Kentucky Race Tonight.

[Kirkendall]

Make sure you watch the Busch race on FX at 8PM EST tonight.. it's in Sparta Kentucky tonight.

[BengalDave73]

Make sure you watch the Busch race on FX at 8PM EST tonight.. it's in Sparta Kentucky tonight.

Our very own Marvin Lewis is the grand marshall.

Head coach Marvin Lewis serves as grand marshal of “The Meijer 300 Presented by Oreo” NASCAR Busch Series event. Lewis presides over pre-race festivities that include a concert with country music entertainer Tracy Byrd, participates in driver introductions, and delivers the “start engines” command.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Head coach Marvin Lewis serves as grand marshal of “The Meijer 300 Presented by Oreo” NASCAR Busch Series event. Lewis presides over pre-race festivities that include a concert with country music entertainer Tracy Byrd, participates in driver introductions, and delivers the “start engines” command.

Nascar racing AND Marvin Lewis? I just don't get no better than that!

[IfItsBrownFlushItDown]

Oh and it couldn't get much better! Kyle Busch qualified second, but during the final practice, wrecked in turn 3 in what he called a "rookie mistake". He was forced to go to his back up car and start at the back of the field. He struggled during the race but slowly worked his way up to the front, and with I believe 6 laps to go took the lead from Greg Biffle and won the thing!

Did anyone else go to this race? If you've been thinking about going, you should! There isn't a bad seat in the house.

Oh yeah and Marvin got a huge ovation when they announced him. Makes me DAMN proud to be a Bengals fan.

[IfItsBrownFlushItDown]

Here's the article from KentuckySpeedway.com:

BUSCH BRINGS HOME SECOND CAREER KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY WIN IN MEIJER 300 PRESENTED BY OREO

SPARTA, KY. - For the second time in as many races at Kentucky Speedway, Kyle Busch battled his way into Victory Lane.

The first time it was in the ARCA RE/MAX Series on Mother’s Day weekend in 2003. This time it was in the NASCAR Busch Series “Meijer 300 Presented by Oreo” on Father’s Day weekend as a track record crowd of 72,312 looked on.

“It was definitely one of the best races I remember,” Busch said. “These guys never gave up. We got it here tonight and it’s great way to tell my dad ‘Happy Father’s Day.’”

The 19-year-old took “The Meijer 300 Presented by Oreo” title and became the first driver the track’s five-year history to register wins in two different series.

He was forced to start last in the field after crashing during Friday’s final practice session. His late-race pass came as he moved his No. 5 Lowe’s/Gladiator Chevrolet to the inside of Greg Biffle and his No. 60 Charter Communications Ford coming out of Turn Four on Lap 198.

That pass resulted in Biffle finishing as the runner-up for the third time in three Busch Series races at Kentucky Speedway. He finished second to Todd Bodine by .036 of a second in 2002 and was second to Kevin Harvick in 2001.

“It was definitely great to try to pass him (Biffle) and get the lead,” Busch said. “I was just praying that a caution wouldn’t come out so we could get him under green instead of having to watch him go to Victory Lane under yellow.”

The tide of the race changed with just over 20 laps to go. After all the lead lap cars pitted under yellow with 120 laps to go, a late-race refueling stop became necessary.

Biffle stood on his brakes to come in under green with 21 laps to go and changed right side tires only. Busch, who was fourth when the caution flag came out, came in under yellow and changed four tires.

“He had four tires and I had two, it’s like if I tied one of your legs behind your back and then tried to race you across the parking lot,” Biffle said.

Busch became the sixth leader of the night when he passed Biffle. Biffle, who will drive his NEXTEL Cup car in the “DHL 400” at Michigan International Speedway, led 82 laps of the race, including 71 of the last 77 laps.

Busch records his third win, eighth top-five and 12th top-10 finish of the season. He remains second in the series standings, but cut leader Martin Truex, Jr.’s series lead to 10 points.

“To be this successful this early is definitely awesome,” he said. “I have to give everything to my team, they do an awesome job for me. You can’t just throw a brick in the seat, that’s not quite what I’m saying. Today, we had to hustle it a bit in the beginning. I probably wrecked about 10 times, just never hit anything, so it was good to be able to come away from those and be able to continue on.”

