Saturday should be an exciting day for Saybrook, Ill. native Blake Feese who makes his second start of the 2005 Busch Series season in the No. 5 Lowe’s/Shop Vac Chevrolet. A few hours after the race, his beloved University of Illinois basketball team plays in the NCAA Final Four.

Feese has his work cut out for him on the Bristol high banks. He’s never raced on the concrete half-mile, but in 2001 he raced on the banking in a sprint car when promoters put about 10 inches of dirt on the concrete for a World of Outlaw race. The speeds were actually faster than the Busch and Nextel Cup cars.

Q&A WITH DRIVER BLAKE FEESE:

The University of Illinois is in the “Final Four” this weekend. For an Illinois native like you, is that a pretty cool thing to see?

“Oh, absolutely. I grew up about 25 miles form the University of Illinois campus. A lot of my friends graduated from there. Everybody in the small towns around where I grew up get together and watch the games. I know the team’s success has been a long time coming, but everybody is very excited back home. “I haven’t had a chance to watch too many games this season with as busy as we have been racing. I have seen a few games and will watch whenever I get the chance. Sure I’m looking forward to this weekend. On Saturday we get to race the Lowe’s / Shop Vac Chevrolet on Saturday and root on the Illini that night. I hope we are celebrating in Victory Lane, but I would like to watch it. If they get their Monday night, I can guarantee you I will be watching. On our pit sign we have Chief Illiniwek. We did that about a month ago. It’s just a little something personal for me that remind me of friends, family and home.”

How different is it to drive a stock car around Bristol, versus a sprint car?

“Oh man, it’s night and day. There’s really no comparison whatsoever. The banking was a lot less for the sprint cars when we were here, for one thing. Then the weight difference is also huge between the two types of cars. In the sprint cars, we got around this place two seconds faster a lap than the (Nextel) Cup cars do. Coming here in a stock car is a whole different experience.”

When you raced a World of Outlaws car at Bristol a few years ago, did you ever think you’d be back here driving a stock car?

“It was a dream of mine that’s now coming true, that’s for sure. I remember standing in the infield, looking up at all those stands and daydreaming about being back here when the stands are full, driving in NASCAR. I didn’t know how or when I was going to be able to pull that off, but here we are. It’s pretty amazing, when you really think about it. The planets definitely lined up for me. This whole deal with Hendrick Motorsports is a dream come true, but to be able to race for Hendrick at a place like Bristol is more than I could ever hope for.”

ABOUT BLAKE FEESE:

Feese is making his second start of the 2005 Busch Series season this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Feese, 23, hails from Saybrook, Ill. where he began his career racing Quarter Midget cars at the age of 10. In 2003, Feese won a World of Outlaws sprint car race at “The Dirt Track” at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. While walking down pit road at Lowe’s Motor Speedway the following day, Feese was introduced to his future boss, Rick Hendrick.

Signed to Hendrick Motorsports’ driver development program last year, Feese scored two wins (Nashville Superspeedway and Talladega Superspeedway) in four ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America) starts. Feese also made three Busch Series starts in 2004, driving the No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Chevy, and four starts in the No. 00 Haas Chevy, in partnership with Hendrick Motorsports.

In his first start behind the wheel of the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevy, Feese qualified eighth and finished 23rd at Atlanta Motor Speedway two weeks ago.

MULTI-DRIVER TEAM:

The Team Lowe’s Racing crew is competing for the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series owner points championship with four different drivers. Boston Reid and Blake Feese are scheduled to drive 13-15 races apiece, and Kyle Busch is piloting the car in three events (Daytona International Speedway, Las Vegas, and Watkins Glens International). Open-wheel star Adrian Fernandez drove the No. 5 to a top-10 finish in the March 6 Busch Series race in Mexico.

TEST SESSION:

Blake Feese tested at Bristol Motor Speedway with the No. 5 team on Thursday, March 24.

THE DIRT:

Blake Feese has never competed on the concrete surface at Bristol Motor Speedway, but he has raced at the .533-mile track. How is that possible? Feese competed in the June, 2001, World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Series races at Bristol, when track owner Bruton Smith had tons of dirt trucked in to cover the concrete track. Feese finished ninth in Friday night’s WoO main event, and 24th on Saturday night.

CHASSIS INFORMATION:

Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 299 – Kyle Busch drove this chassis to a pole position and a 10th-place finish at Nazareth (PA.) Speedway last season.

TEAM NO. 5’s HISTORY AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY:

The No. 5 team has three top-10 finishes in six NASCAR Busch Series starts at Bristol Motor Speedway. In August of 2002, driver and team owner Ricky Hendrick started 13th and finished ninth at Bristol, just weeks before he retired from driving. Last year in this event, rookie Kyle Busch posted a third-place finish in his first Bristol Busch Series start.

STATS & FACTS

Rick Hendrick, owner of the No. 5 Lowe’s/Shop Vac entry, now sits 15th in the NASCAR Busch Series owners’ points standings after six events of the 35-race season.

The No. 5 Team Lowe’s Racing Chevy will carry the logos of Shop Vac on its quarter panels this weekend. Shop Vac is the recognized world leader in wet/dry vacuum cleaners. Shop Vac is one of six Lowe’s vendor partners (with Sta Green, Spectracide, Hitachi Power Tools, Briggs & Stratton, and Pella Windows and Doors being the others) sharing placement on the No. 5’s quarter panels this season.