LOOKING IN ON: MOTOR SPORTS

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006 | 7:03 a.m.

The verdict is in: Kurt Busch is viewed as the least popular driver by those who cover NASCAR racing.

No surprise there.

In what might be considered an upset, however, Las Vegas finished second to Charlotte, N.C., as the best host city for NASCAR races. In the same survey, the annual Nextel Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway received no votes from the 91 respondents who ranked the most exciting races to cover.

The survey was conducted by Melanie Jarrett, a candidate for a master's degree in public relations at the University of Georgia. Jarrett - no relation to NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett - surveyed 113 journalists; more than 90 percent of the respondents have covered NASCAR for at least six years and 38 percent have covered the sport for 16 years or more.

More than 90 percent of those who responded to the survey tabbed Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the most popular driver with the fans. Busch, a Las Vegas native, was named the least popular driver with fans by 57 percent of those who participated in the survey.

Busch finished second to Tony Stewart as the driver viewed as the worst ambassador for his sponsor.

Despite its reputation as a tourist destination, Las Vegas received only 15 votes as the best host city for NASCAR races; Charlotte received 28 votes.

The Daytona 500 was named the most exciting race to cover by 54.9 percent of those surveyed. Richmond International Raceway received the most votes as the best track at which to cover a race and Watkins Glen International as the worst track at which to cover a race.

Mission accomplished

Casey Kingsland, a Las Vegas native, finished 28th in Friday's season-ending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

More important, Kingsland stayed out of trouble during the race and has been approved by NASCAR to take part in the Truck Series test at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway in January, according to Roger Kingsland, Casey Kingsland's father and team co-owner. Prior to Friday's race, the younger Kingsland had been approved to race on tracks 1.5 miles in length and shorter.

If Kingsland were to get through the Daytona test without incident, he would be cleared to run the entire 2007 NCTS schedule and compete for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors in the No. 7 Hooters Energy Drink Chevrolet for Pennington Motorsports.

Kinser returns

Steve Kinser, who won his 20th World of Outlaws championship in 2005 but competed this year in the rival National Sprint Tour that he co-owned, announced he will return to WoO in 2007.

Kinser, the winningest driver in WoO history, said he is looking forward to focusing his energy on his two-car race team in 2007.

"It's been a hard situation for me to race with all the confusion that's been going on the last year," he said of his stint with the National Sprint Tour. "I just want to get back and relax and worry about my race team more than anything - worry about making my race cars fast and be in the right frame of mind when I hit the racetrack.

"It's no fun for me going to the races when I'm worried about scheduling and trying to run a race organization."

Danny Lasoski, the 2001 Outlaws champion who raced in the National Sprint Tour this year, also announced he will return to World of Outlaws in 2007.

The Outlaws, which have raced at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway dirt track every year since it opened in 1996 and twice a year since 1997, are not on the speedway's 2007 schedule.

The USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series and Dirt Late Models will race on the speedway's half-mile dirt track in place of the Outlaws on March 8 and March 9 .

Number of A-feature victories for Steve Kinser at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway's dirt track

533

Number of career victories for Steve Kinser in the World of Outlaws, a series record

"The thing you want to be able to do is to be well-liked when you retire. I know right now I'm not close to retiring, and I'm not close to being liked."

Kyle Busch, on his status as one of the "bad boys" of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Busch, 21, is a native Las Vegan, a three-time Cup race winner and the younger brother of Kurt Busch, who a survey showed is not a favorite with the fans.