Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Kyle Busch takes step back, but still not discouraged

Tuesday, June 28, 2005 | 9:23 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.

Until his 40th-place finish Sunday at Infineon Raceway, it appeared as if Kyle Busch was inching closer to winning his first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race.

Busch, a 20-year-old rookie out of Las Vegas, was coming off a stretch where he had posted top-10 finishes in four of five races, including three top-five showings. Still, Busch said he is not getting anxious over the fact that he has not yet won a race in the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet.

"It will come when it gets here," Busch said. "I'm patient enough to know that in order to finish in the top 10, you have to finish in the top 15. To finish in the top five, you need top 10s and to win a race you need top fives. It's just all about trying to build that consistency and run up front.

"You can finish -- like Kasey Kahne last year -- you can finish second six times. It's that last little bit that's going to get you that win. As soon as you can find how to do that, you'll be able to knock them out one after another. It's just a matter of time until we get to that last hurdle and knock down the door to get to that win."

Busch qualified a respectable 13th for his first Nextel Cup road-course race Sunday but suffered a transmission failure during an early pit stop and spent 13 laps behind the wall while his crew made repairs.

PLAYING DEFENSE: The 2005 Nextel Cup season is taking on a familiar look to reigning series champion Kurt Busch.

Busch, a Las Vegas native, was eighth in points with one victory after 16 races last season. This year, Busch is eighth in points and has one victory after 16 races.

Last season, Busch posted two victories and 15 top-10 finishes in the final 20 races en route to the championship.

"There are all kinds of scenarios to look at and I think we're still sticking with our plan," Busch said. "Hopefully, everything unfolds for us again with making the Chase in an appropriate position and then saving our tests and attacking the final 10."

THIS IS THE END: NASCAR veterans Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace will be starting their final Nextel Cup points races at Daytona International Speedway in Saturday's Pepsi 400.

It also will be the final attempt for both drivers to score their first victory (in a Cup points race) at the historic 2.5-mile superspeedway. Wallace is winless in 44 Cup points races at Daytona and Martin is 0-for-40.

Wallace's best finish in a Daytona points race came when he took second in the 2002 Pepsi 400; Martin's best showing was third place in the 1995 Daytona 500.

NEAR MISS: Spencer Clark of Las Vegas failed to qualify for Saturday's NASCAR Southwest Series race at Infineon Raceway. To make matters worse, Clark was denied a starting position when Michael Waltrip, the 42nd and final starter, belatedly withdrew from the race.

Kyle Busch finished ninth in the 64-lap race.

END QUOTE: Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will be making his 200th Nextel Cup Series start Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway:

"It's a neat little milestone, but I don't know that it's a huge deal. Hell, Richard Petty had 200 wins."

AT THE BULLRING: Dustin Ash earned his third Late Models main-event victory during Saturday night's NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series racing at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Dale Ward (Chargers), Rick Rogas (Master Legends Cars), Josh Gross (Pro Legends Cars), Johnny Morrissey (Semi-Pro Legends Cars), Jeremiah Wagner (Bandolero Cars) and Joe Crouch (Bullring Bombers) also won in their respective divisions. John Steves and Ray Alcaraz won the 10-lap Vintage Cars main events.