Defending Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch Credit: Autostock

Cross' Words: Phoenix

Two words for anyone who mixes drinking with driving:

Rob Moroso.

	Credit: Jim Cooper/Getty Images
	Inside the Numbers Rob Moroso's career stats Series Races W T5 T10 Cup 29 0 0 1 Busch 86 6 24 42

Considered to be NASCAR's next great driver, Moroso lost control of his car on Sept. 30, 1990, near his Lake Norman, N.C., home. He died and killed the driver of a second car.

According to a medical examiner's report, Moroso had a 0.22 blood alcohol level -- more than twice the legal drunk level of 0.10 -- at the time of his death.

Moroso, who was going home after a race at North Wilkesboro, was driving at least 75 mph in a 55 mph zone, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said.

He also had been convicted of speeding four times. Judges could have revoked his license at least twice since March 30, 1989, but the charges were reduced.

Fast forward to Friday night in Maricopa County, Arizona. Kurt Busch was stopped after trying to avoid another car and running a stop sign about two miles from Phoenix International Raceway.

"As a result of the roadside investigation the deputy did take Mr. Busch into custody for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol," said Lt. Paul Chagolla, a Maricopa County sheriff's spokesman.

Chagolla said the deputy smelled alcohol on Busch, but the driver allegedly refused to perform standard field sobriety tests. Busch did submit to a field breath alcohol test, disclosing the presence of alcohol.

The deputy drove Busch to PIR, where a sheriff's facility is located, to administer another breath test but the machine there failed. The machine malfunctioned, which may have gotten the defending Nextel Cup champion off the hook on a driving under the influence charge.

I say "may" because Busch has been adamant in his defense, stating: "I regret the incident that occurred near the Phoenix International Raceway Friday evening where I received a traffic citation. It is important to understand that this citation is not alcohol related."

No, the reckless driving citation was not alcohol related. You can get that ticket for running a stop sign, which Busch did.

That's the spin. It's a play on words. People do it 24/7/365.

So maybe there are two other words to remember:

Tammy Williams, the woman killed by Moroso.

Inside the Chase Standings after Phoenix Rank Driver Pts. Behind 1. T. Stewart 6,415 -- 2. J. Johnson 6,363 -52 3. C. Edwards 6,328 -87 4. G. Biffle 6,313 -102 5. M. Martin 6,253 -162 6. R. Newman 6,208 -207 7. M. Kenseth 6,187 -228 8. R. Wallace 6,016 -399 9. Ku. Busch 5,974 -441 10. J. Mayfield 5,939 -476 • Race Results, click here • Cup Standings, click here • Race Recap, click here Final lapsBiffle and Busch battle for the lead late at Phoenix Tony stays on topStewart finishes fourth and retains points lead Checker 500Watch the race highlights with TrackPass Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Flags

• Red -- Jeremy Mayfield finished 24th at Phoenix and remained 10th in Cup points. He has eight top-10 finishes this year, but only one in the Chase (seventh at Dover). And it seems a year doesn't make much of a difference for Mayfield; he was 10th in points after 35 races in 2004.

• Yellow -- Carl Edwards finished sixth at Phoenix and is third in the standings, 87 points behind leader Tony Stewart. Edwards has 21 top-15 finishes this year, including 17 top-10 finishes. In nine Chase races, he has seven top-10s -- tied with Stewart and Jimmie Johnson for the most in the playoffs.

• Green -- Travis Kvapil finished 10th at Phoenix -- his first top-10 since Bristol. In April. Thirty-one races ago. Anyone remember Brendan Gaughan's numbers in the No. 77 last year? Here's hoping Kvapil doesn't get bounced; NASCAR needs more Cheeseheads. (Go Pack Go!)

Quote, Unquote

"It's the last straw for Roush Racing. We're officially retiring as Kurt Busch's apologists effective [Sunday]."
-- Geoff Smith, president of Roush Racing

Around the Track

• Kyle Busch's win at Phoenix was the 140th for car owner Rick Hendrick, while Jeff Gordon has three top-five finishes in the past four races.

• Tony Stewart has 25 top-10s -- and 19 of those have come in the past 21 races. He also has a series-best 17 top-five finishes.

• Carl Edwards has top-10 finishes in seven of the past eight races, while Jimmie Johnson has top-10s in five of the past six races.

