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Busch North Scene: A Ten Year Retrospective

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Plans Announced for New Busch North Scene Book

Busch North Scene: A Ten Year Retrospective

Busch Sport Scene Publisher George Campbell announced plans today for a follow up to the book he released last fall, Busch North Scene: A Ten Year Retrospective. The new book that has a tentative release date of November, 2011 is titled Busch North Scene: The Busch Years.

“I have officially signed the contracts and started work on the new book, Busch North Scene: The Busch Years,” Campbell said in an interview on the popular auto racing radio show ‘In the Pits’ on Friday morning. “It will be a follow up to my last one, and truly a companion book to that book. It will be put together in the same format, but instead of focusing on the 2000 decade like I did in the first book, I plan to cover the entire period Busch Beer sponsored the popular NASCAR series in the northeast region.”

There will be a few changes in the new book that should appeal to the many long time fans of the former NASCAR Busch North Series.

“I was honored to have my good friend Steve Griswold write the foreword in the Ten Year Retrospective, and had long time Busch North Scene staff members Greg Fish, Alan Claffie and Rick DeBour contribute outstanding chapters in the first book,” Campbell explained. “This time around I am thrilled to have two-time NASCAR Champion Brad Leighton writing the foreword for the book. Brad has a great sense of humor and was as popular a driver the series has ever had. His two championships came at what many feel was the peak of the series popularity – 1999 – 2000. He never pulled any punches as a driver, and I think he will do an outstanding job with the foreward.”

“Also,” Campbell continued, “There will be three more Busch North Scene staff members contributing chapters, similar to the columns that they wrote for years in the Busch North Scene newspaper. Penny Aicardi will write a chapter, contributing her ‘two cents’ as she has for so many years covering the series for a number of publications, and the years of PR work she did for so many BNS teams. Mike Twist will also use his extensive background in the series to pen a chapter. His unique view will include the years he spent as a PR person for Bessey Motorsports. And another writer I am especially happy to have contributing his memories will be Phil Whipple, who has covered the series in many capacities over the years, longer than any other Busch North Scene staff member.”

The middle section of the book will have chapters that cover several aspects of the series during the Busch Years. Among them will be a chapter on the tremendous role the state of Maine has played in the history of the series. From the drivers like Kelly Moore, Andy Santerre, Ricky Craven, Joe Bessey, Mike Rowe, Tracy Gordon and so many more to the tracks like Oxford Plains Speedway, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and even Wiscasset and Unity Speedways.

There will be a chapter on the many drivers and crewmembers that have climbed through the ranks of the sport, starting from the Busch North Series to the highest levels of the sport. This chapter will cover some of the many BNS alumni including racers like Craven, Bessey and Martin Truex as well as crewmembers like Slugger Labbe, Frankie Stoddard, Greg Zipadelli and even guys like BNS racer turned Cup crew chief Pete Rondeau, who won the race at Darlington last week with driver Regan Smith.

“Like the first book, my goal is to touch on as many of the people that made the series great as I can. There will chapters that cover the past champions and others that look at guys that may have just won a single race, or maybe never even made it to victory lane,” Campbell said. “By covering that twenty-one year time frame, we can’t cover everyone, much less every event, but we will again try to bring back some great memories as we can.

The book will again have over 300 pages and over 100 pictures. The time frame for release is November. People can friend Busch North Scene on Facebook for frequent updates, or email soup@neracing.com and request to be added to the books email update list.

The Ten Year Retrospective book can still be found online at many outlets, including Coastal 181, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and even Ebay. Signed copies can be obtained on this website or at www.neracing.com.

Update: June 1, 2011 - The book is really coming along well. I have been catching up with a number of guys from the late 1980's that were a big part of the series then. This book will have stories starting with the first year of the 'Busch North Series' and really look back at various people and events from the early years of the series. Joey Kourafas, Jamie Aube, Dick McCabe, Ricky Craven and others that built the foundation that grew into what is now the NASCAR K&N Series. We will also look at the guys that carried the sport into the next decade, guys like Dale Shaw, Brad Leighton, Dave Dion, Kelly Moore, Mike Stefanik and so many more. I am really enjoying working on this book. I hope it shows in the final product, which is slated for a November release. - George Campbell

Summary:

New book to be titled: Busch North Scene: The Busch Years

Target release date: November 2011

Topic: Memories of the NASCAR Busch North Series from the years 1987 to 2007

Foreward by: Two-time NASCAR Champion Brad Leighton

First section (four chapters) in newspaper column style by: George Campbell, Penny Aicardi, Mike Twist and Phil Whipple

A few of the proposed chapters: Maine, The Other Champions, BNS Alumni, One Hit Wonders, Statistical Thoughts, The Greatest All Time?

300+ pages and over 100 b/w photos.

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Busch North Scene: A Ten Year Retrospective Official Blog Site

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