Sauter

On a hot September Friday night in Richmond, Va., we entered the final night race of the year with no doubt we were going to be a contender for a top-five finish. With fast practice speeds in every session, the entire Quality Farm Stores team had many reasons to feel confident. However, our night would end early in 39th position following a wreck with Greg Biffle.

When qualifying began, I knew I had a strong car. I qualified with a time of 21.683 seconds, at 124.522 mph, to earn the fourth starting position. It's the second best qualifying run of the 2001 season, behind only the pole we won at Kentucky in June. It's also the fifth time this season we've qualified in the top-10.

Right from the start of the race, I knew the race was would be competitive. During the first 10 laps, I battled with Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick and was in fourth position on lap 15. Two laps later, the entire race quickly changed.

As I went through Turns 1 and 2 on lap 17, I was tapped from the rear by fifth-place Biffle. My car spun hard into the Turn 2 retaining wall. The car was towed into the garage area where Gene (Nead, crew chief) evaluated the damage.

Damage was extensive, but the pit crew worked hard to repair the car so I could re-enter the race and gain as many points as possible. There was damage to the rear clip, left rear frame rail, drive shaft, oil lines, fuel cell area, rear bar and spoiler area. I re-entered the race at lap 106.

Though many laps down, I was able to run a very competitive pace over the next 78 laps. However, on lap 184, I had another major incident.

While racing in a pack exiting Turn 4, my car made contact again with Biffle. Both of our cars hit hard into the frontstretch retaining wall, causing major damage to both machines. We were both done for the evening. I was credited with a 39th-place finish and had completed 95 of the 250 laps.

Biffle physically showed his displeasure with the accident on the track and we were both summoned to the office of Busch Series Director John Darby after the race.

I really hate that the incident happened that way. It was just good, hard short-track racing. I had a good, competitive car at the start of the race, and I ran very competitive laps after repairs were made. Gene and the Quality Farm Stores team did a great job just getting the car repaired. I really hate that we tore up a good car.

The 39th-place finish dropped us to 16th in the standings.

We've got this weekend off before we travel to Dover, Del., on Saturday, Sept. 22. We had a good car there last June before we had some electrical problems, but hope to rebound with a good race.

Jay Sauter drives the No. 43 car in the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division and will be submitting a weekly diary to ESPN.com throughout the season.