• Greg Biffle has led a lap in a series-best 26 races. He's been on point for 1,313 laps, second to Tony Stewart (1,845 laps in 19 races).

Up Next

Homestead-Miami Speedway

• Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte, Joe Nemechek, Elliott Sadler, Tony Stewart and Rusty Wallace have been running at the finish in all six races at Homestead.

• No driver has ever won at Homestead from a starting position outside the top 15. Tony Stewart won from 13th in 2000, the lowest starting position of a race winner in the six races there.

• Robby Gordon leads all drivers with 13 DNFs, and Michael Waltrip has not scored a top-10 finish since Michigan in June.

• Rusty Wallace has finished 19th or worse in the past five races, while Jeremy Mayfield has only one top-10 in the Chase, least among the 10 Chase drivers.

Mail Call

And the rant begins ...

I was really surprised at Roush "suspending" Kurt! Let's get real! If Kurt could feasibly win the championship this year, or if he wasn't leaving Roush at the end of the year, he certainly would not be suspended. I think it's a shame that Roush puts up the excuses he's using -- and I'm not even a die hard Busch fan!
-- Melody W. Humphreys

Somewhere Arsenio Hall is thinking, "Hmmm ..."

Isn't there all ready a rule about how many cars an owner can have? Isn't that why Jack Roush isn't actually the owner of record of all five cars? What I thought was most insulting was when Matt Kenseth won his title, they let Jack sit at the table and Mark sat in the audience in New York. I mean, we all know Jack is really the owner regardless of what the record says, but it sure looked like a slap in the face. You can't get away with violating any other rule like that and not get docked for actions detrimental to stock car racing.
-- Ian Cox

There is no "rule," per se. It's all in how the money is distributed. Marty Smith addressed the issue in August.

All one need do is to look at the playoffs to see that consistency will win the championship just as it has for as long as NASCAR has been around. This stupid Chase playoff is no more exciting than it ever was, especially since taking away some very exciting racing at tracks like Darlington. And boy won't it be really exciting when all the cars are exactly alike in both looks and performance. Maybe NASCAR can change the name to IROC2.
-- Glenn Lockwood Sr.

Glenn must be an AFL2 fan. Or work for ESPN2. Or remember when Headline News was CNN2. And I like his sarcasm.

In all the years I've watched NASCAR I've never heard the reason the field is only 43 cars. What is the history behind that number?
-- Lee Howland

ALSO •   Send Duane your thoughts ...

There is no magic number when it comes to starting fields. The creation of the "Past Champion's Provisional" in 1991 allowed a car owner who had a former Cup champion as his driver to take the 43rd starting position if his car had not otherwise qualified. This provision came about in the backwash of seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty's failure to qualify for the Spring 1989 race at Richmond. If a past champion did not earn the position, it was not used, resulting in a 42-car field.

Since 1998, when the current method of using the 43rd position per guidelines on the entry blank for each event, only one race has had a starting field of less than 43 cars. The 2001 season finale at New Hampshire started 42 cars. When the starting lineup was set in September, 43 cars earned starting positions. By the time the event was run -- rescheduled from Sept. 16 to Nov. 23 because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- one of the qualified teams had ceased operations and was not replaced in the lineup.

Fantasy Perspective

At Homestead ...
• Tony Stewart has two victories and four top-10 finishes in the six races.
• Jimmie Johnson has three consecutive top-10 finishes.
• Carl Edwards finished 14th-place last year in his track debut.
• Greg Biffle's victory last year is his only top-10 finish in three races.
• Mark Martin has three top-five finishes in the six races.
• Ryan Newman has one top-10 finish in three races.
• Matt Kenseth has finished 19th or worse in all five of his races.
• Rusty Wallace has five top-15 finishes in six races.
• Kurt Busch has two top-five finishes in five races.
• Jeremy Mayfield has two top-10 finishes in five races.

• Ryan Newman has started in the top 15 in all three of his races at Homestead. His 7.33 starting average is tops among active drivers with more than one start there.

• Only three of the 10 Chase drivers have won at Homestead: Tony Stewart (1999, 2000), Kurt Busch (2002) and Greg Biffle (2004).

• The past four races at Homestead have been won from a front-row starting position, and five of the six races have been won from the top 10.

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.