BUSCH: Dover II: Round 29 preview

Dover Dance: 12 Drivers Vie For Nine Spots In Top 10 Points Rankings

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 19) -- The Dover 200 could provide a rare opportunity for the 12 drivers currently vying for top-10 positions in the NASCAR Busch Series standings to bring points leader Kevin Harvick (No. 21 U.S. Coast Guard Chevrolet) back to the pack a bit.

Harvick, who has a 619-point lead over second-place Carl Edwards (No. 60 Henkel/DEP Ford), had his second-worst finish of the season at Dover International Speedway last June -- 13th. That result is one of only three finishes outside the top 10 for the 2001 series champion this season.

Edwards is pushing to stay ahead of Denny Hamlin (No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet) in the rankings. Hamlin comes to Dover 40 points behind Edwards in third.

In addition to that close battle for second, fourth-place Clint Bowyer (No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet) is forced to keep an eye on J.J. Yeley (No. 18 Vigoro/Home Depot Chevrolet), who stands 57 points behind him in fifth. Paul Menard (No. 11 Menards Chevrolet), the highest-ranking series regular in the top 10, is sixth, but can't overlook Kyle Busch (No. 5 Lowe's/Shop Vac Chevrolet), 84 points back in seventh. Busch has 2003 series champion Greg Biffle (No. 16 Ameriquest Ford) -- just 47 points out in eighth -- as a concern while series regular Johnny Sauter (No. 00 Yellow Transportation Chevrolet) has to watch Reed Sorenson (No. 41 Commit Cherry Dodge) who is 67 points out of Sauter's ninth-place position. Sorenson has made up 10 positions in the last 10 races to climb to 10th in the standings.

Despite his breakthrough, Sorenson is still in a precarious spot with 11th-place Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet), 12th-place Kenny Wallace (No. 22 AutoZone Ford) and 13th-place John Andretti (No. 10 ppc Racing Ford) -- 13, 30 and 41 points behind, respectively.

-credit: nascar