Mike Bliss (No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet) came in third. Ron Hornaday, Jr. (No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet) placed fourth. Jason Keller (No. 22 Meijer/Airplus Ford) rounded out the top five to take his second straight top-five finish at Kentucky Speedway. He closed out the 2003 “Meijer 300 Presented by Oreo” second to Bobby Hamilton, Jr., who finished 28th in his title defense after losing an engine on Lap 181.

Pole winner Martin Truex, Jr. (No. 8 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Chevrolet), the series points leader, came in sixth.

Racing continues at Kentucky Speedway in July with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series “Built Ford Tough 225” on July 10. The weekend begins on July 9 with “700 WLW” Pole Night featuring the ARCA RE/MAX Series “Kentucky 150.”

Meijer 300 Article

[BengalszoneBilly]

To our new Nascar fan...can I call you Iffy? IfItsBrownFlus**tDown is too much typing for this Kentucky boy!

We have only a handfull of true men/Nascar fans here, and one (WHO DEY AGAIN) went missing in action. I honestly hope you're a Chevy fan so he won't think he's being singled out for some Nascar type smack, because that's not what this forum is supposed to be about.

Kevnz and I are true blue Ford fanatics, Josh is our highly esteemed Dodge representitive, and WHO DEY was our Chevy contingient until the pressure seemingly got too much for him.

That sucks. We need someone to represent for the "Bowtie" team, and he bailed. Who's gonna take up the slack without getting their panties wadded up in a knot? Like Chevrolet's slogan says "Like a rock", and we need someone willing to cast the first stone...any takers?

[IfItsBrownFlushItDown]

Like a rock...looks strong but crumbles under pressure? No thanks, I'll pass.

Sorry fellas, but it looks like another FORD lovin fool has joined the team.

By the way, my name is not meant to have any profanity in it. No need for bleeping. Just an old phrase my dad told me about that bengals fans used to (and still) taunt Browns fans with.

If its brown, flush it down!

If you wanna give me a nickname, simply The Browns Hater would do. But then again, that's everyone's nickname

[BengalszoneBilly]

Like a rock...looks strong but crumbles under pressure? No thanks, I'll pass.

Sorry fellas, but it looks like another FORD lovin fool has joined the team.

By the way, my name is not meant to have any profanity in it. No need for bleeping. Just an old phrase my dad told me about that bengals fans used to (and still) taunt Browns fans with.

If its brown, flush it down!

If you wanna give me a nickname, simply The Browns Hater would do. But then again, that's everyone's nickname

Cool! Another Ford fan is fine with me! Just looking for a balance, thats all.

As far as the astericks being placed in your name, I'm sure thats an accidental by product of the automatic profanity filter in use here. I know it's just a cooincidence you lined up the "S" word in your name. Why it doesn't do it all the time is strange though.

Anyway don't worry about it. We realize you're not cussin'!

[IfItsBrownFlushItDown]

I was gonna say billy...you must be real dedicated to worry about puttin in astericks all the time I didn't even think about an automatic profanity filter. Technology is just a little over my head.

Back to the topic in hand, in case you missed it, the Meijer 300 presented by Oreo at Kentucky Speedway will be replayed on the Speed channel on Wednesday, June 23rd at 12 noon.

[Kirkendall]

Supposedly Jerry Carroll and DW have offered to Brian France that Kentucky can be an option for the new cup date for the proposed New York track (Staton Island?).

Since it would probably take a few years to build a new track, and 2006 the earliest option for Kentucky to take in a cup date, I believe adding 30-50 thousand seats will be quickly added before the start of that season.

There's a reason many of the major teams come here to test.

[IfItsBrownFlushItDown]

Why does NY need a track??? Watkins Glen is already there!

[Kirkendall]

To quote the famous Broome, "politics".

From the New York Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/02-15-2004/spor...5p-144133c.html

BTW Iffy, welcome to the Zone.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Darrell Waltrip touts the Kentucky Speedway!

Ed from Dayton, Ky.: I live close to Kentucky Speedway and look forward to going to Saturday's Busch race. What can we expect from this weekend's race at the track?

Darrell Waltrip: The neat thing about the Busch race is you're going to have five Nextel Cup drivers there like my brother Michael and Greg Biffle. The Cup boys always spice things up, but after watching last Saturday night — or Sunday morning — Kyle Busch, Jason Leffler, Martin Truex Jr. and the Busch drivers are all capable of giving the Cup drivers a run for their money.

