Head For The Mountains - Dale Jarrett - Busch Series - Charlotte- 1985

Dale Jarrett in 1985 was sponsored by Busch Beer who was also then the series sponsor. Jarrett ran 329 races in his NASCAR Busch Series career getting the first of his 11 wins in 1986 at Orange County Speedway. He moved on to mainly running in the Cup Series in 1987 where earned a place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Here he is at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The NASCAR division that was the Late Model Sportsmans Series changed in 1982 to a touring division that became the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series and that evolved through several names involving the Busch beer sponsorship over the years. It is known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series today.

Emanuel Zervakis Enterprise - Busch Series - Richmond, Virginia - 1982

The Zervakis Racing Team asked me to do a photo shoot with their three race cars and hauler for use in sponsor presentations in 1982. While I did the straight up ones that showed off what they had to offer a sponsor, I couldn't resist breaking out a fish eye lens to capture this angle. Butch Lindley was driving these cars at that time.

Bunch Of Buicks - Busch Series - Darlington - 1987

A Bunch of Buicks coming off what was once turn two at Darlington. Harry Gant won the Gatorade 200 that day in September of 1987. Here he is racing with Rick Mast, who finished 6th, and Dale Jarrett who finished 14th, the last car on the lead lap.

Larry Pearson - Morgan Shepherd - Busch Series - Dover Downs - 1987

Larry Pearson and Morgan Shepherd at the May 1987 Busch Series race at Dover Downs. Pearson would finish second and Shepherd forth. Between them they would win nine of the twenty-seven races on the 1987 Busch Series schedule, with Pearson winning the series' championship and six races and Shepherd winning three races in fourteen starts.

Michael Waltrip - Busch Series - Bristol Wreck - 1990

In the 1990 Busch Series spring race at Bristol Michael Waltrip survived what many called the most violent single-car crash in NASCAR history. Moments after the crash his brother, three-time Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip, stood over the wreckage sobbing, while being restrained by his crew chief Jeff Hammond and a NASCAR official.  Michael Waltrip was briefly unconscious but emerged from the wreck just sore and dazed. It was estimated his car slowed from 100 mph to a stop in about 10 feet. This photo appeared in the book "Second To None: The History of the NASCAR Busch Series," by Rick Houston.

Terry Labonte - Busch Series - Road Atlanta - 1986

Terry Labonte drove a Busch Series car owned by his younger brother Bobby Labonte at the Road Atlanta Busch Series race in 1986. Terry put the car on the pole and finished second in the race. This effort led to Bobby later being able to form his team, Bobby Labonte Racing, which would win Busch Series championships for himself in 1991 and David Green in 1994.

Sam Ard - Busch Series - Two-Time Champion - South Boston Speedway - 1984

Sam Ard in the pits at South Boston Speedway at a NASCAR Busch Grand National race in the summer of 1984. Sam would go on to win his second series' championship that year. He would have a career ending accident at Rockingham in the next to last race of 1984 but had accumulated enough points to win the title without having to start the final race of the year at Martinsville.

Butch Lindley - Gunslinger - Busch Series - South Boston Speedway - 1982

Butch Lindley, tapping his fingers on the roof of his Emanual Zervakis Pontiac just before getting into the car to start the race. He was at South Boston Speedway in 1982 running in the first year of the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series that would later evolve into the Busch Series. Butch would only run 14 of the 29 races on the schedule that year winning four, with nine Top 5 and ten Top Ten finishes to go along with two Poles.

Sam Ard Wins From Pole - Busch Series - Martinsville Speedway - 1983

Sam Ard takes the lead from the pole in the September 24,1983 Autumn 150 lap NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series race at Martinsville Speedway. Ard would lead every lap in this race on his way to the 1983 Championship. This photo was on the cover and ran on two full pages "double truck" in the book "AutoRacing USA -1983/The Year in Review."

