Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Busch’s pharmacy plans took a back seat quickly when racetracks called

Friday, Nov. 19, 2004 | 9:28 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.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Kurt Busch, born and raised in Las Vegas, said he isn't expecting a ticker-tape parade down the Strip if he were to win the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series championship Sunday.

"The town is a unique town to represent," Busch said this week during a national teleconference. "There's so many things going on all the time in Las Vegas, it doesn't have the solid following that you would have from being from a small town in North Carolina.

"I think if we were to obtain the championship and bring the trophy back to Vegas, people would be more worried about where the next buffet line was or where they could get some free slots versus hoisting up the championship trophy with me."

Busch, 26, was graduated from Durango High School in 1997 and briefly attended the University of Arizona with the intention of becoming a pharmacist. It didn't take him long to realize that he wanted to pursue a career in racing, so he moved back to Las Vegas and resumed racing at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After winning several track championships at The Bullring, Busch landed a NASCAR Southwest Series ride for local businessman Craig Keough. He won Rookie of the Year honors in 1998 and the series championship in 1999. During a Southwest Series race in 1999 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. -- which he won -- Busch caught the eye of NASCAR team owner Jack Roush, who hired Busch to drive in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series the following year.

Busch said he has tried to draw on what he learned during his 1999 Southwest Series championship season and he has battled for the Nextel Cup championship the past two months. Busch enters Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the series points lead, but with four drivers lurking within 82 points.

"It was an opportunity to race in my second year in the Southwest Series with a car owner that was a guy that embraced me as a son -- kind of similar to the way I feel with Jack Roush and (crew chief) Jimmy Fennig, putting together an effort that we go out to win races, to do our best," Busch said. "No matter what the outcome is, we get to learn something from it.

"(The) point in the (1999) season that was a turning point, that was very pivotal, where we were second in the championship effort, to win a race out in Sears Point in California. It was just one of those races that you put up on a different stage; you have TV there, you're running a regional series, you've got the Cup owners and drivers watching the race and that changed the way that our team viewed each individual member after that just because we had come up to a different level. And it was fun to be able to compete at that level, to finish top three most of the rest of the year, to win four races in a row at the end of the year.

"I feel like that's what I'm up against right now with Jimmie Johnson. But just putting together a championship effort is something that is very memorable, and to have all the key ingredients fall into one place at the right time is what it takes to win one of those. It's something that I've done in the past -- but, of course, not at this level."

Busch, who qualified 5th and will compete in Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, drives for Hendrick Motorsports and is teammates with Cup contenders Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Busch's older brother, Kurt, is the points leader but drivers for the rival Roush Racing.

"Man, that's a tough question," the younger Busch replied when asked for whom he would be rooting on Sunday. "It's difficult because my brother is family, obviously, so I have to root for him. But Jeff and Jimmie are my teammates, and that makes them family, too.

"I'd love to see my brother win his first championship, but I'd be excited for Hendrick Motorsports to see Jimmie or Jeff win it. I'm pulling for all three of them. I hope one of them is able to bring the trophy home this weekend. Whichever one gets it, that's the way it was meant to turn out."

Kyle Busch tied Greg Biffle's Busch Series record for most victories in a season by a rookie when he won his fifth race in August. Martin Truex Jr. clinched the championship last weekend at Darlington and Busch is guaranteed a second-place finish in the standings.

"We are proud that a local guy from Las Vegas is leading all other NASCAR drivers in the nation going into this championship race and we plan to celebrate big time when he wins on Sunday," Jeff Borba, director of operations for the NASCAR Cafe, said.

The viewing party starts at 10 a.m. Sunday and the NASCAR Cafe will offer drink specials and free prizes during the race. Admission is free.

"We are constantly looking for ways to improve our performance and to run better as a team," said Petty, who is the chief operating officer of Petty Enterprises. "We at Petty Enterprises worked very closely with Evernham Motorsports to develop the Dodge program. We have continued to work closely with Evernham and with Dodge on many aspects of our program since then and we see this alliance in the engine program as a natural evolution of our relationship.

"Evernham Motorsports has really moved into the forefront in regards to Dodge engine development and we're excited to be part of that. We've made some big strides with our chassis and bodies, so this was obviously the next step."

Green is 29th and Petty 33rd in Nextel Cup points going into Sunday's season finale.

Eldora is a half-mile clay oval in Rossburg, Ohio, with an estimated seating capacity of nearly 20,000 and features some of the most prominent racing divisions in the country.

"Eldora was a premier racing facility long before I started racing there in 1991, and it's our goal to build on the tradition Earl and his wife Berneice started back in 1954," Stewart said.

"Eldora has been extremely successful for both its competitors and its fans. We have no intention of changing the look and feel of the racetrack; we want to maintain the Eldora experience fans have grown to love and appreciate over the years."

Points leader Bobby Hamilton qualified ninth and Dennis Setzer, who trails Hamilton by 70 points going into the season finale, qualified 23rd.

Steve Park, who drives for Las Vegas-based Orleans Racing and is eighth in points, qualified seventh.

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