DARLINGTON, S.C. -- The old became new again in Darlington for Jason Keller. Reuniting with some of his former ppc Racing crew members, Keller and the newly revamped CJM Racing team scored two minor victories over the weekend in their Busch Series debut. The first was to make the 200-mile event. One team would miss the field and with no points, attempts, or any other means to rely on other than speed, Keller’s No. 11 Chevrolet had to get into the field on time. And it did.
After starting 35th Keller worked his way through the field and at one point flirted with the top 10 running as high as 12th. Less than 10 laps from the finish Keller was 13th but lost the spot to David Ragan in the closing laps. Still, a 14th isn’t too shabby for a team – that just weeks ago wasn’t even planning on debuting for another three weeks.
Already established in the series, Keller transitioned to ppc Racing in 1998 and there he stayed until 2004. During their time together the team finished runner-up in the Championship twice.
Carl Edwards raced to his second consecutive NASCAR Busch Series victory, easily winning the Pepsi 300 in chilly conditions Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway to extend his lead in the season standings. The Nextel Cup driver led the final 25 laps and crossed the finish line 4.7 seconds ahead of David Reutimann. Dave Blaney, who was involved in an early fracas, rallied to finish third. Jason Leffler was fourth, followed by Regan Smith.
More interesting to this writer was the fact that we finally got to look at a true Busch Series Race. Yes there were a few Cup drivers and Edwards won. But Edwards is running the full season so I am down with that.
And Cup regulars won second and third place today. But Reutimann and Blaney are by no means NASCAR giants. Don't get me wrong, that's not smack. I like both guys.
Then there was Leffler and Smith, true Busch guys in fourth and fifth. Yes Smith is driving Cup for Ginn Racing when Mark Martin is practicing retirement. But that is by no means full time Cup. And I have no problem with that. Word is Leffler will attempt a few Cup races with members of the old ppc racing team too. Good for them. They know they aren't likely to win, they are doing it for the fun of it.
And look at the standings. We have pure Busch racers in spots 6 through 10.
Sixth is Marcos Ambrose Jr. He is a little wary of his Busch skills but was glad to have his family join up with him this week for most of the remainder of the season.
Bobby Hamilton Jr. promised to move to the top of the "Busch" guys and he did that today. Only Ambrose is ahead of him by Hamilton's definition of "Busch." Hamilton is seventh in the points.
Shane Huffman, he of USAR Hooters Pro Cup fame and a true up and comer, just wait and see, is up to eighth
Mike Wallace holds onto ninth after a rougher day today in the Geico gecko car. Yes Mike runs some Cup races but he doesn't kid himself about being a Cup racer these days. However, I do think that cousin Warren of his is scaring him.
And Stephen Leicht had a good run today and moves up to 10th.
Cheers! For Busch drivers. Head for the Mountains!
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After starting 35th Keller worked his way through the field and at one point flirted with the top 10 running as high as 12th. Less than 10 laps from the finish Keller was 13th but lost the spot to David Ragan in the closing laps. Still, a 14th isn’t too shabby for a team – that just weeks ago wasn’t even planning on debuting for another three weeks.
