Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Busch to compete in The Winston Saturday

Tuesday, May 14, 2002 | 9:34 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.

Kurt Busch will compete in his second NASCAR Winston Cup all-star race Saturday when he makes his first appearance in The Winston at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C.

Busch, a Las Vegas native who also qualified for the Budweiser Shootout prior to the season-opening Daytona 500 in February, said he enjoys racing in the limited-field events -- and not just because of the rich purses they offer.

"When you go to Daytona and you're in the Shootout a week before the 500, it's got a different crop of drivers in it and you can learn a number of things from those experienced veterans," Busch said. "You just feel different when you're out there with them because when you go out for practice the next couple of days, you're out there with everybody and it seems more chaotic. It's not as smooth as it was in the Bud Shootout practice, so you can feel the difference.

"It's not the quality of drivers; maybe it's just the way the drivers think for the Bud Shootout. The Winston is nothing but winners and we've had a lot of different winners over the past few years, so it's going to be an exciting race. There are going to be 30 cars in that race and it's going to be tough to make the cut, but I feel confident we can get our Rubbermaid Taurus to the front."

The Winston, which has been around since 1985, is open to drivers who have won races in the preceding and current seasons, active Winston Cup champions and former winners of The Winston. The winners of Saturday's two support races, the Winston Open and the No Bull Sprint, also advance to the main event.

Saturday's race, which awards a minimum of $750,000 to the winner out of a $3 million purse, will be a 90-lap event, run in three segments of 40, 30 and 20 laps. Teams will be required to make a mandatory green-flag, four-tire pit stop at some point during the first segment. The top-20 finishers from the first segment will advance to the second segment.

Only the top-10 finishers in the second segment will advance to the final segment. The starting order for the third segment will be inverted (either four, six, eight or all 10 positions) as determined by fan voting.

Busch, who failed to advance to The Winston through the Winston Open as a rookie last season, said he likes the race format.

"I think it's going to be great," he said. "It's going to take quality cars to move to the front and all of the guys have to have a strategy.

"You can't just sit around and hang in the back; you've got to race consistently throughout the event to be up front and make the cut. That's more or less what it is -- making the cut."

" It doesn't bother me a bit," Marlin said. "When we do get a week off, I about go nuts. You want to go somewhere or do something. It's probably hard on the crew guys, but it's no big deal for me to go every week to a racetrack. It's something I've always done and you never get tired of it -- at least I don't.

"When the off-season gets here, it's like we need to go test or go do something after four or five days at home. I'm pretty much always ready to go."

Spectator gates will open at 5 p.m.