Notes: Bliss to take over No. 1 for Phoenix Racing

Phoenix Racing announced the signing of veteran driver Mike Bliss to drive the No. 1 Miccosukee Resorts and Gaming Chevrolet.

James Finch has been a car owner in NASCAR for many years with multiple victories and was happy to bring Bliss in to drive.

Fast facts

What	O'Reilly 300
When	Green, 3:16 p.m. ET Saturday
TV	ESPN2, 2:30 p.m. ET
Radio	PRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 3 p.m. ET

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"I believe this is the spark we need to get our program competitive again," Finch said. "I have asked everybody on the team to step it up, and I'm looking for better results right away."

Bliss looks forward to the opportunity to challenge for the Nationwide Series championship as he sits fifth in driver points with two top-10s in 2008.

"I know with Phoenix Racing's history, Miccosukee's partnership, and Hendrick engines that we will be a threat to win races, and compete for the 2008 championship," Bliss said.

The O'Reilly 300 on April 5th at Texas Motor Speedway will be the first race for Bliss in the Miccosukee Chevrolet.

Gale keeps it going for KHI

Kevin Harvick Inc. remains atop the Nationwide Series owner standings and the team's main driver -- two-time series champion Kevin Harvick -- returns to the track where he is the all-time series winner (four).

Harvick won this race in 2001 and has captured the last three fall races at Texas. Driving his own equipment for the first time in his career, he's on a hot streak having collected top-fives on both intermediate tracks contested thus far this season.

Although Harvick didn't run at Nashville two weeks ago, KHI's owner standings lead remains solid thanks to a career-best run by 23-year-old rookie Cale Gale in the No. 33 car.

Gale finished eighth at Nashville, a result that gives KHI six top-10s in the season's first seven races.

Gale is scheduled for 14 races this season -- 11 in the No. 33 and three in the team's second car, the No. 77 Chevrolet.

Trio returns to Lone Star State

Whether a NASCAR veteran or relative newcomer, a trip home is always welcome. Bobby Labonte, the 1991 series champion, is attempting to win his first NASCAR national series race at Texas in 20 tries (14 in NASCAR Sprint Cup, six in NASCAR Nationwide Series). Labonte is from Corpus Christi.

Brad Coleman is a Houston native and Robert Richardson Jr. from McKinney each have one career series start at the track. Coleman was 16th in this race last year while Richardson was 32nd in the 2007 fall race. Richardson also has three Truck Series starts at Texas.

Prior to Thursday's practice, Brad Keselowski will drive Hall-of-Famer and former Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin around the Texas track.

The laps will mark the former wide receiver's first experience in a racecar, and fittingly enough, they will be inside the No. 88 -- the same number Irvin wore from 1988-99 while racking up 750 receptions for 11,904 yards and 65 touchdowns with the Cowboys.

Loop Data: Texas supremacy

The Nationwide Series entry list at Texas features the defending series champion Carl Edwards, the 2001 and 2006 series champion, Harvick and the points leaders in all three of NASCAR's national series: Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch.

And each has excellent statistics at Texas in the series since 2005.

The best stats belong to Harvick, who owns a series-high driver rating of 121.3 at Texas. He also has highs in average running position (5.4), fastest laps run (99) and laps in the top 15 (951) among those in Saturday's field.

Also likely to run up front is Burton, the Cup points leader. He's finished inside the top 10 in each of his 11 series starts at Texas, owns a driver rating of 109.8, an average running position of 6.3, 41 fastest laps run and has spent 97.3 percent of the laps in the top 15, which is the highest percentage of any driver at Texas.

Edwards is always a threat at the intermediate tracks and Texas is no different. He has a driver rating of 94.1, an average running position of 13.5, 39 fastest laps run and has run 72.3 percent of the laps in the top 15. Edwards' best finish there was third in 2005 and this race last season.

Bowyer also has solid stats at Texas, but hasn't padded the resume as well as some of the other favorites. The Nationwide Series standings leader has a driver rating of 89.4, an average running position of 12.2, 20 fastest laps run and 74.6 percent of the laps run in the top 15. His best finish was fourth in the series' last visit to Texas.

Busch, the Truck Series points leader, has four top fives at Texas in six starts, but has yet to find Victory Lane. Since 2005, he has a driver rating of 103.4, an average running position of 10.9, 68 fastest laps run and 78.0 percent of the laps in the top 15.