Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Busch vs. Spencer at Bristol: Part 2 this weekend

Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002 | 9:41 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

2003 NASCAR Winston Cup schedule

Feb. 16--Daytona International Speedway

Feb. 23--North Carolina Speedway

March 2--Las Vegas Motor Speedway

March 9--Atlanta Motor Speedway

March 16--Darlington Raceway

March 23--Bristol Motor Speedway

March 30--Texas Motor Speedway

April 6--Talladega Superspeedway

April 13--Martinsville Speedway

April 27--California Speedway

May 3--Richmond International Raceway

May 25--Lowe's Motor Speedway

June 1--Dover International Speedway

June 8--Pocono Raceway

June 15--Michigan International Speedway

June 22--Infineon Raceway

July 5--Daytona International Speedway

July 13--Chicagoland Speedway

July 20--New Hampshire International Speedway

July 27--Pocono Raceway

Aug. 3--Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Aug. 10--Watkins Glen International

Aug. 17--Michigan International Speedway

Aug. 23--Bristol Motor Speedway

Aug. 31--Darlington Raceway

Sept. 6--Richmond International Raceway

Sept. 14--New Hampshire International Speedway

Sept. 21--Dover International Speedway

Sept. 28--Talladega Superspeedway

Oct. 5--Kansas Speedway

Oct. 11--Lowe's Motor Speedway

Oct. 19--Martinsville Speedway

Oct. 26--Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nov. 2--Phoenix International Raceway

Nov. 9--North Carolina Speedway

Nov. 16--Homestead-Miami Speedway

Kurt Busch's feud with Jimmy Spencer likely will be the main topic of conversation this weekend when the NASCAR Winston Cup Series returns to Bristol Motor Speedway for Saturday night's Sharpie 500.

In the spring race at Bristol, Busch touched off a verbal sparring match with Spencer when he bumped Spencer out of the lead with 55 laps remaining and went on to win his first career Winston Cup race.

Many believe Spencer avenged Busch's "bump-and-run" move at Bristol when Spencer spun out the Las Vegas native during the Brickyard 400 earlier this month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Spencer denied it, but it is clear he still hasn't forgotten the March race at Bristol.

"I feel like I should have won the race there in March," Spencer said. "I got pushed out of the way so a guy (Busch) could win the race. The thing that bothers me about the whole deal is that I didn't bump the car that I passed to take the lead. There's been a lot of fault with that particular car with a lot of drivers in the garage area, not just me.

"I think NASCAR is addressing it the way it should be addressed and the drivers are, too: They're leaving it in NASCAR's hands. You just don't go out there and spin people out deliberately. He did it. At Charlotte he spun out Robby Gordon for no reason and admitted it. You just don't do stuff like that. He'll learn. Without question NASCAR will send him to the principal's office more than once."

After the Brickyard 400 incident, and Busch's post-race comments in which he called Spencer a "decrepit has-been," both drivers and their team owners were summoned to the NASCAR trailer. Busch and Spencer emerged from the meeting with NASCAR president Mike Helton vowing that the incident was behind them.

The season will open Feb. 16 with the Daytona 500 and will conclude Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

As previously reported, the annual Winston Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will remain the third race of the season and will be held Sunday, March 2.

In an article headlined "Wells burns bridges on road to Pontiac" on Ford Racing's website, Specht said he had a handshake agreement with Wells to remain a Ford team next season and took exception to Wells' business practices.

"Just back at Sears Point (in June), we shook hands on an agreement that I had presented to him and that I had followed up with in writing," Specht said. "I was very disappointed and now know what a handshake means to Mr. Wells and I will act appropriately in the future.

"I understand that ... he has to make a business decision that he believes is in the best interest of his company and himself. But what I don't like is being misled. Obviously it's just unethical. It's not a good business practice. I treat everybody the way that I would expect to be treated until I'm proven wrong in terms of giving people trust and so forth. Now we know where we stand."