***NASCAR WC Sharpie 500 at Bristol Saturday Nite 8/23 on TNT 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET***

NASCAR.com ^ | 8/22/03

[NormsRevenge]

No, I clicked channels and didn;t catch the post race interviews... I'm in mourning for Jeff's shot at a 5th WC championship. :-( LOL

I'll try and catch the replay this week. I can imagine some of the drivers... This is a tough track for even the most hardened pros..

[NormsRevenge]

You're most welcome , Sir. Have a good one. :-)

[Dog Gone]

(08-23) 20:53 PDT (AP) --

Busch came to Bristol as Public Enemy No. 1, somehow becoming the villain in his spat with Spencer.

The feud started here in April 2002, when Busch bumped his way past Spencer for his first career victory. There have been other skirmishes since, and it blew up last week when Busch intentionally tried to flatten Spencer's fender during the race.

Spencer then punched him in the face as Busch sat in his car. Spencer was suspended from Saturday night's race and Busch was placed on probation.

Busch was greeted by "Free Jimmy" T-shirts when he got to Bristol, and a wave of criticism from his fellow competitors.

"He's a cocky, arrogant, punk," Harvick said after the race. "He just has a really, really bad attitude. But he can wheel a race car."

Even so, Busch has likely added Marlin to his list of enemies.

Marlin was making a strong bid for his first win of the season -- and first ever on his home track -- when Busch spun him out as he tried to pass him for second place.

"Just a bonehead move," Marlin said. "I don't guess Spencer got him hard enough."

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks! Good stuff!

Cautions can't stop Busch sweep - lap by lap account

*************&&&&&&&&&*************

Results

Fin	St	Car	Driver	Make	Sponsor	Pts/Bonus	Laps	Status
1	5	#97	Kurt Busch	Ford	Rubbermaid	180/5	500	Running
2	23	#29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench Service	175/5	500	Running
3	31	#42	Jamie McMurray *	Dodge	Havoline	165/0	500	Running
4	10	#17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	DeWalt Power Tools	160/0	500	Running
5	16	#48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	155/0	500	Running
6	6	#12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	ALLTEL	155/5	500	Running
7	27	#88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	UPS	146/0	500	Running
8	14	#32	Ricky Craven	Pontiac	Tide	142/0	500	Running
9	9	#8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	Budweiser	138/0	500	Running
10	29	#19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	Dodge Dealers	134/0	500	Running
11	13	#5	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	Kellogg's/got milk?	130/0	500	Running
12	26	#49	Ken Schrader	Dodge	BAM Racing	127/0	500	Running
13	24	#22	Ward Burton	Dodge	Caterpillar	124/0	500	Running
14	32	#10	Johnny Benson	Pontiac	Valvoline	121/0	500	Running
15	11	#23	Kenny Wallace	Dodge	Stacker 2	118/0	500	Running
16	25	#9	Bill Elliott	Dodge	Dodge Dealers	115/0	500	Running
17	36	#40	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	Coors Light	117/5	500	Running
18	4	#01	Mike Skinner	Pontiac	U.S. Army	114/5	500	Running
19	38	#25	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	UAW/Delphi	106/0	500	Running
20	12	#74	Tony Raines *	Chevrolet	BACE Motorsports	103/0	500	Running
21	41	#41	Casey Mears *	Dodge	Target	100/0	500	Running
22	34	#16	Greg Biffle *	Ford	Grainger	97/0	500	Running
23	18	#20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Home Depot	94/0	494	Running
24	28	#27	Scott Wimmer	Dodge	TBA	91/0	494	Running
25	21	#4	Johnny Sauter	Pontiac	Kodak EasyShare	88/0	459	Running
26	30	#0	Jason Leffler	Pontiac	NetZero HiSpeed	85/0	458	Running
27	19	#18	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries	82/0	448	Running
28	1	#24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	89/10	444	Out of Race
29	35	#30	Steve Park	Chevrolet	America Online	76/0	440	Running
30	15	#77	Dave Blaney	Ford	First Tennessee Bank/Jasper Powered	73/0	436	Running
31	7	#7	Ted Musgrave	Dodge	Sirius Satellite Radio	70/0	430	Running
32	37	#99	Jeff Burton	Ford	CITGO	67/0	419	Running
33	8	#21	Ricky Rudd	Ford	Motorcraft Quality Parts	64/0	415	Running
34	42	#45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	Georgia Pacific	61/0	400	Running
35	22	#31	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	58/0	392	Running
36	2	#6	Mark Martin	Ford	Viagra	60/5	346	Out of Race
37	40	#154	Todd Bodine	Ford	National Guard	52/0	315	Running
38	17	#38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	M&M's	49/0	305	Out of Race
39	33	#150	Larry Foyt *	Dodge	Harrah's	46/0	273	Out of Race
40	39	#1	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	Pennzoil	48/5	193	Out of Race
41	43	#43	Christian Fittipaldi	Dodge	Cheerios	40/0	175	Out of Race
42	3	#15	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet	NAPA Auto Parts	37/0	87	Out of Race
43	20	#2	Rusty Wallace	Dodge	Miller Lite	34/0	87	Out of Race

