Busch rides hot streak onto new Bristol track

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BRISTOL, Tenn. — Las Vegas’ Kurt Busch knows his way around Bristol Motor Speedway, cruising to five victories there since 2002.

None of that previous experience is expected to be much of a value on a repaved track that’s a mystery entering today’s Sharpie 500.

“It’s a brand new racetrack, and you can’t take anything for granted,” Busch said Friday. “It’s a first time for everybody. It’s going to be an interesting weekend, to say the least.”

Work began on the .533-mile bullring immediately after the March race here, as track officials smoothed out the surface with new concrete. A variable banking was added, and an additional 3 feet of track surface was put in the corners. The transition in and out of Turns 2 and 4 was smoothed.

The drivers, who typically are slow to adjust to change, overwhelmingly have embraced the results.

“The track’s awesome,” Tony Stewart said. “I don’t think you could have asked them to do a better job with the racetrack. To be able to pour concrete and make it as smooth as they did, that’s pretty remarkable.”

Many drivers kept a close eye on Wednesday’s Truck Series race, the first event here since the repaving. They were surprised to see multiple racing lines, a high groove and side-by-side passing for the first time in recent memory.

“It looked to me like people are going to be able to hang on on the outside and maybe even make some passes on the outside,” Carl Edwards said.

This event hardly needed help in producing excitement — the Bristol night race is one of NASCAR’s toughest tickets and has a stellar reputation for producing thrilling races — and the new surface is expected to enhance it.

“I’m driving around here thinking this is the first time I’ve ever been here,” five-time Bristol winner Jeff Gordon said. “I didn’t think you could make Bristol any cooler or more fun, but they have.”

Kasey Kahne, mired in a winless season, will start from the pole, and fellow Dodge driver Juan Pablo Montoya has the outside spot. Roush Fenway Racing teammates Jamie McMurray and David Ragan are in the second row.

Busch qualified 19th, and his younger brother, Kyle, qualified 20th. Matt Kenseth, the two-time defending race winner, will start 12th.

Look for many of the top drivers to lean toward the conservative side. Those locked into the Chase for the championship might go hard for the win — and the 10 bonus points that come with each victory. But those fighting for a berth must play it safe.

That includes Kurt Busch, who has the 12th and final spot in the standings. He has a 163-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is 13th, and is up 171 points over teammate Ryan Newman, who is 14th. Three races are left before the 10-race title hunt begins.

“For us, we go about our job and just try to stay as smooth and as clean as we can the next three weeks,” Busch said. “If we are consistent, (Earnhardt) is going to have a hard time catching us. It is still all about consistency.”

Busch has won two of the past three races, building momentum that many think is making him a title contender. If the Chase started today, Busch would jump from 12th to fourth under the new seeding system.

But Busch wouldn’t bite when asked if he was laying the groundwork for a second Nextel Cup title.

“I look at it as I’m a new guy on the block with the racetrack,” he said. “There is no setup that I know yet that I feel comfortable with that is going to help me go to a top-10 finish.

“I can get bumped from behind trying to check up from a wreck on lap six, and we’re in the garage working on the car, and the 160-point lead we have on 13th place goes away.”