NASCAR BGN Series Notes -- Week of 7/28/97
29 July 1997
NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division Notes of Interest Week of July 28, 1997 DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Elliott Sadler, driver of the #29 Phillips 66 Chevrolet, became the first NASCAR Busch Series regular to win back-to-back races since Chad Little in 1995. - Only 18 of the 42 cars in the Gateway 300 race this past Saturday were running at the end of the race. That is the smallest amount of cars, out of a 42-car field, to be running at race end in 1997. - There were seven NASCAR Winston Cup drivers in the Gateway 300 race. None of the NASCAR Winston Cup drivers finished higher than 20th. - Joe Bessey earned his first career NASCAR Busch Series pole on Friday. It took him 80 races to accomplish this feat. - The 6/7 Connection: The last time a driver won back-to-back NASCAR Busch Series championships was back in 1986 & 1987 (Larry Pearson). Randy LaJoie won the championship last year in which the year ended in a six and he is currently second in the point standings and this year ends with a seven. - Raybestos Rookie of the Year Candidate Steve Park is one top-five finish shy of setting a new rookie mark for most top-five finishes by a rookie in a season. Park currently has six top-five finishes in 1997, which ties the mark David Green set in 1991. - There have been 10 different winners on the NASCAR Busch Series after 20 races in 1997. In the last five races, every winner was a repeat winner (Randy LaJoie (4), Elliott Sadler (3), Mike McLaughlin (2)). - Kevin Lepage, who started 39th, was looking to become the first driver to win a race from a provisional starting position since Chad Little (42nd) accomplished the feat back at Daytona in 1995. A broken fuel pump with five laps remaining ended Lepage's quest. - Tracy Leslie currently has the longest winless streak among active NASCAR Busch Series drivers. It's been 94 races since Leslie won his last year, which was at Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 31, 1993. - Buckshot Jones team announced at Gateway International Raceway that in 1996, the team will have a new sponsor -- Alka-Seltzer/Bayer. Currently, Alka-Seltzer and Bayer is the sponsor of Terry Labonte's NASCAR Busch Series #5 Chevrolet. STAT OF THE WEEK: - Elliott Sadler has seven front-row starting appearances in 1997. That is more than any other driver in the NASCAR Busch Series this year. Sadler has won two of his three races in 1997 after starting the race from the pole position. TOP 10 - TENTH: With an 11th place finish at Gateway, Hermie Sadler remains 10th in the pint standings for the second straight week. Sadler has two top-10 finishes in his last four races - NINTH: Kevin Lepage dropped one spot after finishing 12th this past weekend. After three consecutive top-five finishes, Lepage has only finished lower than 12th, once in his last four races. - EIGHTH: After his fourth-place finish at Gateway, Elton Sawyer moved up one position to eighth in the point standings. Sawyer has three top-five and five top-10 finishes in the last six starts. - SEVENTH: After spending four consecutive weeks in the fifth spot, Buckshot Jones drops two to seventh after finishing 25th at Gateway. He has five top-10 finishes in the last eight races. - SIXTH: Elliott Sadler followed up the win at Myrtle Beach two weekends ago with a win at Gateway. This was his third career win for Sadler. Sadler now has two wins and one second place finish in his last three races run. - FIFTH: Mike McLaughlin has four top-10s in his last five races, and has moved from 10th place in the point standings five weeks ago, all the way up to fifth position. - FOURTH: Rookie Steve park has finished in the top-five six times and in the top-10 11 times after 20 races. Eight of those 11 top-10 finishes have come in his last 12 starts. - THIRD: Phil Parsons' 23rd place finish at Gateway helped him maintain the third spot in the point standings for the sixth consecutive week. - SECOND: Todd Bodine was denied a shot for a third straight week, of reclaiming the top spot in the point standings. Going into Gateway, Bodine had completed all but 10.811 of the total miles run in 1997. He missed 52.5 miles of the Gateway 300 race on Saturday due to an accident he suffered mid-way through the race. - FIRST: With a 17th place finish, Randy LaJoie was able to add another 21 points to his 37-point lead in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings. LaJoie has three wins, eight top-five, and 12 top-10 finishes in his last 15 starts. LaJoie has not been lower than third-place in the point standings since March 23, 1996 when he was in fifth -- 42 weeks ago. TURNING TO INDIANAPOLIS AND THE KROGER 200 - If Elliott Sadler can win the Kroger 200 this weekend, he would become the first NASCAR Busch Series regular driver to win three in a row since Larry Pearson in 1987 (8/15 -- Orange County, 8/21 -- Bristol, and 8/30 -- Georgia International). Mark Martin did win three in a row this season (2/22 -- Rockingham, 3/1 -- Richmond, and 3/8 -- Atlanta), but he's not considered a NASCAR Busch Series regular. - Morgan Shepherd is the only driver to win the Kroger 200 more than once. He's won three times (1982, 1984, 1986). - There have been 15 different Busch Pole winners in 15 years at IRP. - In 10 of 15 races run at IRP, drivers who started in the top-five positions have won the race (2 -- pole, 2 -- second, 4 -- third, 0 -- fourth, and 2 -- fifth). - The Kroger 200 is the longest running NASCAR Busch Series race sponsor -- 16 years. the race was tied with the Goody's 300 until the start of this year. By NASCAR Public Relations
