No dominator of Bristol Motor Speedway ever has put the secret quite like Kurt Busch does: “It’s just a matter of minding your own business . . . “
Everybody’s business appears to be everybody else’s, on every lap, with 43 cars packed on the self-proclaimed “world’s fastest half-mile track.”
It’s sort of like putting 43 dice in a cup and expecting them not to touch as you shake.
Busch, the 26-year-old reigning Nextel Cup champion, has yet to be recognized as someone who minds his own business anywhere on the tour. He has an aggressive style that just now is beginning to settle down.
But Busch goes into Sunday’s Food City 500 seeking a fourth straight victory in Bristol’s spring race and a fifth triumph in the past seven events here.
That lends credence to what he calls his “small formula” for success at NASCAR’s highest-banked (36 degrees), yet second-shortest (.533 of a mile) track.
At the end of the equation comes the trick: ” . . . then being really aggressive,” Busch said.
That’s more like Busch, who hasn’t lived down notoriety for sticking the nose of his Roush Racing Ford into others’ bumpers, and more like Bristol. The combination is likely to turn the final 200 laps into a free-for-all.
Tough guys historically have been the big winners here. Darrell Waltrip won 12 times, including seven in a row. Cale Yarborough and the late Dale Earnhardt won nine times each.
Among active drivers, only Rusty Wallace with nine and Jeff Gordon with five have more Bristol victories than Busch.
In Gordon’s latest victory here, he unabashedly knocked Wallace out of the groove to make the winning pass in August 2002.
In Busch’s latest victory here, last April, he had to fend off a slam from behind by Wallace on the last lap. But any lap can be as precarious as the last ones.
“It’s really about just riding around,” Busch said. “You get your time in, and then you have to attack for about 200 laps.”
But exactly how does one “ride around,” minding his own business, at this place?
“You have to protect your car,” Busch said. “If there’s somebody quicker than you [in the early and middle stages], you just let ’em go.
“If you’re quicker than the car in front of you, you just find their weak points and try to work around that.
“[The small formula] is as difficult as anything–but at the same time it’s simple, if your car is handling well.
“But everything at Bristol is nothing you can expect,” he added. “You have to adjust, and roll with what comes your way.”
What he’s sure of is that “if we’re in position late in the race, we’re going to attack.”
Even with smaller spoilers and softer tires, Busch thinks the chassis setup veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig developed will continue to work here.
“The concept is still there,” Busch said. “We haven’t found anything in the back of the car that’s different. In the front, conditions change each time we race here–but I don’t want to give away too many secrets.”
“But it’s a setup that likes to go to Victory Lane.”
He will start what might appear to be a miserable 26th, but never has worried much about qualifying position here, and it hasn’t hurt him. His first victory here, in March 2002, came starting from the 27th spot. Last spring’s was from 13th. Elliott Sadler won the pole.
Another Busch victory here would be the third for his Roush Racing team in the first five races of the season, by the third team driver. Teammate Greg Biffle won at California Speedway on Feb. 27 and Carl Edwards at Atlanta on March 20.
The only other winning team on the tour is Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff Gordon won the Daytona 500 and Jimmie Johnson won at Las Vegas in March.
At this rate, having all five Roush drivers win this year “is a great possibility,” Busch said. “We hope this weekend is our weekend, then we’re going to get Mark [Martin] and [Matt] Kenseth in there.”
Though all Cup races thus far this season have come down to Hendrick vs. Roush, “at this place, you’re not going to see that type of rivalry, just because there are so many cars that can be in the hunt,” Busch said.
But as the wild hunt rips on, just keep in mind the guy back there minding his own business, putting in his time, working his small formula to get to the end, when he’ll attack.
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ehinton@tribune.com
