BUSCH: Riggs dominates Nashville

Sophomore Scott Riggs took his ppc Racing Nesquick Ford to victory lane by dominating the Trace Atkins Chrome 300 at the Nashville Superspeedway. The win marked the second time the North Carolina native has won on the 1.33-mile concrete track.

"That's what it takes to be in victory lane," said Riggs about the team's performance. "That's what it takes to be a championship-caliber team, and that's what I feel we are right now. We'll all definitely have the momentum on our side to keep it up."

Riggs, the 2002 series Rookie of the Year got off to a slow start in 2003, but has been recently on a tear as the team has scored in the top three in five out of the last six races. Their success has allowed them to make up the deficient in the championship points competition to take the lead by eighteen points over David Green.

Finishing behind Riggs were Green, rookie David Stremme, Randy Lajoie, and hometown favorite Bobby Hamilton Jr.

Coming into Nashville. Todd Bodine led the series points, but an engine failure on lap 190 regulated the team back to the twenty-sixth position, opening the door for Riggs and Green to move up in position.

For the second consecutive week NASCAR put out the red flag late in the race, as additional time was needed to clear the track after a closing lap incident between David Stremme and Johnny Sauter. Sauter, who was running in the top five at time was upset with the rookie driver, but still managed to finish eleventh due to the high attrition in the event.

Next week, the series continue to run solo, as it heads to Kentucky for the Meijer 300

-thomas chemris