Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Busch’s rookie season going better than expected

Tuesday, May 17, 2005 | 9:51 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.

While stopping short of calling his rookie season in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series easy, Kyle Busch said he has been pleasantly surprised with how competitive he and his Hendrick Motorsports team have been through the first 11 races.

"I thought that we would struggle a little bit more than what we have this year," Busch, a Las Vegas native, said after his fourth-place finish Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

"The finishes have been showing that we've kind of struggled (but) from the race runs that we've had, and the competitiveness that we've been at, we've definitely had a strong car all year long."

Saturday's effort was Busch's third top-10 and second top-five showing in the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet. He also has four finishes outside the top 25 that have been the result of getting caught up in accidents or mechanical problems.

"We just need to work on some other things and handle it a little bit better and try to keep on working on it," Busch said. "I've got to learn, myself, how to drive these cars and how to tell the guys what I need in the race car in order to go faster to make myself comfortable in order to pass cars and get up there to the front."

Busch is 22nd in points and has earned $1,337,980 this season.

PENSKE BUYOUT: NASCAR team owner Roger Penske has purchased the individual ownership interests in Penske Racing South of partners Rusty Wallace, Don Miller and John Erickson. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

"The transaction represents an opportunity to reward Rusty, Don and John for their many contributions to the growth and success of the company," Penske said. "Penske Racing South is committed to its participation as a competitor in NASCAR. We enjoy the support of a dedicated and loyal group of sponsors who will be with us well into the future.

"Our focus is to maximize all three cars' performance every week with winning the Nextel Cup Championship as our goal."

Penske Racing South fields cars for Wallace, Ryan Newman and Travis Kvapil in the Nextel Cup Series.

WHEELER'S PICK: Humpy Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway, has picked Jeff Gordon to win Saturday night's NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge at the Concord, N.C. track.

Wheeler has correctly picked the winner of eight of the past 16 all-star races.

"Jeff Gordon has this place figured out," Wheeler said of the 1.5-mile speedway, which recently underwent resurfacing. "He knew more about what we did to the track than anybody and he even picked out the little secret things we did.

"Jeff has shown an ability to adapt to new tracks as fast or faster than any driver I have ever seen. In fact, he might have found a groove nobody knows about."

Gordon is a three-time winner of NASCAR's all-star race. His most recent victory came in the 2001 event.

AT THE BULLRING: Doug Hamm scored his third Late Models main-event victory of the season Saturday night at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Other main-event winners were Tony Edwards (Pro-4), Jim Petrie (Chargers), Rick Rogas (Master Legends Cars), Dustin Ash (Pro Legends Cars), Keith Wellman (Semi-Pro Legends Cars), Larry Gerchman (IMCA Modifieds) and Joe Crouch (Bullring Bombers).