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April 10, 2007

Easter Bunny Found a Win for Andy Belmont
Making the Grade-Nashville Spring Events
By Dennis Michelsen
While the Cup guys are away the ARCA and Busch guys will play at Nashville Super Speedway. Despite cold temperatures an enthusiastic crowd came out to watch some great racing. It is a shame this track will never get a shot at a Nextel Cup date. They say there is no cheering in the press box but anyone who knows racing was going nuts when Andy Belmont's team won the ARCA RE/MAX race with driver Chad McCumbee! These two made history together and made this one of the most exciting race weekends of the year. Too bad it wasn't shown on SPEED!

Busch Race-Nashville Super Speedway

1. Carl Edwards
2. David Reutimann
3. Dave Blaney
4. Jason Leffler
5. Regan Smith
6. Shane Huffman
7. Scott Wimmer
8. Stephen Leicht
9. Bobby Hamilton Jr
10. Mike Bliss

F for Kertus Davis
Where is Burney Lamar when you need him? Kertus Davis seemed overmatched in quality equipment and ended up costing some good cars from having a better day.

D for Sam Hornish Jr
So far I am not seeing enough to recommend a career change for Sam Hornish Jr. Perhaps he is showing that what Juan Pablo Montoya has accomplished is really a big deal!

C for Brad Coleman
I expected bigger things much quicker for Brad Coleman. Perhaps Gibbs Racing would be well served to give Brad this car to race each and every week so he can get comfortable racing at this level.

B for Jason Leffler
Leffler has had a quick car and bad luck so far this season. Finally Jason put a complete race together and comes home best in class at Nashville for the Busch guys.

A for Carl Edwards
Just how many points will Edwards win the title by this season? That is the only thing still in doubt in the Busch series this season. NASCAR can start engraving the trophy right now because this team is bringing a bazooka to a knife fight every week!

ARCA RE/MAX Series- Nashville Super Speedway

1. Chad McCumbee
2. Cale Gale
3. Erin Crocker
4. Scott Lagasse
5. Chad Blount
6. Tim Andrews
7. Justin South
8. Marc Mitchell
9. Dexter Bean
10. Frank Kimmel

F for Joey Miller's Engine
This team is usually a threat to win but went home after just 19 laps on Saturday. As Richard Petty once said when asked by Chris Economaki what happened, "Something broke!"

D for Nashville Speedway Track Crew
The start of the ARCA race shows what can happen when you cram too much racing into too small of a window. The late crash during Busch qualifying coupled with a tight race window for ARCA, and the cold weather led to poor track conditions early in the race.

C for Billy Venturini
If the rumors are true this will be the next to last race for Billy Venturini as the team switches drivers due to a lack of sponsorship. Hopefully they will find the funding to put one of ARCA's best back in the seat later this year.

B for Erin Crocker
Back down to the level where Erin belongs she showed that she is quite a driver! Finishing third with this impressive roster of drivers is a very solid result indeed.

A for Chad McCumbee and Andy Belmont
Why did I have this urge to scream, "Junior," when McCumbee won the race? Chad is one of the most underrated drivers who deserves a chance with good equipment at the Busch level. Andy Belmont is one of the good guys in the sport and it is great to see him visit Victory Lane with one of his cars!