Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Busch isn’t counting on another Bristol stomp

Friday, Aug. 27, 2004 | 10 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 has won three consecutive races -- and four of the past five -- at Bristol Motor Speedway but he said he isn't going into Saturday's night's Sharpie 500 with expectations of extending his streak.

"Each time I go (to Bristol), I don't expect to win and I don't expect to run bad; it's just a matter of controlling the most that you can within your car," Busch, a Las Vegas native, said this week. "It's difficult to forecast when somebody spins and wrecks in front of you, which way to go because you have to make those split decisions.

"Just being able to absorb the information out in front of you is key at Bristol. If it's early in the race, you're more conservative. Obviously, if it's later in the race and somebody's faster than you, it is difficult to keep the car behind you because they can move you out of the way."

Busch has used the latter tactic to score two of his four victories at the half-mile oval. In the spring race in 2002, Busch used a "bump-and-run" move on Jimmy Spencer to take the lead with 55 laps remaining and hold on for his first career Cup victory. Last summer, Busch bumped and spun fan favorite Sterling Marlin during a mid-race pass for second place en route to his third victory at the track.

Being able to use your front bumper to make a pass, however, is not the key to winning races at Bristol -- but it can help. Busch said keeping his No. 97 Sharpie Ford in one piece is Job One at Bristol.

"Anything can happen at Bristol," Busch said. "You can end up in the inside fence with just one small little bump or just with somebody checking up in front of you, you (could) pop a hole in the radiator.

"The mechanical side of things is going to have to be the most important aspect of this event -- just being able to finish. That's the mindset that I take into all the Bristol races, just trying to focus on making sure that I take care of the 97 Ford and dodge all the different wrecks out on the racetrack. If I'm in position to win at the end, we'll go for it, but I just go there just to survive."

As if being four-time winner at Bristol weren't enough pressure, Saturday night's 500-lap race also will be crucial to Busch and a host of other drivers who either are trying to remain in the top 10 in Nextel Cup points or attempting to move into those ranks and secure a spot in the final 10-race "Chase for the Nextel Cup." With three races remaining in the "regular season," Busch is sixth in points but only 117 points ahead of 10th-place Kasey Kahne.

Although the new points system for determining the Nextel Cup champion will play into how aggressively Busch can approach the next three races, he said he is confident heading into the final three "regular-season" tracks -- Bristol, California Speedway and Richmond International Raceway.

"The way things are now, I look at the top five (drivers) and I'd say they're locked in with their opportunities to gain points or to lose points," Busch said. "The guys that are sixth through 10th obviously have to race hard and the guys that are 11th through 15th have to have everything go there their way as well as somebody have a bad day in front of them. We're one of those teams that can't afford a bad day.

"We've got some cushion in case we miss the setup that we'll still run competitively enough to gain points. But Bristol is by no means a track that we're going to miss the setup on, as well as California Speedway ... and then of course with preparations for Richmond, that's the final race where we get locked in for this Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup."

RUSTY'S SON OK: Stephen Wallace, the 17-year-old son of NASCAR Nextel Cup star Rusty Wallace, received only minor injuries as a result of an accident during a Hooters ProCup Series race Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Wallace was held overnight for observation at Bristol Regional Medical Center and released Thursday morning.

SAID TO RACE FONTANA: Road-racing specialist Boris Said will attempt to make his third Nextel Cup start on an oval track at next weekend's Pop Secret 500 at California Speedway. The No. 36 MB2 Motorsports Chevrolet will be sponsored by Centrix Financial, which also sponsored the car Said drove to a sixth-place finish at Infineon Raceway in June.

FOUR MORE FOR MARTIN: Mark Martin, who finished second last weekend at Michigan in his return to the Busch Series, will race in four more Busch events this year: Richmond (Sept. 10), Dover (Sept. 25), Atlanta (Oct. 30) and Phoenix (Nov. 6).

JUNIOR FEATURED: Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be profiled during the season premier of the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes" Sunday night. Earnhardt will be the first NASCAR driver featured on the program since Richard Petty in 1988.

NHRA TESTING: Brandon Bernstein (Top Fuel), Gary Scelzi (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Antron Brown (Pro Stock Bike) posted the quickest times Wednesday in the second day of testing at Indianapolis Raceway Park for next week's 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.