* Denotes Rookie

*************&&&&&&&&&*************

Standings

Rank	+/-	Driver	Points	Behind	Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10
1	--	Matt Kenseth	3592	Leader	24	1	10	19
2	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	3241	-351	24	1	9	15
3	+1	Kevin Harvick	3128	-464	24	1	8	11
4	+2	Jimmie Johnson	3063	-529	24	2	6	10
5	-2	Jeff Gordon	3060	-532	24	1	8	11
6	+3	Kurt Busch	2990	-602	24	4	8	11
7	+1	Ryan Newman	2971	-621	24	5	9	13
8	-3	Michael Waltrip	2960	-632	24	1	6	9
9	-2	Bobby Labonte	2907	-685	24	1	10	11
10	--	Robby Gordon	2835	-757	24	2	4	10
11	--	Tony Stewart	2809	-783	24	1	6	10
12	+1	Terry Labonte	2755	-837	24	0	3	6
13	-1	Jeff Burton	2709	-883	24	0	2	7
14	--	Mark Martin	2668	-924	24	0	5	9
15	--	Rusty Wallace	2602	-990	24	0	1	7
16	--	Sterling Marlin	2596	-996	24	0	0	9
17	--	Bill Elliott	2580	-1012	24	0	3	4
18	+2	Ward Burton	2470	-1122	24	0	0	4
19	--	Greg Biffle*	2466	-1126	23	1	3	4
20	-2	Elliott Sadler	2445	-1147	24	0	2	7
21	--	Ricky Craven	2438	-1154	24	1	3	6
22	+1	Jamie McMurray*	2414	-1178	24	0	4	6
23	-1	Johnny Benson	2373	-1219	24	0	1	2
24	--	Joe Nemechek	2320	-1272	24	1	1	4
25	+2	Dale Jarrett	2309	-1283	24	1	1	7
26	-1	Dave Blaney	2252	-1340	24	0	1	4
27	-1	Ricky Rudd	2235	-1357	24	0	2	2
28	+1	Jeremy Mayfield	2201	-1391	24	0	0	5
29	-1	Jimmy Spencer	2132	-1460	23	0	1	3
30	+2	Kenny Wallace	2059	-1533	24	0	0	1
31	--	Steve Park	2052	-1540	24	0	1	3
32	-2	Todd Bodine	2029	-1563	24	0	0	1
33	--	Jeff Green	1867	-1725	22	0	0	1
34	--	Casey Mears*	1819	-1773	24	0	0	0
35	+1	Tony Raines*	1709	-1883	23	0	0	0
36	+1	Ken Schrader	1700	-1892	22	0	0	2
37	-2	Kyle Petty	1688	-1904	23	0	0	0
38	--	John Andretti	1381	-2211	18	0	0	1
39	--	Jack Sprague*	1284	-2308	18	0	0	0
40	--	Mike Skinner	1278	-2314	17	0	0	0
41	--	Larry Foyt*	921	-2671	16	0	0	0
42	--	Jerry Nadeau	844	-2748	10	0	1	1
43	--	Mike Wallace	771	-2821	10	0	0	1
44	--	Christian Fittipaldi	579	-3013	10	0	0	0
45	--	Derrike Cope	503	-3089	11	0	0	0
46	--	Brett Bodine	308	-3284	6	0	0	0
47	+3	Johnny Sauter	240	-3352	3	0	0	0
48	-1	Scott Pruett	236	-3356	2	0	1	1
49	+5	Jason Leffler	207	-3385	3	0	0	0
50	-2	Boris Said	201	-3391	2	0	0	1
51	-2	Ron Fellows	200	-3392	2	0	0	1
52	-1	Johnny Miller	146	-3446	2	0	0	0
53	-1	Kevin Lepage	143	-3449	3	0	0	0
54	-1	Hermie Sadler	128	-3464	3	0	0	0
55	--	Casey Atwood	113	-3479	2	0	0	0
56	--	Buckshot Jones	112	-3480	1	0	0	0
57	--	Hideo Fukuyama*	98	-3494	2	0	0	0
58	--	PJ Jones	91	-3501	1	0	0	0
59	--	Scott Wimmer	91	-3501	1	0	0	0
60	-1	Mike Bliss	85	-3507	1	0	0	0
61	-1	Paul Menard	76	-3516	1	0	0	0
62	--	Ted Musgrave	70	-3522	1	0	0	0
63	-2	Morgan Shepherd	68	-3524	2	0	0	0
64	-2	Jason Keller	67	-3525	1	0	0	0
65	-2	David Green	67	-3525	1	0	0	0
66	-2	Geoffrey Bodine	46	-3546	1	0	0	0
67	-2	Stacy Compton	39	-3553	1	0	0	0

