But before the engines are fired comes a tradition that has become nearly as big as the race itself. That of course, would be the drivers� offsprings singing the National Anthem. Among the kids ensembled is a rail-thin child with a skinny face who is 10, perhaps 11 years old. The child is very bright and is a straight-A student in school. On the side he has already started in racing, and has won a number of races in go-karts with a very aggressive driving style that strikes fear in his competitors. The grandchild of another driver, who also appears to be 10 or 11, but much more heavy set, approaches him. The following conversation takes place between the two�

HEAVY KID: �Is your Dad that moron that drives the #97 car who everyone hates???

HK: �Just like your dad, you need to watch your mouth � or this might happen��

Except for winning Saturday night, things couldn�t have possibly gone more wrong for Kurt Busch � who just last week was considered an �innocent victim� of a post-race attack by Jimmy Spencer, after Busch had the misfortune of running out of gas right in front of Spencer�s trailer � with his helmet off yet. They tell me not to believe in coincidences, Nancy Kerrigan has turned into Tanya Harding.

The tide started to turn when the in-car audio from Busch�s car was released, where he admitted to attempting �to flatten Spencer�s fender� and �I�m not going to deal with that clown.� That raised one red flag. Then came the release of Busch�s audio/video from the in-car camera after the race. The tape was never released to the public but was to some journalists. It was revealed that Busch did not run out of gas, but at the very least stopped in front of Spencer�s trailer on his own. In fact, according to the �Let�s Talk NASCAR 'radio show, Busch revved the engine in front of the trailer. What is fact according to the audio is that Busch takes off his helmet and launches a profanity-laced tirade at Spencer. After Spencer invites Busch to �get out of the car�. Busch responds �What ya got, do something, just f�n do something, you�ll f�n die�� It was appearantly at this point that Spencer punches Busch.

With that, Busch went from �victim� to �someone who had it coming�. Worse yet, Busch shows up at Bristol with no apparent scars from his �beating� from Spencer. Earlier, we were led to believe from the Rosch camp that Busch had at least a broken nose and two black eyes. The booing would go on all weekend, from qualifying to driver introductions to Victory Lane. Busch would then enrage the crowd even more (if that was possible) by first getting into the back of Casey Mears, then taking out home-state hero Sterling Marlin a few laps later. Not that Busch was the only driver to punt a fellow competitor during the course of the evening. At least 30 cars absorbed some sort of damage as a record-tying 20 cautions flew. But the last thing Busch needed to do was make another enemy.

Busch would hold off Kevin Harvick in the closing laps to claim his fourth victory of the year. But in what would become a surreal scene, there was no burn-out, no reverse victory lap, and no getting out of the car at the start-finish line (how much garbage would had flown from the stands had he done that). Instead Busch quietly drives up the ramp to the Victory Lane area. After several minutes, an exhausted Busch emerges from the car and fireworks go off, drowned out by boos. Busch then starts by saying before he could thank sponsors or anything, that he has to apologize to Marlin. KB then gets emotional talking about getting his start in Vegas as a teammate of the late Chris Trickle. When asked about �how the week was�, Busch changes the subject and refers to this race as �the biggest win of his career�.

But still, Busch appeared uncomfortable in this �me against the world� situation. His girlfriend was not even present. And not many were willing to throw out a life ring to Busch, an anvil was more like it. Harvick would be the first runner-up to be interviewed on TV, and he despite not being involved in any incidents with Busch in this race, wastes little time saying that �Rubberhead� is quickly finding out what being an ass is getting him. In a subsequent press conference Harvick would refer to Busch as �cocky and arrogant� to which Busch would later respond by saying you could �consider the source�. True Harvick has had his share of controversy, and it�s clear he hasn�t forgiven Busch for what happened during Daytona week in February. Memories run very long in this sport.

