Jarrett into 3rd place, running in his 325th start. Be sure to lookout for Jason's new number and ride, it's the #22 Miller High Life Ford.

Let's recap the points going into the Las Vegas Weekend.

CUP SERIES

5 Jeff Gordon
4 Scott Wimmer
3 Kevin Harvick
2 Matt Kenseth
1 Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads by 7 points

BUSCH SERIES

5 Ron Hornaday
4 Robby Gordon
3 David Green
2 Johnny Sauter
1 Kevin Harvick

March 2, 2004

There won't be a shortage of cars at Las Vegas this weekend like was feared at Rockingham. There are at least 48 entries looking to fill 43 spots.

Elliott Sadler's car will feature the black and white paint scheme for the last time this weekend. Expect to see an all new colorful M&M's #38 for the Atlanta Race.

Stay up late on Wednesday to watch Jeff Gordon on CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" which follows David Letterman. Or just tape it if it's too late.

Up next for the SAFER walls is California Speedway, and they expect to be finished by their May 2nd weekend.

March 1, 2004

The Pacific Northwest is one step closer to getting a NASCAR track. Washington State lawmakers want to bring a 80,000 seat track which would be a win-win for everyone involved if you consider the money. A track would bring an estimated 227 million in construction contracts, plus another 221 million in just the first year alone. Word is it will be another 1 and half miler.

The new tires and aero rules package will come into play for the first time this weekend in Las Vegas. After one of their tests in Vegas, Tony Stewart said "It moved around a little more.  But you knew that with less downforce the car wasn't going to be stuck to the race track like it typically had been.  It wasn't a surprise.  We knew there were going to be some adjustments we'd have to make."

Chevrolet has donated $242,400 to the Jeff Gordon Foundation and the Hendrick Marrow Program after the success of the Chevy Monte Carlo Jeff Gordon edition which was a sell out.

Tickets for the race at Chicagoland Speedway have gone on sale, and they are expecting another sell-out. They are featuring a package called "Track Packs" which include 5 races for the price. For more information 815-727-7223 or online at chicagolandspeedway.com

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