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BNS: Star Speedway post-race report

Star 150 at Star Speedway, Saturday, June 16 How hot has Mike Olsen been over the past three Busch North Series races? Combining Holland, Beech Ridge, and Star, he has scored 530 of 540 possible points while leading 304 of 453 possible laps.

Edited: Dec 22, 2003, 5:59 AM

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Star 150 at Star Speedway, Saturday, June 16

How hot has Mike Olsen been over the past three Busch North Series races? Combining Holland, Beech Ridge, and Star, he has scored 530 of 540 possible points while leading 304 of 453 possible laps. Olsen joins Tracy Gordon as the only BNS drivers to post back-to-back wins since 1997. Gordon had a three-race and a two-race streak in 2000.

Prior to Olsen, only two drivers had scored their first two Busch North Series wins back-to-back. They came in the first two years of the series, but both drivers are still active- Kelly Moore, who turned the trick in 1987, and Mike Rowe, who did so in 1988.

The last time Brad Leighton was not running at the finish of a Busch North Series race was at Lime Rock Park in the finale of the 1999 season. Ironically, he was the last place finisher in that event as well, although he clinched his first BNS title just by starting that day. Remarkably, Leighton did not lose a position in the standings with his 26th place at Star. He's still fourth, but 94 points further from the lead.

Paul Richardson also maintained fifth in the points race despite his 14th place finish. The biggest losers on the points chart were Kelly Moore and Martin Truex Jr., who dropped from sixth and seventh to tenth and eleventh.

Mike Johnson's blown engine assured that no one will equal Leighton's 2000 feat of completing every lap of the season. Olsen and Gordon are still on track for perfect top-10 records, however.

Brian Hoar's fourth straight Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Race Award was also his fourth straight top-seven overall finish (7-7-5-6). Hoar is now eighth in points, the same spot Mike Johnson finished in his Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year season last year.

Personal Milestones at Star-

David Darling's seventh place finish was a personal best and his first BNS career top ten.

Barney McRae recorded his first top ten since 1998, when he finished ninth at Thunder Road.

Carey Heath's 13th place in qualifying was her best, beating her 2000 Seekonk effort by one spot.

Mother Nature chose another weapon to plague the Busch North Series at Star. Instead of rain, it was a blazing sun beating down from a cloudless sky, sending air temperatures in to the 90's and the track temperature to nearly 140 degrees when Bud Pole Qualifying was scheduled to begin. On-track activity was halted for almost two hours while a water truck cooled the surface and both qualifying and the complete race program, including the Star Speedway NASCAR Weekly Racing Series divisions, was conducted without track-related problems.

Since the track became faster as it cooled, the top three second round qualifying times were faster than Tracy Gordon's Bud Pole time. Leighton was the fastest qualifier, but started 17th.

-nascar/bns-

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