IN THE PITS | News and notes

Busman's holiday: Defending champion Matt Kenseth spent a rare weekend off from NASCAR's Nextel Cup series near home. Kenseth, who hails from Cambridge, Wis., entered the inaugural event of the American Speedway Association Late Model Series last Saturday at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wis. He made history by winning both the pole and the race. "I always wanted to go in ASA's history books somewhere," Kenseth said. "I've never been able to win an ASA Touring Series race before, so that's pretty cool. I've run in a few of them, but never been able to pull one off." Kenseth made 16 starts in ASA competition from 1994-97. The win didn't come easily. Kenseth and second place finisher Ron Breese dueled side by side for nearly a dozen laps before rain shortened the 100-lap race after just 75 laps. Breese led for 49 laps with Kenseth nearby, patiently waiting. Kenseth finally made the pass stick on lap 67. "You don't get racing like that very often," Breese said. "We came in second, but I tell you what, this was the most fun I've had in a long time. We took second to the Winston Cup champion, but I would have liked to have won." Family first: Two-time World Sports Car driving champion Wayne Taylor has a dilemma: His next race is in Canada -- the same weekend as his son's bar mitzvah in Florida. The South African-born driver, who came to the United States in the mid-80's, had retired from racing so he could spend more time with sons Ricky and Jordan and wife Shelley. Then, the Grand American Road Racing Association introduced its new Daytona Prototypes in 2003 and Taylor saw that as a golden opportunity. He put together a deal that included sports car chassis expert Bill Riley and got back into the cockpit of a new Pontiac-powered Riley prototype. He won driving the car at Phoenix last month. His next racing weekend is May 21-23 at Mount Tremblant in Quebec, round four of the Rolex Series. Jason's celebration is that weekend, too. Right now, the plan is for Taylor -- and co-driver Max Angelelli -- to spend Friday and part of Saturday in Orlando, taking part in the family celebration before flying to Mount Tremblant for Sunday's race. Emanuel Collard of France, their co-driver in February in the 24-hour race at Daytona, will be the stand-in at the racetrack, practicing and qualifying the car.
Busman's holiday: Defending champion Matt Kenseth spent a rare weekend off from NASCAR's Nextel Cup series near home. Kenseth, who hails from Cambridge, Wis., entered the inaugural event of the American Speedway Association Late Model Series last Saturday at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wis. He made history by winning both the pole and the race. "I always wanted to go in ASA's history books somewhere," Kenseth said. "I've never been able to win an ASA Touring Series race before, so that's pretty cool. I've run in a few of them, but never been able to pull one off." Kenseth made 16 starts in ASA competition from 1994-97. The win didn't come easily. Kenseth and second place finisher Ron Breese dueled side by side for nearly a dozen laps before rain shortened the 100-lap race after just 75 laps. Breese led for 49 laps with Kenseth nearby, patiently waiting. Kenseth finally made the pass stick on lap 67. "You don't get racing like that very often," Breese said. "We came in second, but I tell you what, this was the most fun I've had in a long time. We took second to the Winston Cup champion, but I would have liked to have won." Family first: Two-time World Sports Car driving champion Wayne Taylor has a dilemma: His next race is in Canada -- the same weekend as his son's bar mitzvah in Florida. The South African-born driver, who came to the United States in the mid-80's, had retired from racing so he could spend more time with sons Ricky and Jordan and wife Shelley. Then, the Grand American Road Racing Association introduced its new Daytona Prototypes in 2003 and Taylor saw that as a golden opportunity. He put together a deal that included sports car chassis expert Bill Riley and got back into the cockpit of a new Pontiac-powered Riley prototype. He won driving the car at Phoenix last month. His next racing weekend is May 21-23 at Mount Tremblant in Quebec, round four of the Rolex Series. Jason's celebration is that weekend, too. Right now, the plan is for Taylor -- and co-driver Max Angelelli -- to spend Friday and part of Saturday in Orlando, taking part in the family celebration before flying to Mount Tremblant for Sunday's race. Emanuel Collard of France, their co-driver in February in the 24-hour race at Daytona, will be the stand-in at the racetrack, practicing and qualifying the car.