Sterling Marlin would also have none of Busch�s apology, saying that it was clear that Spencer �didn�t get him hard enough�. Maybe Busch should forget the apologies and just tell everyone to take a hike, and embrace his role as NASCAR�S �New Villian�. There don�t seem to be too many on his side right now, except maybe for his West Highland Terrier, if his girl hasn�t taken Toto away by now. Busch even acknowledges that the Busch name is not exactly popular in the Las Vegas area. It was said that he did get a �standing ovation� from about 10,000 as he appeared with teammate Matt Kenseth at a Wisconsin track last Tuesday � of course that was before the dreaded in-car recordings were revealed. Busch's younger brother Kyle may not even be a sure bet to help him down the road. Seeking a 'separate identity', Kyle inked a deal with Hendrick racing this year. Could those two clash in years to come??? To be honest I don't have an idea of what Kyle is like, but hey - the Bodines used to go at it with each other...

Incredibly, despite a record-tying 20 cautions there were no real confrontations between drivers at Bristol � as opposed to about one every five laps in this race last year. I guess everyone was just too mesmerized with Busch. As an added attraction we have pulled out a name of a lucky entrant and have paired him with a driver for a chance to win a cool $1,000,000. Our entrant is Bob Duncum from Austin, TX and the driver we have paired him with is��Christian Fittipaldi. 'OH, I�M SORRY BOB, WHAT A TOUGH BREAK!!!!!!' Nice to see that the sponsors made sure the entrant had someone (Robby Gordon) who you know wasn't goint to win.

Now for the driver profiles and those who had a better chance at delivering some cash for someone�

Kevin Harvick � Get the feeling that Bristol is has reached �favorite track� status with Harvick, considering he always enters the Busch race and also does well in that. And then there is Harvick�s flat-out dislike of Busch. There are going to be some fun races between those two in the years to come.

Jamie McMurray � The road race along with an early problem at Michigan only disguises how strong Mac is becoming, as he scores his second third-place showing in four races. Look for a strong outing in Darlington as McMurray should among the top ten drivers the rest of the way.

Matt Kenseth � It�s been incredible how the #17 keeps wiggling off the hook. Kenseth cuts a tire down early on, but a caution comes out soon after keeping Matt on the lead lap. Was one of the strongest cars running at the end and would had made a bid for second with a few more laps. By the way, Kenseth has still completed all but two laps this year. Took more blame for the Jeff Gordon mishap than necessary.

Jimmie Johnson � Consider him a force at this track as well now. Fifth place finish goes just fine with the eighth obtained back in the spring.

Ryan Newman � Earns his Bristol Merit badge with his sixth place finish, which should change the perception that he is not a good short-track racer. His previous Bristol finishes were 37th, 36th, and 22nd.

Dale Jarrett � Mini resurgence continues for DJ with his third seventh-place finish in six weeks. Always a force at Darlington.

Ricky Craven � Eighth place finish marks his first top-15 in nine races!!!!! At least he�s building momentum heading to the track he won at back in March.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. � Quiet race as he didn�t make too many charges towards the front. There was also some controversy about him being out of the box during a pit stop, that he was more in violation than Tony Stewart was earlier in the year. But then again Mike Helton is going to step down from his commissioners� post to head DEI soon so you figure it out (lol).

Jeremy Mayfield � Rounds out the top ten with his first top-fifteen in six races.

Terry LaBonte � The night Bristol race always seem to be one of his best efforts, an 11th place showing this time around.

Kenny Schrader � Talk about coming back from the dead. Has rebounded from his first two DNQ�s in who knows how long with an 8th and now a 12th.

Sterling Marlin � At least stayed on the lead lap after being whacked by Busch � but was never a factor again and placed 17th.

Tony Raines/Casey Mears � Give the lightly heralded rookies credit for staying on the lead lap and out of trouble. Raines finishes 20th while Mears places 21st.

Tony Stewart/Bobby LaBonte � It has been a steady downward spiral for these two lately, especially in LaBonte�s case. Both found trouble at the same time on this night, with Stewart finishing 23rd and LaBonte 27th.

