Drivers to watch for this weekend's Busch race at Rockingham, N.C.:

Mike Bliss
Not the best of starts to his Busch series career; encountered car trouble at Daytona in the Koolerz 300 and finished out of contention eight laps down in 33rd place; was the Craftsman Truck series champion last year; won five races, four poles, had 13 top-fives and 17 top-10 finishes; was hired to drive the No. 20 Rockwell Automation JGR Chevrolet for the 2003 Busch series season.

Todd Bodine
With his sixth-place finish at the Koolerz 300 last week, he was the highest finisher among Busch series regulars; He finished behind five Winston Cup drivers including winner Dale Earnhardt Jr.; the result was impressive considering he started 34th out of 43 cars; earned over $50,000 and is sixth in the series standings with 150 points; won this event in 2001.

Stacy Compton
An accident took him out of the Koolerz 300 at Daytona after only 74 laps for a 38th place finish; he needs to improve quickly if he is to make a bid for the Busch series championship; in 2002, he was forced to split his schedule between A.J Foyt's Winston Cup team and Tad Geschickter's Busch series program; finished ninth in the Busch series championship, with five top-five finishes and 11 top-10 efforts in 34 starts; had just three DNFs all season; was 22nd in the event at North Carolina Speedway.

Kerry Earnhardt
A fairly decent start to his season with a 14th-place finish in the Koolerz 300; but was not a factor in the race at Rockingham in his rookie season last year, finishing 28th; placed 22nd in the standings his first full season in the Busch series and looks to continue the momentum the team built last year; possibly on the verge of a win or top-five finish.

Jason Keller
The Busch series veteran has shown much improvement over the last two years and is among the favorites for the title in 2003; but a multi-car accident at Daytona with two laps to go, took him out of the race and left him 27th; defending champion of the February race at North Carolina Speedway; finished second in the final points standings in his ninth season on the circuit; won four times, the same number as champion Greg Biffle, collected 17 top-fives and 22 top-10 finishes in 34 starts; finished each of the past three seasons in the top three in points; attended Clemson University and also works for his family's chemical business; was 1990 All Pro Series Rookie of the Year and finished third and fourth in the series in 1990 and 1991.

Randy LaJoie
Two-time Busch series champion, finished third in this race last year behind Jason Keller and Greg Biffle; that was his top finish in 34 events, including 14 top-10s; was running at the end of all but one Busch series race in 2002; only DNF came at Darlington in the spring when an accident took him out with 19 laps to go; was 1985 Busch North Series champion with 14 wins in that series.

Mike McLaughlin
Despite going without a win in the 2002 Busch series season, the New York native managed to finish fourth in the series standings in what turned out to be his final season for Joe Gibbs Racing; scored 17 top-10 finishes, including runners-up at Bristol in March and Dover in September; driving for new team Angela's Motorsports this year; finished fifth in this race in 2002.

Scott Riggs
The Busch series Rookie of the Year was caught in the multi-car accident with two laps to run at Daytona and finished 31st; was among contenders in last February's race at Rockingham before settling for fourth place; his 13 top-10 finishes last year, including wins at Nashville and California, gave him a 10th place finish in the final points standings; he struggled over the final six races last year, posting three finishes of 35th or worse.

Johnny Sauter
Solid start to the season with a ninth place showing at the Koolerz 300 last weekend; the youngest racing son of Wisconsin racing legend Jim Sauter was runner-up to Scott Riggs in the Rookie of the Year race; led in this race briefly last year, but eventually finished 13th; recorded six top-10 finishes in 33 starts; jumped to the Busch series following a championship season in the American Speed Association ACDelco Challenge Series, where he won 10 races.

Scott Wimmer
Finished 12th at the Koolerz 300, a decent result considering a number of Winston Cup regulars competed in the race; a winner of four races in the season's final eight events, he finished third in the standings with 17 top-10 results; managed to do well despite limited financial backing from anyone but owner Bill Davis; broke through for first career win at Dover in September and went on to win three more times, including back-to-back checkered flags at Phoenix and Homestead to close the year; was 19th in this race in 2002.