Joliet, IL - Riding on a wave of top-ten finishes, the #20 Spectrum Controls/Rockwell Automation Team headed to the Chicagoland Speedway for the fourth running of the Tropicana 300. The 1.5 mile track with similar characteristics of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Bliss won his first Busch Pole Award, gave the team hope of continuing that streak. Unfortunately, an engine problem on lap 140 ended the #20 Team's best run of the season.

After qualifying his machine 6th , Bliss showed his Spectrum Controls/Rockwell Automation machine was strong by posting the second fastest time in the final practice and showing consistent lap times. With a little patience, Crew Chief Steve Addington reminded Bliss to let the track come to him and he would be a contender before the day was out.

As the race started, Bliss got hung on the outside and lost several positions in the first five laps. By the time he worked his way to the bottom groove, he had fallen to the 11th position. From there, it was time to work his back to the front. He spent the next 40 laps of green flag racing picking off positions. By the time the second caution flag fell on lap 44, Bliss was in the 4th position. Reporting the car a little tight, Bliss followed the leaders onto pit road for four tires, ½ round of wedge & fuel. With some competitors choosing only two tires, the #20 car showed 5th on the scoreboard when racing resumed. After several quick cautions, Bliss returned to the business of gaining positions. By the time the caution flew again on lap 67, he was in the third position and quickly gaining on the cars who only took two tires.

During the next restart, Bliss missed a shift on the restart. The result was a strain on the engine and loss of four positions on the track. Once the #20 car regained top speed, it quickly plowed through the field. During the next 25 laps, Bliss drove his Chevrolet straight to the front. On lap 91, he took the lead for the first time of the day. Bliss continued to lead until lap 115 when the caution flag flew again and he led the field to pit road with only 11 cars on the lead lap.

Service was completed and Bliss returned to the track. Once the race restarted, he quickly showed how fast his car was by distancing himself from the field by almost 2 seconds. After another quick caution, Bliss dipped to pit road to fill his tank to insure he has enough fuel for the finish. Returning to the track in the 3rd position, Bliss immediately began gaining spots again. On lap 138, Bliss called into the crew reporting that he felt something slowing in the engine. As he began to loose positions on the track, white smoke began billowing out of the exhaust pipes. After taking the car behind the wall, the crew determined that the damage could not be fixed.

"This is really a shame," commented a disappointed Mike Bliss following the race. "This car was bad to the bone. No matter what strategy the field tried, we could just drive back to the front. We were a little tight early, but I could run this car on the top or the bottom; it just didn't matter. I shot myself in the foot by missing the shift and I know that put a heavy strain on the engine. I really have to thank the crew guys because they gave me a great car today; definitely a car that should have won this race."