Jeff Gordon � Led the most laps before losing valuable track position with a tire going down, then gets wrecked by Kenseth when he was forced to check up on Ken Schrader. When he finishes what he starts the best Bristol driver along with Busch and Harvick. Gordon is 24th among all drivers in the last sixth races, even behind Jimmy Spencer. Good news is that Gordon is a five-time winner at Darlington.

Robby Gordon � First sign of trouble were the brakes locking up during a pit stop (which cost him two laps). Then the rear end started smoking (think Ryan Newman at Richmond) which necessitated a black flag and a lengthy stint behind the wall.

Mark Martin � About the only driver (outside of anyone towards Busch) who was really steamed at someone following a wreck, and Martin would had been one of the last ones in anyone�s pool. However, I don�t think the Martin/Johnny Sauter feud is really going to capture the imagination of NASCAR.

Michael Waltrip/Rusty Wallace � The nights nastiest crash ended a long streak of avoiding trouble by Waltrip, and also took out a perennial Bristol factor in Rusty. One nice thing about wrecking here though is that it is a short walk back to the trailer.

Steve Park/Kyle Petty/Casey Mears/Jeff Green/Todd Bodine � A likely starting five to draw the evening's first sheet metal if there ever was one. A classic example how you never want to start with the decrepits here.

There are a lot out there who will ranks the likes of Ryan Newman or Busch as the #1 ranked driver right now. I can�t fault the argument since the two have won a combined nine races. In fact Newman, Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick are the four hottest drivers right now, winning six of the last seven races. However, I can never argue with a 351-point lead, so my top-20 is�

1. (1) Kenseth, 2. (7) Newman, 3. (6) Busch (+6), 4. (3) Harvick (+1), 5. (4) Johnson (-2), 6. (2) Dale Jr., 7. (5) J. Gordon (-3), 8. (10) R. Gordon (+6), 9. (11) Stewart (+1), 10. (8) Waltrip (-3), 11. (9) B. LaBonte (-3), 12. (22) McMurray (+1), 13. (12) T. LaBonte (+2), 14. (14) Martin (+3), 15. (13) J. Burton (-3), (19) 16. Biffle (+4), 17. (15) R. Wallace (-6), 18. (16) Marlin (+1), 19. (25) Jarrett (NR), 20. (20) Sadler (-2)

Back in March Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven slammed and banged their way over the final laps to what eventually became one of the closest finishes in Cup history, with absolutely no animosity between the two afterwards.

It was like �Irish� Mickey Ward and Arturo �Thunder� Gatti beating out each others brains for 12 rounds, and then the two sharing laughs about it from their hospital beds afterwards. However, I have a feeling that if Craven and Busch were to stage a similar duel now (rather than in March) that there would be a Ward/Gatti like confrontation in the garage afterwards, with Busch quickly falling to 0-2 in his NASCAR boxing career. That is if someone hadn�t hung him by the catchfence earlier.

And actually, Busch is very good here. In addition to the March win he was also the pole sitter in this race two years ago, and also nearly won at Rockingham this year � a track similar to Darlington that stresses tires and pit strategy. Look for Busch to be the co-favorite along with Jeff Gordon. Imagine those two going at it in the final laps, it may move many of the masses to either root for Gordon for the first time in their lives or for the two to take each other out. This is also one of Sterling Marlin�s best tracks � imagine him in contention with Busch. The storylines may be endless.

The 400-miler in March is a demanding race in itself, but the Labor Day 500-mile version is a test of survival. The combination of late-summer heat along with the rough track conditions and constant flirtation with the Turn 4 wall make this event the most grueling of the schedule, even more so than the 600-miler in Charlotte. Unfortunately, this will be the last time one of NASCAR�s oldest races will be run on this particular weekend. Lights will be installed in the off-season in preparation for a November date next year. It won�t seem the same but could actually be exciting if the point race were to be close.