* Denotes Rookie

[NormsRevenge]

[NormsRevenge]

Sharpie 500

The Rusty Wallace and Alan Kulwicki tribute cars make a victory lap before the start of the Sharpie 500.

[NormsRevenge]

Autostock

Sharpie 500

Matt Kenseth added a few more points to his championship lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. by finishing fourth at Bristol. Dale Jr. finished ninth.

[Light Speed]

Well..another great one under the Lights.
Bristol is also a certain Tape or cd burn....so much happened tonight..really looking forward to watching it again this week.

Track was dirty..alot of guys were breaking loose...I bet alot of them are exausted trying to keep the can from totally wrecking.

Watch the Rusty Wallace wreck again if you can...I noticed that he had a pretty clear view of Micheals wreck up high on the wall.

He did not jink to hard..and powered right into it for his wreck.

Alot of cars went down below on the apron to escape wrecks tonight...kinda pondering why Rusty would go straight 50 ft into Micheals car like that.

Tough nite for our faves...Jeff Burton's nite was over early.
Not a good nite for Joe Gibbs racin.

Jack Roush and his young Guns...

Wonder if this win will really be a cigar and a grin with Kurts shove on Sterlin..on Sterlins home turf.

Jeff Gordon must be relishing all this ...ie.."maybe they will leave me be...go chase Kurt down like a convict in the Bayou" : )

I do not believe I have ever heard an athlete booed like Kurt was tonight.

Hope Rusty Wallace is going to be O.K....what a week for him...big fire last week..hard wreck this one.

Darlington next....turn 2 and the "Slingshot"...kiss the wall time : )

[tubebender]

Here is some info on that cruise ship that was in Humboldt Bay today. You actually purchase and own your rooms on this Love Boat. Click on some of the other links...

[radu]

Bristol Bumper Bash....that was a good name for tonight, wasn't it? LOL!

Hopefully we'll be able to catch the whole race on replay. We missed the first third of the race as we were at a cruise-in. Dopey me forgot to set the VCR to record. duuuuuh! And Bristol is my favorite track! Where was my head?

