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August 7, 2006

Bye Bye Busch Whackers-
Danny O'Quinn Ain't Getting Any-O'Reilly Raceway Park
By Dennis Michelsen

If you listened to the "Doin' Donuts" radio show Sunday night on RaceTalkRadio you know that Danny O'Quinn Jr. ain't getting any! My co-host on the radio show Lori Munro of War Wagon and I discussed that not many of the Busch guys are getting any! Now before you wonder if Stock Car Pit Pass has wandered into needing an Adult Check ID, we are talking about not getting any attention from NBC. How pathetic is it that a guy has his best finish ever and is best in class for the first time in his young career and he can't even get a post race interview. As a matter of fact, the NBC pit reporters did not interview a single Busch only driver after the race Saturday night. Danny O'Quinn Jr is an energetic young man that would have made a terrific interview too! Being best in class should be considered a big deal too. Just take a look at the money that Richard Childress Racing pumps into the Busch Series and you see why Kevin Harvick is running away with this thing. Did you see how many crew guys were celebrating after the win? All five of Harvick's wins this season have come while driving the No. 21 car. When he drives his own No. 33 car the playing field is a little closer to being even.

The stands were packed at O'Reilly Raceway Park and there is no such thing as a bad race at this fantastic track. But can you imagine if the Busch teams were able to compete on the same level as the Cup invaders just how amazing the competition on the track would be? So I am asking you, the discerning NASCAR fan one simple question. Are you going to sit there and take it? Or are you going to let the people in power know how you feel? I feel like the psychotic anchorman on the 1976 movie "Network." As Howard Beale said, "Things have got to change. But first you have to get mad!" So this is what I want you to do. I want you to go to your e-mail program and fire off your feelings to NBC and NASCAR. I want you to tell them plain and simply, "I am mad as hell and I'm not going to take the Busch series like this any more!" NASCAR sits on their butt and lets the canyon get deeper in between the haves and the have-nots. NBC could make a difference by giving the Busch guys the airtime they deserve, but by ignoring them they make it tougher and tougher for Busch teams to secure the sponsorship they need. This widens the gap between the haves and have-nots even more! Something has to change. It is time for the fans to make their voices heard! Repeat after me…"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take the Busch series like this any more!" Just to make it easy for you, here are the e-mail addresses you need so you can reach out and let them know. Make your voice heard respectfully before this turns into the ARCA series with only ten competitive cars. Something needs to change and your voice might make it happen!

Tracy Judd
Manager of Communications Busch Series
tjudd@nascar.com

Kevin Sullivan
VP-NBC Sports Communications
kevin.sullivan@nbc.com

NASCAR needs to take a serious look at the way they are treating their Busch Regulars or they will become extinct. In the meantime here at Stock Car Pit Pass we will let the Busch regulars battle for the top spots every week!

Danny O'Quinn Jr Wins Kroger 200 -Bye Bye Busch Whackers Version
Only eight Cup regulars double dipped this weekend but once again they dominated the race grabbing the top five spots. Danny O'Quinn Jr consistently ran up front all night and grabbed his first Bye Bye Busch Whackers win of his career. This energetic youngster shows a lot of promise and now has more top ten finishes than his Roush Racing teammate Todd Kluever. Perhaps Jack Roush will realize that he has tabbed the wrong guy to take over for Mark Martin next season. Either Danny O'Quinn Jr or Erik Darnell from the Craftsman Truck series might be a better choice to fill that seat. While Kluever has stagnated in his development, Danny O'Quinn Jr seems to keep getting better every week. Also in the hunt for the Busch guys most of the night was Jason Keller in the Brewco Motorsports Duraflame Ford. Keller's spin with 62 laps to go would end his time in the top ten and he would come home in fifteenth. Jay Sauter and Paul Menard joined Danny O'Quinn Jr as the only three Busch regulars to finish in the top ten overall. Regan Smith and Stacy Compton rounded out our special top five for the Busch guys.

Paul Menard's strong finish combined with Johnny Sauter's forty-second place finish lengthens Menard's lead in our special Bye Bye Busch Whacker's standings to one hundred and eighty points. Kenny Wallace holds on to third place with Jason Leffler and John Andretti rounding out the top five. The Busch series heads to Watkins Glen next week.

Kroger 200 - Bye Bye Busch Whackers Version Top Ten

1. Danny O'Quinn Jr
2. Jay Sauter
3. Paul Menard
4. Regan Smith
5. Stacy Compton
6. Mike Wallace
7. Jon Wood
8. Jason Keller
9. Burney Lamar
10. Mark McFarland

Point Standings After O'Reilly Raceway Park-Bye Bye Busch Whackers Version