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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL mm Point Standings * Green Flag News and Notes No crew chief change coming for Edwards Wally Brown will remain as Carl Edwards’ crew chief, the driver acknowl edged Tuesday. Brown inherited Edwards’ No. 99 team earlier this season when team owner Jack Roush moved crew chief Bob Osbourne from Edwards’ car to that of struggling first-year Roush driver Jamie McMurray. Roush said he would revisit the move after a “90-day trial.” The drivers, crew chiefs and owners met Tuesday morn ing and decided to leave the teams how they are. “The thinking of that is that either guy would be great, but right now, change for either of us may set us back farther than any long-term benefits to the change,” Edwards said. Osbourne guided Edwards to a third place finish in the Nextel Cup points standings in 2005, his first full season driving on NASCAR’s premier circuit McMurray’s rough start with Roush after three successful seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing prompted a change in April. McMurray’s crew chief, Jimmy Fennig, was moved to another role with in the Roush organization. Osbourne took over McMurray’s team while Brown, previously Roush’s head engi neer, inherited Edwards’ car. Both teams have improved since the switch. McMurray has five top-10 finish es under Osbourne and is 17th in the point standings while Edwards has two runner-up finishes and a sixth-place showing in the last five races. Report: Sadler leaving Yates for Evernham NASCAR’s so-called “silly season” is hitting its apex. Multiple sources told nascar.com that Elliott Sadler will take advantage of the escape clause in his contract with Robert Yates Racing and leave after this season. Sadler will join Evernham Motorsports and take over the No. 19 car currently driven by- malcontent Jeremy Mayfield, the NASCAR-owned Web site reported. Sadler denied having negotiated with Evernham when interviewed last week end at the New Hampshire International Speedway. He admitted to talking to other teams, however. Mayfield’s status for next season remains unclear, although Michael Waltrip has offered him a job with his start-up Toyota team that debuts in 2007. JUNIOR From page 1B event toward the statewide Challenge Match for partici pating and placing in the top five. AWARDS From paaeJß. She had a 5-1 record. His was 2-3. She made 54 ring ers out of a possible 224 thrown for a 24.11 ringer percentage. He connected for 40 - out of 204 horse shoes thrown - for a per- Football is coming and so is the Journal's preview tab. Don't miss it! /., •*, < v A) ' . [ I IJ wFT cupsinus A Busch Series: ID theft victim Circuit suffers with success of Cup-affiliated teams, drivers By Don Coble Morris News Service David Gilliland’s victory last month at the Kentucky Speedway is considered the biggest upset in Busch Series history. The significance of that victory, however, may be even greater than a win against more-expe rience drivers. Gilliland became the first Busch Series regular - even if he’s a part-time racer - to win on that circuit this year. More impor tant, he did it with a Busch Series budget The Nextel Cup continues to have a dominant influence in the series that was supposed to be a high-speed classroom for Nextel Cup wannabes. All but two races this year have been won by Nextel Cup regulars and all but one - Gilliland - has been won by Nextel Cup-backed teams. "Mentally, when you pull into the garage and park next to the big teams and the Cup teams, it just drains you,” Gilliland said. NASCAR is trying to make it more diffi cult for Nextel Cup drivers to take spots away from the Busch Series, limiting provi sional exemptions to one in every six races to anyone who works both sides of the garage area. Some Busch Series drivers think it needs to be tougher. “In Cup, the top 35 drivers are locked into the field and they have eight provision als,” Stacy Compton said. “In Busch, only the top 30 are locked in. It needs to be 35, too. We need to protect the Busch Series regulars. I have no problem racing against the Cup guys. I think they’re good for the sport They bring a lot of attention. But we need to protect the Busch Series.” The Nextel Cup moonlighters said they’re only taking advantage of the situa tion. It’s easy work and even easier money, especially since so many racing weekends, including this week at Daytona, include a Busch-Nextel Cup doubleheader. The Busch Series needs the Nextel Cup guys,” said Robby Gordon, who often does double-duty. “We help them sell tickets. I think it makes them better.” Chuck Bown, a former Busch Series champion, doesn’t like what’s become of a series he helped create. “You get those teams with three, four or five teams, they’re covering those spots in the top 10,” he said. “I don’t care who you The sections are Northwest, Northeast, West, Middle (which is where Fears and Erickson are listed), East, Southeast and Southwest. The Southwest Section won last year’s event by a single point over the centage of 19.61. Finally, Kennedy was the lone representative out of the E Class. And he did quite well, winning it with a 5-0 record. He scored 47 ringers out of 208 for a 22.60 ringer percentage. Gibbs and Clark were at it again the week follow ing, this time competing at the Mid Summer Fling