Sharpie 500

Kurt Busch is one of the hottest names and most popular drivers on the Winston Cup Series today. He's also pretty darn good at Bristol Motor Speedway, the spot for this weekend's Sharpie 500.

After all, he's won the past two spring races at the .533-mile bullring, including the Food City 500 in March of this year.

	Kurt Busch

Bill Weber spent some time recently with Busch in his hometown of Las Vegas to find out how he got started in racing and how he got one of the most sought-after rides in Winston Cup racing with Roush Racing at such a young age.

What has made him so good, so soon? Find out this Saturday night during the pre-race show for the Sharpie 500 on TNT.

Rumble strips: Speaking of Busch, there will also be a follow-up to the altercation between he and Jimmy Spencer last weekend at Michigan and the ensuing fines, suspensions and appeals.

Considering the quoteable nature of both of these guys -- and the history between the two -- you can probably expect some zingers to fly.

Wally's World, kind of: This week, rather than taking a lap around Bristol, Wally Dallenbach will take a tour of pit road.

	Wally Dallenbach

Four of them, actually.

In the past four weeks, Winston Cup pit crews have had to negotiate four very different situations at Indy, Watkins Glen, Michigan and this weekend at Bristol.

Wally will explain what makes them so different and so challenging for the crews.

Say what you want, but one area where NBC/TNT has it all over the FOX guys is coverage of pit road. With so many races lately decided on pit road, it's certainly warranted.

Benny and Blaney: In this week's edition of "Benny and The Pits," Benny spends some time with Roger White, who does electrical work for the No. 77 team of Dave Blaney.

Like the team's crew chief, Robert "Bootie" Barker, White is confined to a wheelchair. White has been with the team for five years and he'll explain how his presence helped make the hiring of Barker much easier.

	Benny Parsons

Speaking of Benny: A really nice piece on John Bryan during last week's segment. Bryan calling himself a "crash-test dummy" let us know he was handling it OK. His comment later on how he was thinking of quitting let us know how dangerous the job is, as if the replays of the incident didn't drive that point home.

What did you say?: It is really difficult to hear Wally and his guests over the engines during the "Wally's World" segment. Here's a suggestion: How about having Wally do a voiceover on top of shots of his car going around the track to tell us the characteristics. End the segment with comments from the celebrity of the week telling us about his experience.

Just a thought.

Great shot: An awesome job by all involved covering the crash between Kenny Wallace and Todd Bodine. Multiple camera angles -- including a jaw dropping shot along the wall that took out the camera -- along with good analysis from the booth and timely interviews from the garage gave fans some great insight.

Memo to Bodine: After saying it twice, I think we're clear that it was "one of those racin' deals." Nice to know you went to the school of NASCAR clich?s.

At long last: A nice job by Parsons last weekend using the cut-a-way engine to explain what made Rusty Wallace's car look like a roasted marshmallow. We want a lot more of that.

Ask The Producer: This week's "Ask The Producer" question comes a user wanting to know why NBC/TNT hasn't used the 360-degree cut-away car as much as they did last season.

EMAIL Send Mark a comment or an "Ask The Producer" question

Here's this week's answer.

"We still have the car, but this year we have a cut-away engine also. In a lot of cases this year, the engine has been the problem. In those cases, the engine is a much better tool."

Each week, we'll pick one question to ask the producer of the NBC/TNT telecast. Why did they do things this way? Why did they talk to that driver? Any question that eats at you could be answered right here in the Viewer's Guide.

Send your questions to the e-mail box in this piece.

On to this weekend's schedule...

Winston Cup Series: Sharpie 500

Site: Bristol, Tenn.

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval, 36-degree banking in turns, 16-degree banking in straights. Length of straights: 650 feet.

Race distance: 500 laps, 266.5 miles TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: TNT, 3 p.m. ET Friday. Happy Hour: TNT, 7 p.m. ET Friday (tape delay). Race: TNT, 7 p.m. ET Saturday.

Last year: With the less than three laps remaining, Jeff Gordon bumped Rusty Wallace going into Turn 3, moving past Wallace to take the lead and his first victory in 31 races.

