LOOKING IN ON: MOTOR SPORTS

Friday, Aug. 31, 2007 | 8:11 a.m.

Who ruined the night race at Bristol Motor Speedway?

The annual summer Nextel Cup Series stop at what long has been considered NASCAR's most exciting track used to be one of the few can't-miss races for even the most casual NASCAR fan.

A short-track race once known for its beatin' and bangin' and frequent multi-car wrecks has become - in the past two years, at least - one of the tamer races on the 36-race circuit.

(Although racing purists will sniff that crashes are not what make for exciting races, they are what keep many NASCAR fans tuning in each week and have led to 51 consecutive sellouts at the 160,000-seat Tennessee track.)

Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at the newly resurfaced half-mile track challenged even the most die-hard NASCAR fan to stay tuned to ESPN for the entire three-hour race in which Kasey Kahne and eventual race winner Carl Edwards combined to lead 487 of the 500 laps.

NASCAR was quick to point out that the race featured more than twice the green-flag passes than the spring race at the same track but neglected to mention that only three of those passes were for the lead.

So who - or what - is to blame for this once-great race becoming a snoozefest?

Part of the blame goes to the speedway itself for widening the track and adding a racing groove during its recent track resurfacing. Goodyear also shares in the blame for bringing a harder tire (as it did earlier this year for the first race on the reconfigured Las Vegas Motor Speedway) that was so durable that it took tire strategy out of the equation.

But the biggest culprit may just be the race's place on the schedule. The Sharpie 500 was the 24th of 26 "regular-season" races that set the field for the final 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup. As drivers attempt to solidify their position in the points or make their way into the top 12 - the only drivers who qualify for the Chase - they are less likely to take the kind of chances that, in the past, have led to exciting racing.

Although the summer race may be forever changed, take heart , NASCAR fans: At least you'll always have Bristol in the spring.

Trading cars for 'Stars'

IndyCar Series regular Helio Castroneves, a two-time Indy 500 winner, is joining the growing list of current and former athletes who are taking part in ABC's reality-based show "Dancing with the Stars."

Castroneves will be paired with last season's winner, Julianne Hough, when the series returns Sept. 24 for its fifth season.

Castroneves said he will rely on Hough's fans to help the duo advance in the competition.

"I don't think I'm strong on anything on dancing right now," he said. "I thought Samba would be something that I might get away with , but after three days of rehearsing I can see that I need a lot of practice.

"I'm just going to go have fun, enjoy it. I'm having already a lot of fun. I'm already discovering a lot of muscles that I didn't know existed in my body."

Other professional athletes who have competed on the show include Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Apolo Anton Ohno, Evander Holyfield and Laila Ali.

Happy birthday, James

James Hylton, the septuagenarian driver who nearly qualified for this year's Daytona 500, received the perfect birthday gift this past weekend.

Hylton, a two-time winner in what is now the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, turned 73 Sunday. A few days earlier, Carter-2-Motorsports owner Roger Carter II surprised Hylton with an early birthday gift: an entry into Sunday's ARCA race in Milwaukee.

Unfortunately for Hylton, the gift was not one he could return. He was unable to start the 200-lap race because the car developed a clutch problem.

Hylton, who finished 22nd in an ARCA race at Pocono Raceway earlier this month, plans to attempt to qualify for the Nextel Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway in October.

Number of NASCAR Nextel Cup Series drivers who have completed all 6,749 laps this season.

900

Number of NASCAR Cup starts for Ricky Rudd when he takes the green flag Sunday at California Speedway.

Champ Car World Series racing director Tony Cotman on driver "Speedy" Dan Clarke, who was suspended for last weekend's race in Belgium after causing a four-car crash on the first lap of Friday's practice session.