Keller 11th at Bristol;
Loses More Ground in Points Race

For the second week in a row, Jason Keller and his Albertson's Supermarkets / Northeastern Supply Company race team lost valuable ground in their quest for the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series championship.

Keller, who earned his second pole position as the fastest qualifier for the Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN on Friday night, never could get untracked and finished 11th before 110,000 fans and a national, prime time television audience.  With title contenders Scott Riggs (9th) and Ron Hornaday (2nd) finishing ahead of Keller, Jason dropped back a spot in the driver's championship points battle to fourth with 10 races remaining.

Jason, who was as close as 35 points from the lead three weeks ago after running off four straight top 10 efforts, now trails third place Hornaday by just seven points, second place David Green by 76 and point leader Riggs by 104.  Green, who had overheating problems, finished 17th in the race, one lap down to the leaders.

Winston Cup Series regular Kevin Harvick grabbed the lead from Keller at the outset and proceeded to lead the first 109 laps.  A late-race pit stop dropped Harvick well back in the field and he was only able to move up to fifth at the checkers.  Another Winston Cup regular, Michael Waltrip, won the race with a late nudge and pass of Hornaday while Ted Musgrave, substituting for the suspended Jimmy Spencer, finished third, Shane Hmiel finished fourth, and Harvick finished fifth.

Keller steadily dropped back into the field from the start and was mired back as far as 27th place following a pit stop he elected to make after a multi-car wreck left debris on the track and Jason was forced to run through it.  That came on lap 63.  He was able to work his way steadily back towards the front but was never able to really mount a charge.  At one stage late in the race, Jason was ahead of both Riggs and Green but was unable to hold onto the advantage over Riggs, his teammate at ppc Racing, who fought off carburetor problems all night.

Keller will attempt to get some of the points he lost at Bristol back next weekend in Darlington, SC, when the Busch Series teams run the South Carolina 200 on Saturday starting at 2 p.m.  NBC will televise the race live.  Keller posted a 10th place finish in the Busch Series' first race at Darlington in the spring.  Todd Bodine won that race over Jamie McMurray and Riggs.