Three of the top four qualifying spots were taken by �young guns� Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, and Jimmie Johnson. Greg Biffle, making his Cup debut qualifies 29th then wows everyone by posting the fastest Happy hour speed. Three driver (Stricklin, Skinner, Robby Gordon) change engines and go the rear of the field. Ken Schrader and Bobby LaBonte would be the races first casualties just a few laps in. Schrader would blow an engine and be done for the day while LaBonte breaks a belt and loses several laps. The first caution would come on lap 18 when (you guessed it) Shawna Robinson would tag the wall. Even better would be the interview from the garage where Shawna would blame the heat from the tires, and then say that her team is �just running into a lot of bad luck right now�. Just like all those backwater, small-time college football programs who open the season at either Florida or Nebraska (for a paycheck) and always lose 70-0, that�s �bad luck� also. The only way Shawna would be unlucky this week would be in the fact that the Andy Houston award eluded her somehow yet again. Ryan Newman and Biffle would both have to make extra trips to pit road and fall back into the mid-30�s.

The green would fly at lap 22, beginning a caution-free stretch that will take us well past the halfway point, a segment of the race that Kurt Busch would just dominate. Kevin Harvick, running in the top ten in the races opening laps, would fall like a rock (no apparent problem) and drop into the mid-30�s. I don�t think you would had ever seen that with the #3 car. A rear tire on Elliot Sadler would go down on Lap 62, but keeps it away from the wall and we stay green. The first wave of green-flag stops would occur between laps 62-66. Busch�s stop would be in 15.4, Sterling Marlin 14.8, Jimmie Johnson 17.0. By lap 90, Busch opens up his lead to 4.2 seconds. Stacy Compton�s engine expires on lap 104 and becomes the third retiree. By the halfway point Busch�s lead grows to 11+ seconds, and would grow to 15 seconds as the #97 puts more than half the field a lap down. Everyone comes in for a second-round of stops under green. After this some of the favorites start falling by the wayside. Tony Stewart (Joe Gibbs other entry) feels his throttle linkage breaking and has to speed down pit road. Repairing that and the ensuing drive-thru penalty would put the #20 three laps down. Dale Jr. would then feel a tire going down and would have to make an unscheduled stop, that puts the #8 a lap down. The caution finally flies on lap 142 when Ricky Craven has a tire go down and scrapes the wall.

Johnson would be followed by Busch, Rudd, Elliott, and Mark Martin with a typical, quiet sneaky fifth place effort. Rounding out the top ten would be Jarrett, Marlin, Wallce, Blaney, and Michael Waltrip (who was a strong top-ten all day). Jeff Green and Robby Gordon would have their best runs of the season, placing 11th and 12th respectively. Greg Biffle would finish an impressive 13th in his WC debut. Just what Rosch needs, another horse in his stable. Ryan Newman was 14th, a moral victory since he at least lasted the entire race. Other notables included Jeff Gordon in 16th, Jeff Burton in 19th, Matt Kenseth in 20th, Tony Stewart 29th, Bobby LaBonte 34th, Kevin Harvick 35th, and Dale Jr. in 36th.

RICHMOND PREVIEW

If you can�t wait for Sunday for a Winston Cup race, you are in luck, as we hit our first Saturday nighter of the season. If you need any other proof about just how much this sport has grown in a relatively short amount of time, dial up a tape of the Richmond race from twenty years ago � where the track was nothing like it is now. In fact, let�s put it this way, I don�t think the track would meet ASA specifications today. It was a � mile bullring in the middle of a fairgrounds. The stands were forever away from the racing surface, and a lot of dirt and mud got on the track. The winner of the Spring race in 1982 was none other than Dave Marcis, a wily veteran even then. Dave pulled out the win in just about the only fashion he possibly could. Marcis stayed out during a yellow flag as the skies darkened and his competitors pitted. Sure enough, it starts raining buckets, and with no track driers to be found the race was called. At this point neither Bob Jenkins (this is also the early days of ESPN) nor the operator of the manual scoreboard was sure of who was in front. When the dust (actually mud at this point) was settled, Marcis was declared the victor, one of his two career wins.

Today RIR is one of the crown jewels of NASCAR, and a twice-a-year prime time extravaganza. Now a � mile track, it is no longer a bullring, but still provides for plenty of short-track excitement. IRL now even runs here. The banking in the corners is 14 degrees (as opposed to 36 in Bristol) and the top qualifying speeds will be in the neighborhood of 126-127 MPH. There will be bumping and banging, in addition to some issues about tire grip this year, but the attrition will not be as great as in Bristol and you should actually see some nice green-flag runs. This Saturday�s race is of course sold out but requests are now being accepted for the September race ($65-$75 limit four, drawing done on a lottery basis) from now until May 31. Check the RIR site for details. If you�re considering attending a race in person, this is one of the better ones to shoot for.