Yeah, it was a rough night for our guys, wasn't it? You can bet I let out a loud groan when Jeff Burton crunched. I gotta wonder just who has a "voodoo car" with his number on it. LOL!!!! Someone's putting the "hoodoo" on him. He's had some rotten luck!

Kurt's getting a bit full of himself and one of these days, it's gonna come back to haunt him. I'd have thought he'd learned a lesson after last week, but nooooooo. He had to go and shove Sterling. Not a wise move. Darlington may be a DNF for Kurt. He'll at least have several "Darlington Donuts" on his car by the end of the race.

I missed Rusty's wreck but it sounds like it was nasty. Like you, I hope he's ok. I hate for any driver to get hurt.

Loking forward to Darlington. Give me the shorter tracks over the monstrous tri-ovals any day. Ya get to see much better racin'!! I long for the good ol' old days of "run what ya brung and hope ya brung enough". *siiiiigh*

[WestCoastGal]

I guess Sterling has forgotten all about the hit he put on Dale Earnhardts back bumper at Daytona.

There were so many more guys driving recklessly last night and no one said a word about it. Jeff Green set up two accidents that I saw and then the third time wrecked himself. The 4 car as described by Mark Martin was a rolling weapon and wrecked him. Then there's Larry Foyt and on and on, we obviously can't see everything that goes on, we are at the mercy of TNT.

I don't think what happened between Kurt Busch and Sterling Marlin was any different than any other driver at any track would do. I've seen worse when it gets to the end of a race and the guy in front who is slower won't let you go. And as D.W. would say "Ya gotta go"!!

[Dog Gone]

There were so many more guys driving recklessly last night and no one said a word about it.

I think plenty of words were said. Rubberhead didn't make any new friends last night.

But heck, it's racin'.

[#3Fan]

I agree with you on the Busch-Spencer deal. Let's look at the events that led up to this:

Phoenix 2001 (I think): Spencer wrecks Busch. Busch never retaliated.

Bristol 2002: Busch bumps and runs on Spencer saying later part of it was for Phoenix. Understandable. A lot of drivers employ the bump and run and Spencer wasn't wrecked. Spencer should've accepted the bump and run considering Spencer's own driving style is very aggressive.

Indianapolis 2002: Spencer wrecks Busch at a high speed track. A totally unnacceptable place to get revenge for a short track race. If not for soft walls, Busch may have been killed. In the post-race, Busch calls Spencer a decrepit old never has been. Considering the guy was just put into the wall driver's side first at 190, I think Spencer should've expected that the guy would've been mad enough to say about anything. Hell, Ward Burton said he wanted to shoot Dale Jr at Bristol so just calling someone old seems pretty tame compared to that. But instead Spencer whines to Nascar and the media about it. Now Busch owes Spencer big time.

Michigan 2003: Still, Busch never really retaliates. Spencer has never been wrecked, Busch prefers to just bang around on him during races. Pretty light retaliation if you ask me. But Spencer decides to knock him around while strapped inside the car.

Spencer lives by the sword and now he's dieing by it. He should've apologized to Busch for wrecking him at Phoenix and Indy and maybe he wouldn't be sitting out these Bristol races. Maybe Busch deserves a broken nose for being cocky to the other drivers, but I don't think he's been the aggressor in this Spencer-Busch feud.

[#3Fan]

me and Pete-R-Bilt and families are havin a BBQ out on the deck... we'll check in with y'all when we can. GO GO GO

Went to a little race party myself last night. No BBQ, just a little "loudmouth soup" as they say on "Dumb and Dumber". :^)

[pnz1]

Seen this article? A little more info on the Kurt/Jimmy deal. Kurt didn't have a lot of fans at Bristol from the crowd reaction there.

http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/6603158.htm
In-car tape reveals more
of Busch-Spencer exchange
Camera catches tirade before punch thrown
By JIM UTTER
ThatsRacin.com Writer

[WestCoastGal]

Thanks for giving us the history of this thing. I still think any two drivers could get into this type of controvery at any time and it has in the past. Racing is a hard sport. They're driving on the edge at all times, have to perform for the owners, the sponsors and the fans or else your done. I can understand how tempers can get out of control. As I said in an earlier post, a lot of stuff happens out there but I draw the line at punching out someone still strapped in their car. If Spencer wants to fight dirty he should join WWF.

