Content provided in partnership with
Lapping the field: the dominance of Martin Truex and Kyle Busch raises concerns about the balance of the series' competition
Sporting News, The, Dec 6, 2004 by Pete Wickham
There were a couple of haves who really had it and a lot of have-nots who didn't. In the end, the 2004 Busch Series gave us something to celebrate and something to ponder.
Martin Truex, 24, driving for Chance 2 Racing, which is co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., ran away from 19-year-old rookie Kyle Busch in the best pure 1-2 rivalry in this series since the days of Little E and Matt Kenseth.
Truex, in the No. 8 Chevrolet, won six races and seven poles and clinched the title at Darlington in the penultimate race. He finished 230 points ahead of Busch, driving the No. 5 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports. Truex was miles ahead of Busch, the rookie of the year, but the two were time zones ahead of the rest of the field.
"Sure, they had great equipment and backing from big teams, but the deal is they went out and whipped us all every week," says Roush Racing's Kenny Wallace. "Those guys can really drive, and there's no arguing about that."
The final points standings beneath the two drivers shows their dominance. Greg Biffle, who became the first driver to compete in every Busch and Cup race for Roush, won five races and finished third, but he was 605 points behind Truex. Former Cup veterans Ron Hornaday (Richard Childress Racing) and Mike Bliss (Joe Gibbs) each won a race and finished fourth and fifth in the standings--but both were more than 900 points behind Truex and seeking jobs by season's end.
Even further back were two Busch mainstays, Jason Keller (ppc Racing) and David Green (Brewco). Both lost sponsors this year; Keller was told he was free to look for a new ride. In eighth was Ashton Lewis, whose family-owned team was shuttered at the end of the season; he'll drive a Team Rensi car in 2005.
"I look to my left and see nothing but haulers from Cup-supported teams," Green says. "That makes me feel good in a way, but it also makes you wonder what you have to do to compete. They have the knowledge from the Cup side of the operation and the resources to put things they learn onto the cars in a couple of weeks, where it takes us a couple of months."
Says owner Ed Rensi: "It's us, Brewco, ppc trying to compete--and who else can? It's not a healthy situation, and I don't know what you can do to fix it."
Brett Bodine, who struggled for years as a Cup owner, now is working with NASCAR's competition division. He sees the problem. "The Busch-only teams will have to step up some because the bar is raised," he says. "If we do our job in terms of the rules, we can bring it back more into line."
But Bodine adds: "(Truex and Busch) are two very talented young men, and they showed it."
Busch Series 2004 winners
Date Site Winner
February 16 Daytona Dale Earnhardt Jr.
February 21 Rockingham Jamie McMurray
March 6 Las Vegas Kevin Harvick
March 20 Darlington Greg Biffle
March 27 Bristol Martin Truex
April 3 Texas Matt Kenseth
April 10 Nashville Michael Waltrip
April 24 Talladega Martin Truex
May 1 Fontana Greg Biffle
May 8 Gateway Martin Truex
May 14 Richmond Kyle Busch
May 23 Nazareth Martin Truex
May 29 Charlotte Kyle Busch
June 7 Dover Greg Biffle
June 12 Nashville Jason Leffler
June 19 Kentucky Kyle Busch
June 26 Milwaukee Ron Hornaday
July 2 Daytona Mike Wallace
July 10 Chicago Justin Labonte
July 24 New Hampshire Matt Kenseth
July 31 Pikes Peak Greg Biffle
August 7 IRP Kyle Busch
August 21 Michigan Kyle Busch
August 27 Bristol Dale Earnhardt Jr.
September 4 Fontana Greg Biffle
September 10 Richmond Robby Gordon
September 25 Dover Martin Truex
October 9 Kansas Joe Nemechek
October 15 Charlotte Mike Bliss
October 23 Memphis Martin Truex
October 30 Atlanta Matt Kenseth
November 6 Phoenix Jamie McMurray
November 13 Darlington Jamie McMurray
November 20 Homestead Kevin Harvick
TSN's BUSCH
POLL [FINAL]
Busch
Driver points
(1) Martin Truex 5,173
(2) Kyle Busch 4,943
(3) Greg Biffle 4,568
(4) Ron Hornaday 4,258
(5) Mike Bliss 4,115
(6) Jason Keller 4,088
(7) David Green 4,082
(8) Ashton Lewis 3,892
(9) Kenny Wallace 3,851
(10) David Stremme 3,738
Get a complete TSN Power Poll rundown and points system explanation at msn.foxsports. com/name/public/NASCAR/ Busch/PowerPoll.
Lee Spencer's 2005 Busch Series Power Poll
1. Martin Truex
2. Carl Edwards
3. David Green
4. Shane Hmiel
5. Clint Bowyer
6. Kenny Wallace
7. J.J. Yeley
Find Research Guides for:
Find Featured Titles for: Home & Garden
Most Popular Articles in Sports
- The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...
- The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...
- Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...
- Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association
- The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking
- More »