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Busch Finale

© Thomas M. Sampson

It's no surprise that the BGN finale was dominated by Winston Cup drivers. It appeared that Little E was going to give them a run for their money, but an engine failure put him behind the wall a little before the halfway mark. The WC drivers were in a position to take advantage of the opportunity to get some experience on the Homestead track, which was added to their schedule for next season.

Matt Kenseth was the first BGN driver to take the checkered flag. Matt finished second in points (-48) behind BGN Champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. It was quite an accomplishment for Little E to win the big one in his first full season in the Busch series. Kenseth worked hard this year to get where he is, and was dropped by his sponsor, Lycos, in the beginning of the year. The team kept the Lycos logo on the car after they bowed out, and Kenseth won the race, so Lycos came back on board. It has been announced that Lycos won't be back on the Reiser Motorsports 17 car next season.

Tony Stewart, driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing 44 Shell Oil car, took the Rookie of the Year honors for the '98 season. He was forced to drop out on lap 145 with clutch problems? The TV race announcers monitoring Stewart's radio, said that his car had gotten to hot for him to sit in, and that he was getting burned and couldn't stand it any longer. Announcer Kyle Petty explained that the nine to one compression engines used in BGN racing were a long way from being fuel efficient. It seems that the raw fuel that doesn't get burned by the engine lays in the header and burns there, creating more heat than usual in the exhaust pipes. Due to the fact that on oval tracks the cars are constantly turning to the left, all possible weight is put on the left side of the car, which places the exhaust under the drivers feet and seat, creating a sometimes unbearable situation for them. Lots of drivers end up with burned feet, rear-ends, and lower backs. Driving a race car isn't always as glorious as it may seem.

Driver and team sponsor changes for next season are being announced daily. There are so many changes in the WC and BGN lineups, that at this time it would be too early to start listing them. There are still a lot of changes that will be made, probably right up to the mid February start of both series seasons. I'll try to sort through them, and hope to be doing an article on the changes by the first of the year.

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