Actually if you watch the Michigan race again Spencer was in everyone's way late in the race and wasn't giving an inch which is fine. But if someone comes up and gives you the bumper, take it like a man. I saw so many bumper hits and shoves last night which is part of the excitement of Nascar. I don't think Kurt Busch did anything that any other driver hasn't done already themselves.

Also, a lot of folks keep mentioning the radio conversation between Busch and his crew. One of the other drivers last night said (I can't remember which one--Stewart?) if I invite you to my house and you hear something you don't like don't critisize me, you can just leave, same goes for my in car conversations. They are all eavesdropping and I'll bet if you listen and tape other drivers and their crew you will hear a lot of the same thing or worse during the heat of the moment. That's racing and it's all exciting.

[#3Fan]

That tape doesn't conflict with what I said, that Spencer should've apologized for wrecking Busch at Phoenix and Indy. If Spencer had apologized, then maybe he wouldn't have drivers provoking him in the garage area, and then maybe he wouldn't have to punch them, and then maybe he wouldn't have to miss races. He also wrecked Sprague in the Busch Series last year (I think it was last year). He should've apologized to Sprague also. If he did apologize I don't remember it. And like I said, maybe Busch deserves a broken nose for the way he treats other drivers and maybe he deserves probation for starting a fight in the garage, but I still see Busch with two wrecked cars and facial injuries and Spencer no worse for the wear.

[Dog Gone]

'Free Jimmy' T-shirts go fast at Bristol

Kurt Busch is still taking a beating, all in the fallout from Jimmy Spencer punching him in the face.

Spencer was suspended from Saturday night's race at Bristol Motor Speedway for bopping Busch in the nose after the race last week. But Busch has clearly been made the villain in this battle, receiving a hearty round of boos in all the pre-race activities.

Fans and competitors in the garage area were snapping up T-shirts that either said "Free Jimmy," or mocked the bloody nose and chipped tooth Busch got in the altercation.

He also took a good deal of criticism from his fellow competitors, who disagreed with Busch intentionally trying to flatten Spencer's fender last week in Michigan and then saying it was "part of racing."

"I don't agree with flattening fenders," said four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon said. "I'm not going with him on that."

And Bill Elliott, another veteran, also disagreed.

"I just call it dirty racing," Elliott said.

It's certainly not the reception or reaction Busch was looking for at Bristol, where he has won the past two spring races. The first one was last year, when Busch knocked Spencer out of his way to score his first career victory.

"I hate it that Jimmy's not here this weekend," Busch said. "He's a tough competitor, just like I am, especially at this place."

[#3Fan]

Good points.

Actually if you watch the Michigan race again Spencer was in everyone's way late in the race and wasn't giving an inch which is fine. But if someone comes up and gives you the bumper, take it like a man. I saw so many bumper hits and shoves last night which is part of the excitement of Nascar.

Yeah he did the squeeze job on several drivers. The guy that bumps the most shouldn't be the one that gets so mad when he gets bumped. I'll say again that maybe Busch deserves to be knocked around for being a jerk to everyone, but just going by what has happened between Spencer and Busch on-track, I'm not seeing where Busch did anything to be totally in the fault. Spencer wrecking Busch at Indy was over the line because it was a high-speed track and Busch beating Spencer's fender at Michigan was mild retaliation for it.

[#3Fan]

Those reports leave out a lot of information, that bump and runs are common at Bristol, that Spencer wrecked Busch at Phoenix to start the feud. The fans don't like Busch and maybe rightfully so because it's been revealed throughout this last week that he's a jerk to most of the drivers in the garage area. He wasn't forthcoming in admitting that he provoked Spencer also. As far as on-track incidents go though, I don't think Spencer has a case. He may for garage incidents and attitudes.