BNS: Stafford III: Schedule, notes of interest

Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford Springs, Conn.

TELEVISION:
SPEED Channel, Monday, November 4, 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern time

SCHEDULE:
Saturday, September 28
11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Practice
3:00 p.m. Bud Pole Qualifying (pos. 1-25)

Sunday, September 29
2:00 p.m. (approx.) Carquest Fall Final 150

NOTES OF INTEREST

* The Carquest Fall Final is the seventh and final Busch North Series event scheduled for national television coverage by SPEED Channel, but the only short track race. The telecast is set for Monday night, November 4, from 6 to 10 p.m. Eastern time.

* Last year Brad Leighton won the Carquest Fall Final as Mike Olsen clinched the 2001 Busch North Series championship. Leighton took the lead from Dale Shaw on lap 87 and pulled away to a 2.2 second victory over Shaw. Mike Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., and Bryan Wall completed the top five. Olsen's 11th place was good enough to lock up the title.

* This June, Kelly Moore won his second straight Carquest 150 at Stafford, taking the lead from Dale Shaw on lap 107. Andy Santerre, Dale Quarterley, Bryon Chew, and Dave Dion were second through fifth as Shaw declined to pit and held on for sixth.

* In July, it was Dale Shaw's turn to conquer Stafford in the NASCAR 150. This time he pitted late and came out of a lap 148 scramble with Andy Santerre and Dale Quarterley as the leader. Matt Kobyluck was sent to the rear for contact with pole starter Dennis Demers on the first lap, but came back to take second over Tracy Gordon, Quarterley, and Dave Dion.

* Kelly Moore set the current Stafford track record in June 2001 with a lap at 19.674 seconds, 91.491 mph. It is one of the few track records not yet broken in 2002.

*Stafford Motor Speedway has hosted 19 previous Busch North Series races, with Andy Santerre, Mike Stefanik, Brad Leighton, and Kelly Moore are the only two time winners. One-time victors are Tommy Houston, Mike McLaughlin, Keith Lamell, Tom Bolles, Jerry Marquis, Rick Fuller, Dennis Demers, Ted Christopher, Mike Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., and Dale Shaw.

* This is only the second time in 2002 that the Busch North Series appears in a same-day doubleheader with the Featherlite Modified Series. The other was at New Hampshire International Speedway in September. Both series were at Nazareth in May and NHIS in July, but racing on different days.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Last week's MBNA All-American Heroes 150 at Dover International Speedway produced both the fastest Bud Pole and race average speeds in Busch North Series history. Paul Wolfe's pole speed of 148.057 miles per hour broke Tom Carey's record of 142.971 set at the same track in 1998, while Matt Kobyluck's average of 116.179 mph topped Ted Christopher's 108.471 at NHIS in May 2001.

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