Smart Racing Gives Green and Butt Paste Solid Finish at Bristol

BRISTOL, TN – Despite a race filled with 14 cautions, including three red-flag periods, and a green-white-checkered finish, the Sharpie Professional 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway was pretty uneventful for Mark Green and the No. 7 Boudreaux’s Butt Paste Chevrolet. Clean racing and smart thinking kept the yellow machine free of harm’s way all day, giving the team a 23rd-place finish.

“There isn’t even a doughnut on the car,” owner James Whitener said. “It’s pretty amazing when you can drive a full race at Bristol without getting a ding on your car. Mark ran his own race and stayed out of harm’s way. That’s a great finish for our team.”

Saturday’s inclement weather forced officials to cancel qualifying and later postponed the race until Monday. Because the cars did not qualify on speed, the No. 7 lined up in the 43rd starting position. Fighting an uphill battle at one of the most famed tracks in NASCAR, Green methodically moved through the field and consistently ran in the top 30.

An early pit stop put the team at a disadvantage, causing it to go a lap down. Patience and great intuition on part of the driver allowed the car to make competitive laps and put it in position to grab the Lucky Dog pass with 29 laps to go. Solid racing all day allowed Green to contend for positions at the end of the race.

Kevin Harvick completed the weekend sweep, winning both the Nextel Cup and Busch races. He took the checkered flag in honor of chocolate lovers everywhere in the No. 29 Reese’s Chevrolet. Teammate and fellow Nextel Cup driver Jeff Burton showed that peanut butter lovers are a strong second. Raybestos ® Rookie Reed Sorenson took third, with Matt Kenseth and Sterling Marlin rounding out the top five.

The Busch Series drivers will get their first break of the season next weekend, but will return to action for the O’Reilly’s 300 at the Texas Motor Speedway April 16. FOX will begin its coverage of the event at 2:00 p.m. and MRN will have the call.