This weeks list of contenders is as follows�

Rusty Wallace � Rusty�s second favorite track, with top fives in each of the past four Spring races. He takes a back seat to no one this week.

Jeff Gordon � Bumped out Rusty in the last stages of last Spring�s race, setting off some highly publicized post-race fireworks. Gordon is a two-time winner at RIR.

Tony Stewart � Also has two career wins and is the defending champion in this particular event.

Ricky Rudd � Last year finished fifth in the Spring, then bumped Kevin Harvick out of the way for a win in the Fall.

Dale Jarrett � Has also visited victory lane twice in Richmond, and has six top fives in his last ten races here.

Matt Kenseth � Last fall was forgettable for the #17, starting 38th and finishing 35th. This legitimate cup contender can�t be counted out anywhere this year though.

Sterling Marlin � Not among the first wave of favorites this week, as his best finish here last year was an 11th. Should have another decent outing though.

Bobby LaBonte � Won the last short track outing in Martinsville, and came away with a couple of top tens here in �01. Another race he is very capable of stealing late with a little pit strategy.

DARK HORSES

Jimmy Spencer � Like him or not, this is another one of those races where Jimmy is liable to sneak up and rear his ugly head. Compiled an 8th and a 16th in �01.

Kevin Harvick � Race had his name on it in September before Rudd took a page out of his own book.

Jimmy Johnson/Ryan Newman � Neither will run as strong as in California, but should still be a decent night for both.

Jeff Burton � A winner here back in 1998.

Ricky Craven � Another nice short track pick. 11th here in September.

SHAKY PICKS

Dale Earnhardt Jr. � Before his hard crash I had him as one of the favorites this week, for this is one of his better tracks. Came away with a seventh and a third here last year, and won the Spring 2000 race. You know he'll be here but keep tabs on him before Saturday.

Steve Park � Qualified and finished fourth last May. Would like to see him have a strong outing (and go a weekend without being in a crash) before recommending him again.

Johnny Benson � Finished sixth in the Spring but has fallen apart in the twelve months since.

Mark Martin � Actually started on the pole last Spring, but Mark is winless since Martinsville in 2000 (pre-Viagra days).

BOLD PICK

Terry LaBonte � Not recommended if you were to go strictly on last year�s finishes, where the #5 placed 38th in each race. But Terry has been looking great on short tracks lately, so don�t be surprised to see him near the front.

Look for the top ten to finish as follows�

1. Stewart, 2. Wallace, 3. J. Gordon, 4. Rudd, 5. Jarrett, 6. B. LaBonte, 7. Marlin, 8. Kenseth, 9. Dale Jr., 10. Craven

The odds for this week is as follows...

Wallace 3-1, LaBonte 4-1, Stewart 9-2, Rudd 5-1, Dale Jr. 6-1, Kenseth 7-1, Jarrett 8-1, Martin 9-1, Gordon 10-1, Newman 11-1, Busch 12-1, Johnson 13-1, Marlin 14-1, Harvick 15-1, J. Burton 16-1, Craven 17-1, Benson 18-1, W. Burton 19-1, Elliott 20-1, Spencer 22-1, Nadeau 24-1, T. LaBonte 26-1, Schrader 28-1, Mayfield 30-1, Waltrip 32-1, R. Gordon 34-1, J. Green 36-1, Hamilton 38-1, Petty 40-1, Blaney 42-1, Atwood 44-1, Park 46-1, Andretti 48-1, Skinner 50-1, Sadler 55-1, Compton 60-1, Stricklin 65-1, B. Bodine 70-1, Mast 75-1, Grissom 80-1

This will be it for a few weeks. I will not preview the Winston for two weeks from now, but is a nice event to watch, and a good appetizer to scout for the 600 miler the following week. The Charlotte race starts our descent towards the dog days of the season with a lot of Dovers, Michigans, Pocano�s, and New Hampshire�s to look forward to. This is when we will definitely see the contenders separate themselves from the contenders.

ANDY HOUSTON AWARD

Kenny Schrader, one of the sports true grinders does get the award this week for going out on lap 4. But at least Kenny runs in the twenties on a consistent basis, unlike unlucky Shawna, who always finishes somewhere between 41st and 42nd.