Jiffy Lube 300 Live Report by Mike Richards

On both Friday and Saturday, I frantically checked both the fan club website and NASCAR.COM, hoping that Derrike had qualified for the Jiffy Lube 300. Unfortunately, he had major problems in his qualifying runs and DNQ'ed.

Except for the disappointment of not have Derrike Cope in the race, the event was awesome. The weather was perfect, and the cars were running fast. There were 7 cautions for 51 laps, and Jeff Burton amazingly came from 38th and won, leading only the last 2 laps, after Tony Stewart ran out of fuel.

I was listening to Jeff Burton's team on the scanner for most of the race, and knew that he had a chance to win. He was posting great lap times, and with his experience and success at NHIS, he came through.

Hopefully, Derrike's run of terrible luck will end at NHIS. I have a good feeling about the rest of season.