Busch Series will honor two champions at banquet

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In its final season as sponsor of the Busch Series, Anheuser-Busch's Busch brand will celebrate its last title in duplicate.

Friday night at the Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando, Fla., Carl Edwards officially will be crowned the 2007 Busch Series driver champion. On the same stage in the Tuscan Ballroom, Richard Childress and his No. 29 Chevrolet team will be honored as series owner champion.

It's only the second time in NASCAR national series history the feat has been accomplished. Richard Childress Racing has been the owner title recipient both times; its first was following the 2003 season.

This week's festivities begin with a media day at the ESPN Club on Thursday, followed by an event unique to the series' Champions Week activities: hot laps driven by Edwards, Scott Wimmer (representing the owner champion) and the top-10 drivers for media at the 1.5-mile Walt Disney World Speedway.

The key highlights from the Busch Series Champions Week schedule:

Thursday -- Edwards, Wimmer and the top-10 drivers (including Nextel Cup double-duty drivers such as Zephyrhills, Fla., native David Reutimann, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth) will gather for Busch Series Champions Week Media Day at the ESPN Club on Disney's Boardwalk from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET.

Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig will make announcements surrounding the 2008 season-opening Camping World 300 -- the inaugural Nationwide Series race -- and the 50th running of the Daytona 500. The drivers will meet with numerous outlets from national, regional, state and local print and broadcast media at the ESPN Club and utilize the various platforms available from ESPN for broadcast on programs such as ESPNews, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and SportsCenter.

Afterwards, drivers head to Walt Disney World Speedway where they will whisk the media around in specially-wrapped cars honoring the champions and commemorating the Busch brand's tenure with the series. Edwards will be featured on a satellite media tour broadcast from the ESPN Club from 4-5 p.m. ET. Later that evening, he will be honored along with the owner champion team at a private dinner. Anheuser-Busch will host a party for Busch Series teams and officials at Universal City Walk.

Friday -- Edwards and his team, along with owner champion Richard Childress and the No. 29 team, will participate in the traditional Champions Photo Shoot at the Harbor Piazza at the Portofino Bay Hotel. Following photos, both champion teams will join the top-10 drivers and other guests at various receptions leading up to the main event -- the NASCAR Busch Series Awards Banquet. The ceremony begins at 7:30 p.m. ET in the Tuscan Ballroom of the Portofino Bay Hotel where Edwards and Childress officially will be honored as the 2007 series driver and owner champions.