It should be one of the best Busch races we've ever had there. We pay one of the biggest purses — the second largest stand-alone purse. We'll probably have the second or third biggest stand-alone crowd, in other words, just the Busch cars are there without the Cup cars.

Everybody who tests there — and just about everybody in Nextel Cup racing team has — loves the speedway. It's an incredible race track, and side-by-side racing is not a problem at Kentucky. The track has the most grip and best layout of any mile-and-a-half that I've seen. Watch Saturday night or watch any race at Kentucky, it's never follow the leader. It's always good side-by-side, two- and three-wide racing. That's what the fans want to see.

Kentucky is the perfect race track for a Nextel Cup race. We've got to quit using it as a test facility and get a Cup race there. We've done everything we know how to do, but we're basically at the mercy of NASCAR. I know we're at the top of the list of tracks being considered, but we just need to get a race there.

We'll have 75,000 fans on Saturday night for a Busch race, and we could have 175,000 to 200,000 for a Nextel Cup race. The speedway is ready to put up the seats. The roads have been improved. An airport is being considered. You've got Belterra Casino Resort down the road. There's a new hotel right on the corner of the property. There's not a whole lot more that we can do except just keep on trying. I always said if we do it right, sooner or later, it will pay off.

But whether we get a Cup race or not, we've got great racing. The trucks, ARCA, Busch and IRL cars put on great shows. It's always some of the best racing you'll see, no matter the series.

[IfItsBrownFlushItDown]

Darrell Waltrip touts the Kentucky Speedway!

Ed from Dayton, Ky.: I live close to Kentucky Speedway and look forward to going to Saturday's Busch race. What can we expect from this weekend's race at the track?

Darrell Waltrip: The neat thing about the Busch race is you're going to have five Nextel Cup drivers there like my brother Michael and Greg Biffle. The Cup boys always spice things up, but after watching last Saturday night — or Sunday morning — Kyle Busch, Jason Leffler, Martin Truex Jr. and the Busch drivers are all capable of giving the Cup drivers a run for their money.

It should be one of the best Busch races we've ever had there. We pay one of the biggest purses — the second largest stand-alone purse. We'll probably have the second or third biggest stand-alone crowd, in other words, just the Busch cars are there without the Cup cars.

Everybody who tests there — and just about everybody in Nextel Cup racing team has — loves the speedway. It's an incredible race track, and side-by-side racing is not a problem at Kentucky. The track has the most grip and best layout of any mile-and-a-half that I've seen. Watch Saturday night or watch any race at Kentucky, it's never follow the leader. It's always good side-by-side, two- and three-wide racing. That's what the fans want to see.

Kentucky is the perfect race track for a Nextel Cup race. We've got to quit using it as a test facility and get a Cup race there. We've done everything we know how to do, but we're basically at the mercy of NASCAR. I know we're at the top of the list of tracks being considered, but we just need to get a race there.

We'll have 75,000 fans on Saturday night for a Busch race, and we could have 175,000 to 200,000 for a Nextel Cup race. The speedway is ready to put up the seats. The roads have been improved. An airport is being considered. You've got Belterra Casino Resort down the road. There's a new hotel right on the corner of the property. There's not a whole lot more that we can do except just keep on trying. I always said if we do it right, sooner or later, it will pay off.

But whether we get a Cup race or not, we've got great racing. The trucks, ARCA, Busch and IRL cars put on great shows. It's always some of the best racing you'll see, no matter the series.

Billy, GREAT POST! Jeez, I think I underestimated your posting ability . The more talk there is about a Cup race, the more excited I get. DW did say a couple of things that I wanted to elaborate on:

1. SEATS! I know, its the center of all that I talk about with Kentucky Speedway, but it is essential. I was aware that they were ready to add seats, but they should go ahead and do it! I could see the Busch race bringing in 100,000+ easily.

2. Airport. I also heard in our news recently that plans have been approved for an airport in that area. That is big because NASCAR is not going to look at how many people from KY, IN, and OH are comming to these races, but will be impressed with how far people will come to see this exciting track.

3. Hotel. Notice, singular. ONE hotel. Yes its better than nothing, but 200,000 people aren't going to bring their RVs and camp out. There's room, they need a couple more hotels to accomodate more people.

This track IS on the top of the list, but it needs improvement to be OVER THE TOP. If the KY Speedway owners play their cards right NASCAR will be begging them to bring a Cup race to KY!

Thats all for today kids, tune in next week.

Iffy