Rob Moroso - Busch Series - Martinsville Speedway - 1989

Rob Moroso, on his way to the 1989 NASCAR Busch Series Championship with only four races remaining on the schedule. Here at Martinsville's September 150 lap race he started on the pole and finished second. He would clinch the championship back here at Martinsville in late October. Running behind him are Elton Sawyer, Rick Mast, Bobby Hamilton and Kenny Wallace.

Dale Jarrett - Tommy Ellis - Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series - South Boston Speedway - 1983

Tommy Ellis puts the bumper to Dale Jarrett, in a race he would win, at South Boston Speedway in 1983. In the short track racing of this era, it was just a gentle tap. A lap or two later Ellis would ease Jarrett up out of the grove and take the spot, almost like a move in ballet. Neither car lost much time and the race continued under green. Ellis would finish forth in the final points standings that year and Jarrett would finish fifth. The next year this series would become the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series.

Sam Ard - Tommy Ellis - Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series - South Boston Speedway - 1983

Tommy Ellis "drafts" Sam Ard in 1983 at South Boston Speedway in the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series. It would become the Busch Grand National Series the next year. Ard would claim the 1983 championship winning ten races, Ellis would finish forth in the points with seven wins. This photo appeared in the book "Second To None: The History of the NASCAR Busch Series," by Rick Houston.

Mark Martin - Busch Series - Martinsville Speedway - Poster Shot - 1988

Mark Martin in the cockpit of his Bill Davis Racing Carolina Ford Dealers Thunderbird at Martinsville Speedway in 1988. I was asked to produce a poster and autograph card for the Carolina Ford Dealers by their marketing group. To get this shot I got in the car with Mark and we had them put the window net up to give it the feel that he was on the track. In addition to the poster and autograph card this photo appeared in the book "Mark Martin- The Racer's Racer," by Harry Boone and the Editors of Stock Car Racing Magazine.

David Pearson - Busch Series - Indianapolis Raceway Park - 1988

David Pearson in the Busch Series car of Dale Earnhardt at the 1988 Kroger 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Earnhardt was scheduled to run the Busch Series race that night but also had an obligation to be at the IROC race that afternoon at Michigan Speedway. Earnhardt's team needed someone to help get the car ready in his absence and turned to Pearson. Pearson who had not competed in a NASCAR Cup race since 1986 when he only had two starts, just happened to have his driver's suit in the Chattanooga Chew hauler that was there with his son’s car that weekend. Larry Pearson had been the Busch Series champion for the previous two years and David Pearson was his car owner.

Dale Earnhardt - Scuff Marks - Busch Series - Daytona International Speedway - 1986

Dale Earnhardt Sr has just won the 1986 Busch Series Goody's 300 at Daytona International Speedway. He passed his crew as he headed down pit road to victory lane. Tire scuff marks adorn the side of his Pontiac, which is unusual on a winning car at Daytona. Earnhardt who had been sponsored by Wrangler on his Busch Series cars prior to this year was in the black Goodwrench colors, as they set the stage to take over his Winston Cup Series cars starting in 1988. This photo appeared in the book "Dale vs Daytona: The Intimidator's Quest to Win the Great American Race," by Rick Houston.

Bobby Labonte - Busch Series - After The First Win - Bristol International Speedway - 1991

Bobby Labonte had just left the Bristol Speedway media center after the winner's interviews, having just won the first NASCAR Busch Series race of his career April 13,1991. He had beat Dale Earnhardt Sr among others in a rough and tumble finish on the high banked half-mile track. His Penrose #44 Olds was being inspected in the tracks victory lane and the motor was being torn down. He walked up to the car and started touching the scars and rub marks the car had suffered in the win, remembering where each one had been made and who had delivered it during the race.

Jack Ingram - Tommy Ellis - Busch Series - South Boston Speedway - 1983

In 1983 the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series ran five of their thirty-five races at South Boston Speedway and Tommy Ellis won four of them. Here in the July race, he and Jack Ingram show what short track racing in that division was all about. Ingram would finish second to Ellis that day. This photo appeared in the books "Second To None: The History of the NASCAR Busch Series," by Rick Houston and "AutoRacing/USA - 1983/The Year in Review."

