Homecoming

This is Clarence Brewer's typical weekend.

Hop on a plane in Kentucky and then hop off however many hours later, practice, qualify, race and then repeat the first step in reverse. Get back on the plane and head home to the Bluegrass State. It's hectic, to be sure, but Brewer wouldn't have it any other way.

Brewer's Brewco Motorsports, which fields the entries driven by Kevin Grubb and Jamie McMurray, is the only full-time Busch Series operation based in Kentucky. Its Central City shop is about 185 miles to the southwest of the new Kentucky Speedway, and Brewer will probably drive to the track's first Busch race.

When he gets out of his car for the weekend's race, however, he'll still be in Kentucky for the first time in his Busch Series career. Sure, it'd be easier to base his operations closer to Charlotte, but his reasons for staying in Kentucky are simple.

"My grandfather's grandfather is from Central City. Plus, my wife will not let me leave," Brewer joked. "Before, we considered Nashville home, even though it was in the state of Tennessee. It was the closest. It was kinda like a homecoming. But now that they've moved the Nashville race to the big track, our new home's Kentucky."

There are challenges, to be sure, but advantages as well in being so far out of the Charlotte-area hub.

"Probably the biggest challenge is getting people, but the biggest plus is you don't lose people," Brewer said. "The first couple of years, it wasn't so much of a problem because we were growing. I'd say about a third of the people there now are from Charlotte, who've moved."

Owensboro, Ky.'s racing roots are well-documented, with Darrell and Michael Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield and the three Green brothers - David, Mark and Jeff - all getting their starts in the area. Donnie Richeson, Tim Fedewa's crew chief at Cicci-Welliver Racing, is also from Owensboro, as is Kenneth Davis, a crew member on Elton Sawyer's Akins Motorsports Ford.

There are others from the area involved in racing. There's no telling why or how Owensboro, about 165 miles from the track, also to the southwest, is such a proving ground for NASCAR talent. It just is. All involved are looking forward to having family and friends catch them in action.

"We went there last fall. It was about ready to snow, but we had the opportunity to spend a couple of days on the track," Green said. "It was really a lot of fun. Just reading 'Kentucky' on the wall made it a little bit more exciting. ... Having a weekend off prior to the race is going to be fun, because we get to go there and spend a few days.

"My granddad and grandma haven't been for a while. They've been a little hesitant in going because of their age, so I'm gonna do my darndest to drag them over there. It ought to be a big homecoming for all of us."

Davis' father and Mayfield's uncle co-owned one of David Green's first race cars after he decided to have someone else pay the bills.

"Kenneth Davis is probably my closest connection to my early days," Green said. "I can remember Kenneth being about two-foot tall, and just being basically a pain in the butt, because every time I needed a wrench, he'd steal it and run away with it."

Richeson remembers watching his father, Hilton, race against an up-and-coming Darrell Waltrip. Then, when Richeson moved to North Carolina, his first "real" job in racing was with Waltrip, working on the driver's Busch and ASA cars.

"Darrell was a young guy, just starting out, when my dad had been racing a few years already," Richeson said. "I was just a little guy, sitting up in the stands watching. Those memories are fun. Darrell, from Day One, was just like he was when he got (to NASCAR). There were controversies surrounding him. There were people that cheered for him and there were people that booed him."

The Greens are also a part of Richeson's fond memories of days gone by in Kentucky.

"There are a lot of memories there, just knocking around together, hanging out together at home and getting to race," Richeson concluded. "We still get to do the same thing, but now you get paid for it."

• Mentioned Drivers:
• Jamie McMurray