Houston salvages top 20 finish at "the rock".

Andy Houston's second race of the 2002 NASCAR Busch Series season began much like his first after a qualifying run on Friday left him lined up on the starting grid in 36th place. Despite a spin on the backstretch that could have resulted in disaster, Houston and the crew brought the No. 92 Excedrin Chevrolet home in 17th place in the running of the 1866RBCTerm.com 200 Presented by RBC Insurance at North Carolina Speedway on Saturday.

"We've struggled since we got here, but the good thing about this Excedrin crew is that they never give up and they never quit working," said Houston, who opened the season with a 9th place finish last weekend in Daytona Beach (Fla.). "No, we're not happy to run 17th, but this day could have been a lot worse."

Just 25 laps into the event, Houston avoided disaster when Christian Elder, in the No. 38 car, tapped him from behind. Houston spun on the backstretch, but managed to stay off the wall and continue without losing a lap. NASCAR threw a caution flag and Houston brought the car down pit road one lap later for four tyres, fuel and handling adjustments.

North Carolina Speedway is tough on tyres and with newer Goodyear Eagles than most of the other competitors, Houston began to move up through the field. Houston led laps 96 and 100, not only picking up five bonus points, but also taking home the money earned for leading at the halfway point. A perfectly timed caution flag on lap 101, after most of the teams had already been into the pits, allowed the Excedrin Racing team to make a pit stop on lap 102 under caution. Liberati and the crew gave the No. 92 four new tyres, fuel and a wedge adjustment in 17 seconds and sent Houston back out on the track. When the green flag flew once again on lap 113, Houston was in the fourth spot one of 12 cars left on the lead lap.

Houston continued to fight a tight handling racecar for the remainder of the race and finished the event in 17th place, one lap down. The Herzog Jackson Motorsports team moved up one spot in the NASCAR Busch Series points to eighth place.

"This weekend has been a struggle," said Houston. "We ended up with a top20 finish and we got bonus points for leading. Pit strategy worked out for us. We got spun out early and honestly, it worked in our favour. We got tyres early and caught a caution at the right time. We just had a lot of lucky breaks that made us able to salvage a good finish. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, and we'll go to Vegas and be good out there."

Next weekend the NASCAR Busch Series heads West for the Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Qualifying on the 1.5mile oval will take place on Friday at 3:30 p.m. EST. Saturday's race will be broadcast live on MRN radio and FX television at 4:00 p.m. EST.