Is Kurt Busch the new king of the short tracks?

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Like many drivers, Kurt Busch's reaction to his first laps at Martinsville Speedway was less than complimentary.

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The track was tight, difficult and unlike any he'd raced on.

But like a driver with designs on someday being a champion, Busch did the logical thing to help himself get better: he followed Jeff Gordon's example.

"I think it was '95 when he said he had to work on his short-track program," Busch said of Gordon, a four-time series champion now regarded as possibly the best short-track driver in the Nextel Cup Series.

	Busch has the points lead for the second time in his brief career. Credit: Autostock

Gordon will start from the pole for the third consecutive Nextel Cup race on the .526-mile oval in Sunday's Advance Auto Parts 500. He'll also be seeking his third consecutive trip to Victory Lane at the track.

"It's easy to pick out the 24 and the way that they run their operation here," Busch said. "Whether he's learned how to do this on his own or whether he got some help from Ray Evernham or Robbie Loomis, they've got their package figured out for Martinsville and they're a very strong competitor at every short track or every small venue we go to."

Busch, though, is making his own short-track reputation, having won three straight races at Bristol Motor Speedway and ranking as the last driver other than Gordon to take the checkered flag at Martinsville.

"I think it's really just Bristol," he said. "My history at Richmond is horrible and then we do have our win here, but that was just due to being in a good place and a key position at the end of the race."

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The victory -- Busch's second -- came when he beat the field out of the pits with 91 laps to go, built a big lead and then held off a furious charge by Johnny Benson, beating him to the finish by 0.46 seconds.

Busch struggled at Martinsville last year, finishing 28th in the spring and 39th in the fall, but will start seventh in Sunday's race.

That puts him immediately in front of Elliott Sadler, a Virginia native coming off a victory two weeks ago in Texas. The triumph was the second of Sadler's career and ended a 108-race winless streak for him.

Busch leads the point standings and Sadler is fifth, keeping alive his hopes of contending for the championship for the first time.

	Busch's win at Bristol last month was his fourth career win on a short track. Credit: Autostock

"My guys have been walking on cloud nine since Texas," Sadler said. "They've got a new feeling and a new vibe going around the shop. We feel like we belong after winning and being in the top five in points.

"We feel like we've got just as good a chance as anybody."

Busch was the third-fastest car in Saturday's practice, while Sadler was 28th. The leaders were Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson, who feels like he's ahead of the game with his pre-race setup ahead of schedule.

"Usually at this point we're pretty frustrated and still seem to come back and have a strong finish in the race," Johnson said.

One driver whose frustration continues to build is Jeff Burton, who hit the outside wall in his Ford during practice and will have to use a backup car. After qualifying 27th, he'll now start at the back.

"I just had no brakes," Burton said. "We were on a 35-lap run or something like that and I just lost the brakes."

Burton hasn't won in 83 races since Phoenix in 2001.