Sauter

Strange things have been known to happen during races at Darlington, S.C. For the Quality Farm Stores team, we certainly fell into that category.

Practice began Friday morning for the South Carolina 200. After two hours of practice, Gene (Nead, crew chief) and I discussed several changes we felt were necessary prior to qualifying. I ran a fast lap of 163.615 mph, good enough for the 21st starting position.

After a 30-minute rain delay after the first 15 laps, I battled with Hank Parker Jr. and Tony Raines for many laps after the restart for 18th position. Even though it was only for 18th, it was some of the best racing all afternoon.

At the 100-lap mark, it looked like a green-flag pit stop would be necessary. This is where the race got interesting for the our team.

I pitted on Lap 124 under green for tires and fuel. During the stop, the rear tire gun failed and Gene called for only a two-tire stop once the problem was discovered. However, the crew would receive a penalty for using a third tire gun even though the extra gun was only placed on pit wall and not used during the stop.

After serving this penalty on pit road, I had to bring the car back to the pits for left side tires. Then I had to return to the pits again, one lap later for speeding while exiting the pits. The bottom line was three pit stops under green that resulted in five lost laps on the track.

I finished the race in the 30th position, completing 142 laps. I had a good car Saturday until the problem with the tire gun on pit road. That set off a whole set of events that pretty much sealed our fate. Unfortunately, these things happen, but I hate it for the guys who worked so hard to get this car ready to race.

To make matters worse, at the end of the race when all drivers were heading for the garage, Scott Wimmer and Greg Biffle got together in Turn 2 and caused several of us behind them to swerve to avoid the wreck.

I drove down on the lower lane of the track to miss the wreck. As I was slowing down Parker Jr. took a sharp left and rammed me in the right side.

It was a wreck caused by trying to avoid a wreck. Neither one of us were injured, but the same couldn't be said for our cars. Although I drove the car back to the garage, we sustained heavy damage.

This was a strange set of events, that's for sure. The incident with Parker Jr. after the race was over just capped the day for us. It was wild seeing Wimmer and Biffle wrecking on the cool down lap, then I got hit in the right side as Hank was trying to avoid their wreck. We can just chalk this weekend up and go to Richmond, Va., next week.

I've always enjoyed racing at Richmond in either the trucks or Busch cars. It's a big, short track with two grooves and it gets pretty racy. This fall race is usually a great show for the fans and I expect Friday to be the same.

I really want to get a win for the Quality Farm Stores team before the season ends. I'll have as good a shot at Richmond as anywhere. I'm really excited about my chances, especially if the primary car is as good as it was in May. Then, we'll have something for them.

Jay Sauter drives the No. 43 car in the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division and will be submitting a weekly diary to ESPN.com throughout the season.