Summer is heating up. So is the race for NASCAR titles.

The Multiquip-sponsored ppc Racing Team is again sitting comfortably among the leaders nearing the mid-point of the season, positioning itself for the sprint to the checkered flag.  

Coming out of the July 4 weekend, Kenny Wallace and Terry Cook are in the Top 10 of the Busch and Craftsman Truck Series point standings, respectively. Wallace, who finished fourth in the Winn-Dixie 250 on July 1, is fifth in the Busch Series trailing leader Martin Truex Jr. by only 217 points. Cook, who came in seventh at the O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, July 2, is now seventh overall, within striking distance of top man Dennis Setzer who leads Cook by 182 points in the Craftsman Truck Series.

ppc Racing won the 2000 Busch Series championship with former mate Jeff Green and the Mooresville, N.C.-based team has finished second four times. To date, the 2005 season has been a mixed bag for ppc.

Wallace and Cook have been at or near the top all year, Wallace's best efforts being three second-place finishes (Nashville twice, and Darlington) while Cook came in second at Charlotte. Wallace paces his Number 22 Stacker 2 Ford Taurus and Cook sits behind the wheel of the Number 10 Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International

Michel Jourdain Jr., also in the Busch Series with his Number 10 Ford Taurus, sits in thirty-ninth position, his best result a tenth at Atlanta. John Andretti is forty-eighth in the Nextel Cup with his top score being a twenty-eighth in Las Vegas. Andretti powers the Number 14 VB/Aplus Sunoco Ford.

There's plenty of time left for the movers and shakers to make their charge and ppc Racing won't be left out. The NASCAR season concludes the weekend of Nov. 18 in Miami.