Viewer's Guide: Bristol

Last Friday wasn't Father's Day, but for Rusty Wallace, it may as well have been.

Wallace got to watch son Steven snag his first career ARCA race at Michigan. Viewers of Saturday's pre-race show from Bristol on TNT will get an up-close look at what Rusty went through cheering his son to victory.

	Inside the Numbers A look back at Rusty Wallace's nine wins at Bristol Date Start Laps Led April 6, 1986 14 174 April 9, 1989 8 71 April 14, 1991 1 104 April 4, 1993 1 376 Aug. 27, 1994 4 105 Aug. 24, 1996 5 353 April 11, 1999 1 425 March 26, 2000 6 86 Aug. 26, 2000 1 279

Steven told the AP after the race that he got a golden tip just a couple of laps from the finish.

"He told me to drive that thing like I've never driven in my whole life," he said. "That's what I did."

You can expect Rusty to drive the wheels off of the No. 2 Dodge on Saturday night. He can clinch a berth in the Chase for the Nextel Cup on Saturday if he can finish first or second.

If past history is any indication, he may be fighting for that in the final laps. Wallace has nine wins in 43 starts at the bullring and an average finish of 9.7.

"We certainly want to go out on top of our game at Bristol with a strong run and I think we're primed to come in there and do just that."

Also in Sunday's pre-race show, Wally Dallenbach will welcome writer-director Quentin Tarantino to Wally's World.

Kasey Kahne and David Reutimann are among the guests slated for Trackside this week from Bristol (10 p.m. ET Friday, SPEED).

If you're heading there this weekend, the show will be taped at 3 p.m. ET. The SPEED Channel Stage Truck will be located outside the track, behind the main grandstand outside Turn 4.

The ratings news was solid again for TNT on Sunday at Michigan. The GFS Marketplace 400 drew a 5.5 rating and garnered 4,889,000 households. Those numbers represent a 15 percent increase from last year's event.

Dave Despain, host of the SPEED Channel show Wind Tunnel takes over as host of Inside Nextel Cup, beginning Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET. In addition, Nextel Cup Series driver Brian Vickers replaces Johnny Benson on the weekly Monday night panel show.

"Inside NEXTEL Cup is the longest running NASCAR program on the network, so we have been very careful in considering any changes," said Chris Long, SPEED Channel VP of Studio Production. "Allen, Michael, Johnny and Ken have been doing this show for nearly 10 years and there certainly is a comfort level and chemistry between all four of them and the television audience.

"However, we felt it was the appropriate time to update the panel and rededicate the show to delivering a true insider's view of each race," Long added. "We are going to use everything at our disposal technically and creatively to bring race fans the inside story on why real-time decisions were made during the heat of battle."

In this week's "Ask the Producer" question, we deal with a popular inquiry. Several users want to know why TNT has been showing Bud Pole Qualifying on a tape-delayed basis.

"The change by NASCAR this year to its on-track weekend schedule of events precipitated us to cluster Nextel Cup qualifying and Busch Series racing for select races to better accommodate the television viewing audience, which has resulted in increased ratings for both properties," said TNT spokeman Jeff Pomeroy.

"For those select instances where our schedule is clustered and diehard fans need instantaneous qualifying results they can go to NASCAR.COM for up-to-minute results."

Each week, we'll choose a fan's question to ask a NASCAR on NBC/TNT producer. Send your puzzler by e-mail using the link to the right.

In this week's version of "The Rant," Lisa Fowler of Tallahassee, Fla. wishes we could just enjoy this season.

EMAIL Send Mark your take for "The Rant" or your question for "Ask The Producer"

I just wish that we could go ahead and get our teams lined up for 2006 so that we can get back to 2005. Seems that we used to be able to enjoy each race for what it offered, now we can't even enjoy the season for worrying about next year.

Now to this weekend's schedule:

Nextel Cup Series: Sharpie 500

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway

•.533-mile oval
• 36-degree banking in corners
• 16-degree banking on straights
• Frontstretch: 650 feet
• Backstretch: 650 feet

Race length: 500 laps/266.5 miles

TV schedule (All times ET)

• NASCAR Live: 2 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Final Practice: 2:30 p.m. Fri., SPEED (tape)
• Bud Pole Qualifying: 6 p.m. Fri., TNT
• NASCAR Live: Noon Sat., SPEED
• NASCAR This Morning: 5:30 p.m. Sat., SPEED
• Pre-race: 7 p.m. Sat., TNT.
• Race: 7:40 p.m. Sun., TNT.

Eight is greatJunior streaks to the checkers last year at Bristol Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

One year ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke out of a six-week slump with a convincing victory in the Sharpie 500, giving him a weekend sweep.

The most recent checkered flag went to Jeremy Mayfield, who gambled on fuel mileage and it paid off at Michigan. The No. 19 Dodge had just enough gas to make it to the finish line for the team's first victory of the season.

Keep an eye on Jeff Gordon. Time is running out for Gordon to make it into the Chase for the Nextel Cup, but Saturday may be the night he makes a charge. He'll be looking for his sixth win at the Tennessee bullring.

Busch Series: Food City 250

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway

•.533-mile oval
• 36-degree banking in corners
• 16-degree banking on straights
• Frontstretch: 650 feet
• Backstretch: 650 feet

TV schedule (All times ET)

• Busch Pole Qualifying: 4:30 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Race: 7:30 p.m. Fri., TNT

Thrilling finishJunior holds off Kenseth and Harvick for the win Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

One year ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr., won a three-lap, green-white-checkered shootout with Matt Kenseth to begin at weekend sweep.

The most recent checkered flag went to Ryan Newman, passed Greg Biffle on the restart with six laps remaining, then pulled away for his second consecutive Busch Series victory.

Keep an eye on Paul Menard. Menard --- who celebrated his 25th birthday last Sunday --- has posted nine top-10 finishes in his last 10 races, propelling him to a career-best seventh-place standing in the Busch Series standings.

Mark Spoor is a senior producer for NASCAR.COM. The Domino's Viewer's Guide runs each Thursday during race weeks.