NASCAR BGN Series Notes (Week of 9/15/97)
16 September 1997
NOTES OF INTEREST DAYTONA BEACH, FL - This season's NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year Champion Steve Park currently is fifth in most miles led with 399.122. He's led 19 different times in 12 of the 25 races so far this year. - Todd Bodine's 25th-place finish at Richmond two weeks ago was only the fifth time this season that Bodine has finished outside the top-10. - Steve Park is riding a streak of four consecutive top-five finishes into Dover this weekend. He has two wins, a second and fifth-place finishes in his last four races. - Hermie Sadler, who is 10th in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings, is the only driver in the top-10 with less than four top-five finishes. His only top-five finish in 1997 came this July in Milwaukee, where he finished third. - Since tying Jack Ingram's career win record at 31 in the NASCAR Busch Series, Mark Martin is 0-for-4 in his attempt to break the record. - Only 18 point separate positions five through seven in the NASCAR Busch Series point standings. - There have been 11 different race winners on the NASCAR Busch Series in 1997. Four of those 11 are first-time winners. - Dale Jarrett is one top-five finish away from becoming only the third driver in NASCAR Busch Series history to record 100 or more top-five career finishes. Tommy Houston holds the record with 123. Jack Ingram is second with 122. - Dale Shaw is enjoying a successful first season in the NASCAR Busch Series. After 11 starts, Shaw is finishing in the top-10 approximately 64% of the time. - Only twice since 1984 has a driver not in first or second place with five races remaining gone on to win the NASCAR Busch Series Championship. Larry Pearson came from 96 points down in third place to win the 1986 title, and the late Rob Moroso came all the way from fifth place, 127 points down to win the 1989 championship. STAT OF THE WEEK Looking back at previous points races, Todd Bodine still has a shot at snatching the 1997 NASCAR Busch Series Championship away from points leader Randy LaJoie. Bodine trails LaJoie by 179 points with five races remaining. The good news for Bodine is that the driver leading with five races remaining has failed to win the NASCAR Busch Series Championship four times since 1984. LaJoie was one of those four drivers who benefitted from the leaders' misfortune as he overcame David Green's 128-point lead last year to win the title. That 128 points is the most ever to be made up by a driver in the last five events. TOP 10 - TENTH: Hermie Sadler moved back into the top-10 for the first time in five weeks. Sadler is riding a streak of two straight consecutive top-10 finishes. - NINTH: Tim Fedewa spends a fifth consecutive week in the ninth spot. Fedewa has three top-10 finishes in his last eight starts. - EIGHTH: Following five top-10 finishes in seven weeks, Elton Sawyer's average finishing position in his last four races is 24th. - SEVENTH: Buckshot Jones has two top-five finishes in his last four outings. - SIXTH: In his last 10 starts, Mike McLaughlin has only finished higher than 13th place three times. - FIFTH: Elliott Sadler trails fourth-place Phil Parsons by just 90 points. After winning two races and finishing second in two others in a period of four consecutive races, Sadler's average finish in his last four starts is 22nd. - FOURTH: Phil Parsons never has been lower than fourth place in the point standings this season. - THIRD: Rookie Steve Park recorded his fourth consecutive top-five finish. The rookie has ten top-five and 16 top-10 finishes after 25 races. Park is currently tied with Kenny Wallace for most top-10 finishes by a rookie with 16. - SECOND: With a 25th-place finish at Richmond, Todd Bodine lost ground in the hunt for the 1997 NASCAR Busch Series Championship point race with Randy LaJoie. Bodine now trails LaJoie by 179 points with five events remaining. To win the championship, Bodine would have to beat LaJoie in each remaining race by an average of 36 points. - FIRST: Randy LaJoie sits on top of the points standings for the eighth straight week. He has four wins, 11 top-five, and 15 top-10 finishes in his last 20 starts. LaJoie has not been lower than third-place in the point standings since March 23, 1996, when he was in fifth -- 48 races ago. Turning to Dover and the MBNA 200 - NASCAR Busch Series drivers have won the last five MBNA 200's (Fall Race) at Dover Downs International Speedway. - Todd Bodine has the most NASCAR Busch Series victories (three) of any driver at Dover Downs International Speedway. - In 27 NASCAR Busch Series races held at Dover Downs International Speedway, only one driver (Morgan Shepherd, 1986 fall race) has won from the pole position. - When Bobby Labonte won the spring NASCAR Busch Series race at Dover earlier this year, it was the first win by a Pontiac at Dover Downs International Speedway since Michael Waltrip won the Budweiser 200 in the spring of 1990. - DID YOU KNOW? BACE Motorsports owner Bill Baumgardner's drivers (Johnny Benson - 1994 & Randy LaJoie - 1996 (twice)) have won three of the last six NASCAR Busch Series races held at Dover Downs International Speedway. By NASCAR Public Relations
