Friday, May 11, 2001 | 9:25 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand's motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4089.
One of the characteristics of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series throughout the years has been the strong family ties among its drivers, from father-son combinations such as the Pettys and the Earnhardts to the Waltrip, Bodine and Burton brothers.
Kyle Busch, a 16-year-old Las Vegas native who hopes someday to join his older brother Kurt in the Winston Cup Series, will take another step toward that goal this weekend.
Busch, who has been competing in the Legends Car division at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, will make his NASCAR Late Model debut this Saturday night at the 3/8-mile Bullring.
Busch will drive a 1999 Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by local racer Jerry Spilsbury.
"I've got a great car owner in Jerry Spilsbury," Busch said. "He has put a lot of work behind me, and so have the guys on my team. We're all looking forward to this weekend to see what we can do. Hopefully we can do well."
Busch, who is second in Legends Car points, already has shown a knack for driving the larger and more powerful Late Models during testing for his Saturday night debut.
"We rented the track last Wednesday and we turned pretty good times," Busch said. "According to our times, we unofficially broke the track's Late Model record. We were running 14.8 (seconds) and the track record is 15.
"Maybe we can back that up this week, or maybe we can't -- we're just going to see what happens."
Although some observers who have watched Busch compete this year in Legends Cars -- and last year in IMCA and Grand American Modifieds -- have said he may be a better driver than his older brother at the same stage in their careers, father Tom Busch brushes off such comparisons.
"It's not really fair to compare them," the elder Busch, a former Late Model driver, said.
One thing Kyle will have to contend with that his older brother didn't, Tom Busch said, is living up to people's expectations now that Kurt is competing full-time in Winston Cup at age 22.
Kyle Busch said he received a little brotherly advice from Kurt during a phone call earlier in the week.
"He told me 'good luck this weekend' " Busch said. "He said to keep a cool head and keep it straight and try not to pull anything spectacular; just do a good job and finish the race."
Gates at The Bullring open Saturday at 5 p.m. The 40-lap NASCAR Late Model feature is scheduled to begin at 9:55. Chargers, Legends Cars, Outlaw Stocks, MSRA Mini-Stocks, Speed Trucks and Bandoleros also will compete.
Petty, 65, has practiced medicine for 40 years and has been part of Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates since 1968. He is in his 25th season as part of the medical team at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte and he has treated numerous NASCAR drivers and crew members over the years.
"The initial phase will be for Dr. Petty to evaluate the medical facilities and services that our tracks provide for not only NASCAR races, but also Indy Racing League, NHRA drag racing, World of Outlaws sprint car and American LeMans Series events," SMI president Humpy Wheeler said.
"In the future, I see him becoming more active in research and numerous other areas involving racing-related medical issues."...
Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan, fresh off his win last month at California Speedway, will try to make it two in a row when the NASCAR Winston West Series visits Irwindale (Ca.) Speedway Saturday night.
In three Winston West starts at the half-mile paved oval last season, Gaughan scored finishes of second, third and fifth. Gaughan, the defending series champion, is third in points going into the race.
Young karters from across the country will compete on the 13-turn, 7/8-mile road course in Round One of the newly-formed championship, which features top young drivers from the ages of 16 and up competing in two classes.
In addition to $40,000 in cash prizes, the first and second-place drivers in the Pro 125 Shifter and Rotax-Max classes at the conclusion of the championship will receive a Skip Barber three day racing school and a test in a Team Rahal Champ Car. The winner of the Pro 125 Shifter class also will receive a full season of competition in the Skip Barber Formula Dodge National Championship Series in 2002.
Karts will be on the track from 8 a.m. today through Sunday. Sunday's racing is scheduled to begin at noon.
Brayton's son, Scott, was killed at Indy during a practice run in 1996 after winning the pole for that's year 500.
Brayton said he has no misgivings about returning to the speedway where his son was killed.
"I never saw him happier than the day he died," Brayton said. "He was on his last fuel load. He came in, gave me a thumbs-up and said, 'Dad, we're going to win.' "
* NHRA: Ratings for last month's SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway experienced more than a 500 percent increase in ratings over the inaugural event in 2000, according to figures supplied by Nielsen Media Research.
An estimated 3,540,500 fans watched the 13.5 hours of coverage on ESPN and ESPN2 this year, compared to only 581,930 viewers who watched the coverage on TNN in 2000.
Sunday's final eliminations drew a 0.9 rating and 1,094,562 viewers this year -- a significant improvement over last year's 0.5 rating and 391,000 viewers.
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