Last year Gordon makes a pass on Rusty to secure the victory. Play video Ward Burton is not pleased with Junior after getting spun. Play video Sadler tells Nemechek to use his head after the No. 21 crashes. Play video

Last race: Ryan Newman played the fuel-mileage game and took his fifth victory of the season last weekend in the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Raceway.

Potential Storyline: If history is any indication, there won't be much relief for Matt Kenseth's challengers Saturday at Bristol. In his last three starts at the bullring, Kenseth's worst finish is sixth. He was second in this year's Food City 500 there in March.

Point to ponder: Jeff Gordon sits third in the series standings despite finishing outside the top 30 in three of his past four races. He finished 36th at Pocono, 33rd at Watkins Glen and 30th last weekend at Michigan.

Next race: Mountain Dew Southern 500, Darlington Raceway, Aug. 31

Busch Series: Food City 250

Site: Bristol, Tenn.

Last year Spencer holds off Scott Wimmer in the final laps. Play video Mike Harmon walks away from a terrible crash. Play video A wreck on the restart of lap 43 collects 12 cars. Play video

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval, 36-degree banking in turns, 16-degree banking in straights. Length of straights: 650 feet.

Race distance: 250 laps, 133.25 miles

TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 3:15 p.m. ET Thursday. Race: TNT, 8 p.m. ET Friday.

Last year: Jimmy Spencer dominated, leading 133 of 250 laps to get the 12th Busch Series victory of his career.

Last race: Tony Stewart had the dominant car, but Kevin Harvick was awarded the win in last weekend's Cabela's 250 when the race was stopped after 110 of 125 scheduled laps.

Potential Storyline: While Scott Riggs and David Green are busy staging a classic battle for the driver championship, Richard Childress Racing is running away with the car owner championship -- with two drivers who aren't even in the top five of the driver standings.

Johnny Sauter and 2001 series champion Kevin Harvick have both driven Richard Childress' No. 21 PayDay Chevrolet this season. Sauter has driven the No. 21 car on 14 occasions and recorded top-five finishes in it at Darlington, Nashville, Daytona and Pikes Peak. Harvick has driven the car in nine races, in conjunction with his Winston Cup Series schedule.

While Sauter and Harvick are ninth and 25th, respectively, in the driver championship standings, Childress has reaped the benefits of their combined record. Childress leads the car owner championship standings by 100 points (3,292 - 3,192) over Greg Pollex, owner of the No. 10 Ford driven by Riggs.

Point to Ponder: David Green and Jason Keller are the only two active Busch Series regulars who have won at Bristol. They are currently tied for the most top-10 finishes with 10 each. Additionally, the pair has two Bud Poles each. Green is tied with four other drivers for the most top-five starts with seven.

Next race: South Carolina 200, Darlington Raceway, Aug. 30.

Craftsman Truck Series: O'Reilly 200

Site: Bristol, Tenn.

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval, 36-degree banking in turns, 16-degree banking in straights. Length of straights: 650 feet.

Race distance: 200 laps, 106.6 miles

TV: Race: SPEED, 8:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.

Last year: This is the first Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol since 1999.

Last race: Carl Edwards dominated the Federated Auto Parts 200 at Nashville Superspeedway despite an engine change that sent him to the rear of the field.

Potential Storyline: Edwards and Kurt Busch are the only two rookies to win two consecutive races in a season. At Bristol, Edwards looks to become only the fourth driver to win three straight races. The others -- Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Greg Biffle -- were all series champions. Two others have tried to win three consecutive races this season -- Dennis Setzer (No. 46 ACXIOM Chevrolet) at Mesa Marin and Martinsville and Gaughan (St. Louis, Michigan) -- but have come up short.

Point to Ponder: With 10 races remaining in the season, the championship battle is the second-closest in series history among the top-two drivers. Only seven points separate leader Brendan Gaughan and second-place Travis Kvapil.

Next race: Virginia is for Lovers 200, Richmond International Raceway, Sept. 4.

Mark Spoor is an associate producer of NASCAR.com. The Domino's Viewer's Guide appears each Thursday.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.