NASCAR racing, unlike other professional sports, has no player draft.

Future prospects are where you find them.

Jack Roush arguably is the best in the business at beating the bushes and identifying the stars of tomorrow - especially through competition in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

The Ohio native has identified those diamonds in the rough in a variety of ways: via recommendation (Greg Biffle), a "Gong Show" competition (Kurt Busch) and performance with a competing team (Carl Edwards).

It's hard to argue with success.

Biffle, who joined Roush's NASCAR Craftsman Truck team after being "discovered" by former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion and NBC analyst Benny Parsons, gave Roush his first NASCAR title in 2000. He won the Feb. 27 Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.

Busch, the 2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Raybestos Rookie of the Year, is the defending NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion and current points leader.

Edwards finished fifth in the Auto Club 500 and stands fourth in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings. The Missourian is second in NASCAR Busch Series rankings following Sunday's Telcel MOTOROLA Mexico 200 by Banamex in Mexico City in which Edwards finished third.

The Roush machine doesn't show any signs of slowing.

Todd Kluever (No. 50 Shell Rotella T Ford), Roush's 2004 "Race for the Ride" winner, was fourth in the Feb. 25 American Racing Wheels 200 at California Speedway. Kluever, who finished a spot behind teammate Ricky Craven (No. 99 Superchips Ford) is this season's leading Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender.

"The driver development program is important because you have to constantly be looking for new driving talent," said Roush. "There are several drivers in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, Mark (Martin) included, that are going to be retiring soon.

"We have to have the next generation of drivers available to fill those seats and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series has been a great place to get them started."

Roush also has a knack at knowing where each prospect fits.

Busch jumped to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup after a single season in trucks while Biffle spent three years. Subsequently, Biffle won the 2002 NASCAR Busch Series championship. Edwards grabbed NASCAR Craftsman Truck rookie honors in 2003, the Daytona Florida Dodge Dealers 250 in 2004 and competed concurrently in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup from mid-August through the conclusion of the season. He finished 10th in his debut on NASCAR's premier circuit.

"We've gone in different directions to get them to the Cup level," said Roush. "It really depends heavily on sponsorship opportunities and what we have available."

All three of Roush's series graduates support the adage that it's easier to slow a driver down than to speed one up. Biffle, Busch and Edwards experienced their share of early "hiccups" on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series - and earned some not-so-subtle criticism from the boss. Kluever had an equally disappointing debut at Daytona, although neither of his accidents (or another in the accompanying ARCA Daytona 200) could be considered the fault of the 26-year-old Sun Prairie, Wis. competitor.

Still, Kluever breathed a sigh of relief after delivering back an unmarked truck to crew chief John Monsam.

"The guys on my team were jumping around in the pits like we had won the race, but it really felt like we had won after what we went through in Daytona," said Kluever, who'll try to improve on his 15th-place championship standing in the March 18 World Financial Group 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. "It felt good to walk in the shop on Monday and be able to look the guys in the fab shop in the eyes because the truck came back in one piece.  They stood behind me after our terrible Daytona weekend and said they'd fix anything I broke as long as I was running up front."