in Driver Behind Jimmie Johnson Leader Matt Kenseth -68 Jeff Burton -311 Kyle Busch -334 Mark Martin -338 mLmm mm* m Wtjk MB" L ml Mm nm M i GM SB nil am fr&' f,’'? IP§§' vlpp A®! MMm AS MB JBBp®®» JSnjSHr JBp mV gam sSSPaSsfiB BjffT jßf JsBF JBB jjG/S jjaSS tsT* 1 njr f ijm ®® M, JBT jb |; mm'mm bl wba I m E I \tj M 1 ■ lb# jA iPlfc m iIB B SRJjWBHBBBg J BP flaa iglffinimsitfti- * "’■" i BE B PHOTO COURTESY OF NASCAR Unknown driver David Gilliland scored the biggest upset in Busch Series his tory last month at Kentucky Speedway. Gilliland is the only Busch Series race winner this year not affiliated with a Nextel Cup team, underscoring the series’ struggles to forge its own identity. put in those cars, you can put Busch drivers in those cars, and they’re going to be right up there in the front, I believe. It’s making the regular legitimate Busch teams not look so good. I kind of hate that. It’s hard for them to draw the sponsors because it’s hard for them to show the results. The Busch Series is popular. They’re filling the grand stands (with the Cup guys). They’re paying good purses. It’s a double-edged sword.” Tommy Houston, another former cham pion, said the threat of double-duty drivers has been around since the Busch Series was Southeast section. Abby Fitzgerald, playing out of the Girls 14-17 age division, and John Gordon, playing in the 12-13 age bracket, finished at the top of their divisions and each tallied six points for the Southwest Section. Alpharetta July 15. Both worked their magic in the A Class, magic because they finished first and sec ond overall, respectively. Gibbs netted a 5-1 record while Clark came in at 4-2. She threw 105 ringers out of 240 possible for a 43.75 percentage. He made 76 out of 240 for a 31.67 ringer per centage. SPORTS Wm NASCAR U Bt/SGH m Cotton States offers several special discounts that could money on your car insurance. Discounts for safe drivers. Anti-theft devices. Safety features like airbags and automatic seat belts. Plus, savings for multi-car coverage and driver training. All from a company that has been providing dependable coverage and friendly, no-hassle service since 1941. Visit your local Cotton States agent today and find out how we can help you save money on your car insurance without sacrificing your coverage. STmTrTI States INSURANCE* Our Most Important Policy Is Trust.® Driver Behind Kevin Harvick Leader Carl Edwards -308 Clint Bowyer -387 Denny Hamlin -425 J.J. Yeley -456 created 25 years ago. He learned a long time ago it’s an argument NASCAR won’t address. “Do you really think anything will ever become of getting the Cup drivers out of the Busch Series? I don’t. Personally because it puts those people in the grandstands. I fused about it from the start of the Busch Series, all the way to the end of my career,” he said. “They talk about it, but nothing’s hap pened. Nothing’s going to be done about. Why waste the energy?” ARE YOU PAYING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR CAR INSURANCE? Jackie Whitley 1217-1 S. Houston Lake Road Warner Robins, GA 31088 (478) 988-7960 www.cottonstatesinsurance.com Jackie.Whitley@cottonstates.com SATURDAY, JULY 22, 2006 Driver Behind Todd Bodine Leader David Reutimann -117 Johnny Benson -163 Rick Crawford -231 Ted Musgrave -248 fcRBFTSMRN j I RucKseniEsm This Week’s Race WHERE: Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. WHEN: 2 p.m., Sunday TRACK DIMENSIONS: 2.5-mile tri-oval with varying degrees of banking in the comers BROADCAST: Television TNT; Radio Motor Racing Network LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Kurt Busch TRACK RECORDS: Qualifying 172.533 mph (Kasey Kahne); Race —144.892 mph (Rusty Wallace) COMPANION EVENTS: Friday - Pole qualifying (3:30 p.m., Speed); Saturday —ARCA Series Pennsylvania 200 (1 p.m., No TV), Busch Series Goody’s 250 at Martinsville Speedway (3 p.m., TNT). RACE NOTE: Mark Martin is the most successful driver in Pocono history with 27 top-10 finishes and 19 top fives. He has yet to score a Nextel Cup victory at the track, though, and this week’s race is the retiring driver’s his last chance. Jack Ingram is another former Busch Series champion who doesn’t like what’s happened to the series he helped create. “I’ve complained about it long before there was a Busch Series,” he said. “My point was track time. You go to, say (Lowe’s) Motor Speedway and then the Cup people would go there and test and test and test, and then they’d come to the racetrack and practice and practice. They would go over and get into their Late Model or Busch car and practice and practice. Now, those people are going to win the race because they had so much track time. It’s all about track time.” Gilliland likes the competition. He said his team makes selected starts so it can be better prepared to challenge the Nextel Cup drivers and their dollars. “We couldn’t do it every week,” he said. “It takes some time to figure out that you cannot just come in and open up a team and start buying parts and go racing. You quick ly realize that it just doesn’t work that way. I always tell people that I want to run Nextel Cup. To get there I am going to have to race these guys. You can learn now or learn later, and anything I can do to make that step eas ier is what I want to do.” Even if it takes the biggest upset victory in Busch Series history. 3B ft w