Tommy Ellis - Busch Series - Orange County Speedway - 1989

Tommy Ellis in a good mood at Orange County Speedway in June of 1989. Ellis had been the NASCAR Busch Series Champion in 1988 and would finish third in points behind Rob Moroso and Tommy Houston in 1989. This photo appeared in the book "Second To None: The History of the NASCAR Busch Series," by Rick Houston.

Green Flag - Ard To The Front - Busch Series - Martinsville Speedway - 1984

Think of all the mental calculations going on as they go under the green flag into turn one fighting for position, hoping not to wreck. Tommy Ellis had won the pole at the 1984 Martinsville spring Busch Series race, but Sam Ard with B&R horsepower took the lead from the second position. Ard led the first 8 laps then Ellis took over for the next 47. Jack Ingram started 11th and took first place at lap 215 then stayed there all the way to the checkered flag at lap 250. Dale Jarrett, Dickie Boswell, Charlie Luck and Elton Sawyer would round out the Top Five. This photo appeared in the book "Second To None: The History of the NASCAR Busch Series," by Rick Houston.

Jack Ingram - "Iron Man" - Busch Series - Two-Time Busch Series Champion - 1989

Jack Ingram in 1989 seems to have mellowed a bit as he neared the end of his stellar driving career. He won the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division national championship three times, 1972,1973 and 1974. When that tour consolidated into what became the NASCAR Busch Series, he won that championship in 1982 and 1985. He retired after running a limited "farewell tour," in 1991 He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2014.

Road Atlanta - Busch Series - First Road Race - First Lap - 1986

Pole sitter Terry Labonte leads Bill Elliott, Patty Moise, Dale Earnhardt Sr and eventual winner Darrell Waltrip in the NASCAR Busch Series first ever road race, at Road Atlanta July 6, 1986. Labonte would finish second and Earnhardt third. The race would include seven drivers that would later be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. On a blistering hot humid Georgia summer day 19 of the 30 drivers that started the 74-lap race on the 2.52-mile track would be running at the end.

Rob Moroso - Busch Series - Orange County Speedway - 1989

Twenty-year-old Rob Moroso, at the June 10, 1989, Busch Series race at Orange County Speedway. Just two weeks earlier he had won at Charlotte for the second time in a row and was the Series' points leader at Orange County. He would slide in the points through the summer, but another Charlotte win in October would help him close the gap. He would enter the last race of the year at Martinsville just 19 points behind leader Tommy Houston. In that final race Houston would have and engine failure on lap 174 of the 200-lap race and with a third-place finish Moroso would clinch the 1989 Busch Series Championship.

Mark Maritn - Jack Ingram - Busch Series - Richmond - 1987

Mark Martin on the way to his and Ford's third Busch Series win of 1987, here on the old Richmond half-mile track. Martin had scored the first ever Ford Busch Series victory earlier in the year at Dover. Jack Ingram, entering the twilight of his Busch Series career had won his final Busch Series race at the beginning of the year at Hickory. At the time of his Busch Series retirement in 1991, having won 31 races he held the record for the most wins in the Busch Series, until it was broken by Mark Martin in 1997. Both drivers would be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Bobby Allison - Davey Allison - Busch Series - Open Test - Charlotte Motor Speedway - 1983

Davey Allison at an Open Test at Charlotte Motor Speedway in September 1983 puts the window net up on his car with his dad, Bobby Allison behind the wheel. They were preparing for the upcoming NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series Miller Time 300 race to be run October 8. Davey, at age twenty-two, would finish seventh in that race. Bobby once said, "I would help Davey out whenever I could by doing some hot laps in his cars." This photo appeared in the books, "Bobby Allison: A Racer's Racer," "Second To None: The History of the NASCAR Busch Series," by Rick Houston and "AutoRacing/USA - 1983/The Year in Review."