COMPILED BY TFR STAFF

Dearborn, Mich. — So far the 2004 season has proven to be one of consistency for Jason Keller and his No. 22 Miller High Life Ford Racing team.

However, for the first time in 2004, ppc Racing and Keller will head to a NASCAR Busch Series event without sponsorship on the Ford Taurus. Keller, who has 10-career victories, is sixth in the series driver standings heading to Nashville Superspeedway. Both Keller and Keith Barnwell, co-owner and general manager of ppc Racing, feel confident of their chances as they continue to seek sponsorship for this weekend’s event in Nashville.

“ppc Racing has proven to deliver and perform for all its sponsors,” said Barnwell. “Nashville is one of 12 events we do not have a primary sponsor in place. Our team has a very good chance of winning the only major racing series event of the weekend. The team tested at Nashville a couple of weeks ago and has a great car for qualifying and the race. We’ve shown we can win here and lead many laps in both the spring and summer events so another win or top-10 finish is very realistic.”

This will be the second of 13 races that Miller High Life will appear as an associate sponsor on the side of Keller's No. 22 Ford. The company will appear as a primary for 19 of the 34 races on the schedule. High Life returned to racing to help salute their 100-year anniversary, bringing their rich history and tradition back into the sport of NASCAR. Keller's No. 22 Miller High Life Ford recognizes the brand's history with the No. 22 made famous by Bobby Allison in 1983, when Allison drove his High Life car to the 1983 Winston Cup Championship.

“ppc Racing has the personnel and equipment to win another championship,” said Keller. “ppc Racing won the championship in 2000 and is no stranger to Victory Lane. This year we’ve got several races with no sponsorship backing and Nashville is one of them. Bristol was our first race without a sponsor but we were able to put together a one-race deal and finished eighth. I really want to win that guitar the speedway gives to its race winner. I’ve raced at both the short track and superspeedway for years and want to win that guitar bad. To win or score another top-10 finish at Nashville would definitely keep us in the title chase and I think we can do it this weekend. Any company looking to sponsor the No. 22 Ford Taurus this weekend will surely not be disappointed.”

HAVEN’T I SEEN THAT CAR BEFORE?
Greg Biffle is taking his No. JR-78 chassis to the track this weekend. This is the same car Biffle qualified ninth and finished 10th with at Las Vegas.

Biffle is not lightweight, either, when it comes to this track. He captured his first career NBS victory at Nashville in just the eighth race of his rookie season in 2001. In addition to the victory, Biffle also has a pole position and a third place effort in the Busch car and a seventh-place finish in the Craftsman Truck Series. He has led a total of 172 laps (25.48 percent) in three Busch races run at the track.

OFF DAY
After the race Mike Wallace is going to Ava, Mo., for some turkey hunting during an outdoor adventure show. “I’ve never been turkey hunting in my life but Billy Parker [son of outdoorsman Hank Parker] tells me I’m going to love it, so we’ll see if I do or not. I’ll be over there until Wednesday and I’m flying straight to Talladega from there,” said Wallace.

THEY SAID IT
“I’m looking forward to racing at Nashville Superspeedway again. It’s the track where I got my first Busch Series win in 2001 and we’ve also had a couple of other good runs there in the Busch car and Craftsman Trucks. It’s a great facility and the last few races have produced some competitive racing. The first season the track was a little slick and there wasn’t much of a second groove. It’s a few years old now and there is plenty of grip, so I expect you’ll see a very exciting race this weekend.

“We took a big hit in the points last week after our problems at Texas. The Charter Team is preparing awesome cars each week and we were definitely headed for a top-five finish. We had a parts failure under the hood, and there is nothing you can do about that. I feel confident that thy team will bring a strong car this weekend and hopefully we can start inching our way back up in the points with a good run at Nashville.” — Greg Biffle

“We’re taking the same car that ran to a top-10 finish in Vegas. We feel like it’s the right car because the track layouts are very similar. Greg gets around there pretty good, so I don’t think we’ll have any trouble getting up to speed when we unload on Friday.

“Last week was a tough blow to the Charter Team because we were running so well. This team isn’t giving up though, and we’ll just have to keep showing up each week and doing what we have been and hope that we have luck on our side.” — Brad Parrott, No. 60 crew chief

"The banking is only 14 degrees, but the concrete makes Nashville a very fast speedway. You have to find ways to create a smooth transfer of power from the engine to the pavement there. You can have all the horsepower in the world, but if you're spinning your tires and over-revving your engine you won't be around for the finish.

"We're looking for a break. We've had a real good car in the last two races, but we've lost two laps in both races for a loose tire. We got together after the Texas race to figure out how that happens, and what we found is an air gun that sometimes didn't tighten all the lug nuts. We've fixed that problem and we hope we have our bad luck behind us." — Stacy Compton

"All I had to do was look at last year's results at Nashville, and it got my attention. We lost engines at both races there in 2002, and that shows you just how tough that place can be. The concrete allows you to really keep your rpms up. What we're looking for is controlled mayhem. We want to use all that power, but keep it under control. The secret is knowing how much power is too much and when to back off." — Jeff Chandler, No. 59 crew chief

“Nashville is Nashville. It’s a one-mile concrete race track. So that’s something unique that comes into play. I think we’ll probably take the same car we had at Bristol. It’s a fun race track. We continue to hope our program improves. We’ve been working on our pit stops and we’re excited to go to Nashville. We want to get a great finish for Geico.

“The next Nashville race we’ll have Federated Auto Parts onboard as our primary sponsor. We’re looking forward to that. — Mike Wallace