D. Green leads as title race comes down to wire

CONCORD, N.C. -- The season is winding down. There aren't that many races left. The time is now to gain or lose in the Busch Series points standings.

	Brian Vickers

Saturday's "Little Trees" 300 was pretty much a wash in that regard, as David Green maintained his points lead. He came to Lowe's Motor Speedway 21 points ahead of Scott Riggs, and Green left 36 points ahead of Brian Vickers.

Green, who won last week's race at Kansas Speedway after a last-lap pass, led twice for three laps and ended up sixth at LMS. Not great, not bad, but it was still better than almost everyone chasing him for the Busch Series championship.

Riggs struggled all day and finished one lap down in 13th. Ron Hornaday ran well early but faded to 12th. Jason Keller eked out a top-10 finish, his first in two years at Charlotte.

Only Vickers, who succumbed to a botched pit stop and ended up fourth, finished better than Green.

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With five races remaining, though, things are still close. Riggs is still only 47 behind Green, with Hornaday 76 back and Keller 80 back. But time is running short.

"When guys you're chasing finish in front of you, it's not a good day," Riggs said.

Said Keller: "That was a solid day, but we've got to start making up points. We only lost a little bit, but at this time of the year, you better start making them up."

Vickers did that, gaining 10 on Green. But it could've been more. Vickers led 51 laps, second only to Biffle, until the team had trouble jacking the car while changing left-side tires. The extra time on pit road may have cost Vickers two positions.

"You're going to have those days," Vickers said. "We had a good car that probably could have been a little better. ... The biggest thing we've got to do is keep plugging away at it. It was a really good points day for us."

	Brian Vickers

Of course, Green could say the same thing. But the veteran takes a philosophical view of things. He's happy to be running well, points or no points.

"I tell my team every week that I'm proud of them for showing week in and week out they are a championship team," Green said. "They never get down or discouraged. They continue moving forward.

"Brian's going to be tough. I drove that car a year ago. I know how strong it is. We had our work cut out for us at this particular race. We felt like if we could run with him, see him, whatever it took, it would be a good day for us. We did that and more. What matters to me is at the end of the race if we're heading toward the front."

These days, if you want to win the championship, you better head to the front. And Green is doing that better than anyone.