Kevin Harvick leads the points although he has driven three different cars this season. Credit: Autostock

More laps to Busch race may mean shorter fuses

Harvick hoping to take advantage of 50 laps, extend point lead

Fifty laps could determine whether a driver leaves Bristol gleaming or cussing.

For the first time, Bristol's spring Busch Series race will bump its length from 250 laps to 300.

"You can look at it two ways," Matt Kenseth said. "One, it could give you more of an opportunity to run down someone, or two, it could give you 50 more laps to wreck or have someone wreck you."

	Kevin Harvick will drive the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing car this weekend. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Harvick's car-hopping Race Finish Car Owner Daytona 5 No. 29 RCR California 8 No. 33 KHI Mexico City 3 No. 21 RCR Las Vegas 3 No. 21 RCR Atlanta 11 No. 33 KHI 2005 flashbackWatch all the videos from the '05 Sharpie Professional 250 FedEx PreviewNBC/TNT's Marty Snider previews the action heading to Bristol Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

To Kevin Harvick, it's 50 more laps he can lead.

When the cars are turned loose for Saturday's Sharpie Mini 300 (3 p.m. ET, FOX), Harvick should be the odds-on favorite. He won this race a year ago, the first half of his weekend sweep of Busch and Cup Series races in the spring.

And there's nothing to say he won't take another step away from second-place J.J. Yeley in the championship standings, a lead that's just 17 points after Atlanta.

Consider this: Yeley has finishes of 15th, 21st and 30th at the half-mile bullring, while Harvick's career numbers are the best among active drivers. In a dozen starts, he has a series-leading four victories, eight top-fives and nine top-10s. To top that, he's yet to finish outside the top five in the past six Busch Series races at Bristol.

"I grew up on a half-mile, high-banked racetrack," Harvick said of Bakersfield's Mesa Marin Raceway. "I know Bristol is a lot more banked, but it's kind of the same mindset for me driving around the track."

But going back to Bristol this year, Harvick will be wearing different fatigues.

In last year's race, he piloted the No. 29 Chevy to the victory, holding off teammate Jeff Burton, who was driving the No. 21. This weekend it's Harvick who'll be driving the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing entry.

It's the same team that won last weekend at Atlanta with Burton behind the wheel, and two weeks ago at Las Vegas, Harvick drove the car to a fourth-place finish.

To top it off, it's the same chassis Harvick won with in this race a year ago, only with a new number and skin.

Make sense? It does to Harvick.

SHARPIE MINI 300 •   Entry List •   Complete Coverage BRISTOL QUOTABLES "It's the racetrack of all racetracks. Daytona is of course the race you always want to win, but I'd put Bristol right behind it."  -- Clint Bowyer, No. 2 Chevy  "The racing is as exciting for us as it is for the fans but at the same time you almost hold your breath from the drop of the green flag because you just know something is going to happen, you just don't know when."  -- Ken Davis, crew chief No. 38  "Simply put, it's like flying an airplane in a gymnasium. The strategy is real simple at Bristol -- strap in, shut up and hold on, and if you get off the pace by a tick, the other drivers will beat the back bumper off your car and you have to go."  -- Jeff Green, No. 27 Ford  "It's like motorcycles racing in a barrel."  -- John Andretti, No. 10 Ford

He's played the numbers game this season in the Busch Series and has come out on top despite not winning a race.

At Daytona, he drove RCR's No. 29 car. At California, he was in his own Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 33 Chevy. It was the No. 21 back-to-back weeks at Mexico City and Las Vegas before returning to his own car for Atlanta. And now it's back to the No. 21.

"I think I have to contribute a lot of my early success to my teams," Harvick said. "Those guys work hard week-in and week-out to make sure the cars are ready. I think their hard work and dedication has really paid off."

Driving three different cars in the first five races, Harvick's worst finish is 11th.

But if numbers tell the story for Saturday, Harvick might be holding tight to the wheel.

It's Greg Biffle who has the highest driver rating at Bristol -- 110.0 to Harvick's 108.7. Biffle also has a better average running position there.

"I just love Bristol," Biffle said. "We have had really good runs so far this season and plan on having a great run this weekend."

The difference? Biffle's never won at Bristol, although he was second there last fall, just ahead of Harvick.

With 50 more laps, he's hoping to duplicate that this spring and rekindle some of the Harvick-Biffle Busch Series battles of a few years back.

Biffle's teammate, Kenseth, wouldn't expect anything less.

"Either way," Kenseth said, "it should be entertaining as Bristol always is."