Victory for Kevin Harvick may be tougher this weekend than any other time this season. Credit: Autostock

Drivers walk the line for NBS weekend schedule

Seven drivers to compete in Nashville before traveling to Pocono

Kevin Harvick may see his toughest competition all season in the Busch Series this weekend.

But it's not second-place points man Carl Edwards who'll threaten Harvick's gigantic lead. It's not Clint Bowyer or any of the other Cup Series regulars sitting in the Busch Series' top 10 either.

Clint Bowyer, teammate to Kevin Harvick, will be one of seven drivers trying to pull off the double. Credit: Autostock

Substitute Drivers Drivers on standby in Nashville Driver Sub Clint Bowyer Brandon Miller Kyle Busch Justin Labonte Carl Edwards Hank Parker Jr. Denny Hamlin Kertus Davis Kevin Harvick Randy LaJoie Reed Sorenson Kevin Hamlin J.J. Yeley Casey Atwood FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 300 •   Entry List •   2006 Standings •   2006 Box Score •   TV Schedule •   Complete Coverage 2005 flashbackWatch all the highlights from the 2005 June race in Nashville Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

It's Pocono.

For the first time this season, the Busch Series will compete at a different location from the Cup Series, turning what has been a Saturday-evening drive into a cross-country sprint for seven drivers who are running all the races on both schedules.

Nashville Superspeedway is home to Saturday's Federated Auto Parts 300 (7:30 p.m. ET, FX). But the Cup Series will be in Pocono, Pa., all weekend for practice and qualifying leading up to Sunday's Pocono 500.

That presents a logistical nightmare for nearly half of the Busch Series' top competitors.

The top seven drivers in the Busch Series standings are Cuppers, including Greg Biffle, who is seventh in the standings despite starting just 12 of the 14 races thus far. All told, 14 of the standings' top 30 drivers are considered Cup drivers, including Kenny Wallace who has started just six Cup events this year.

Practice and qualifying aside, one small weather problem could be the difference between pulling double duty and giving way to a backup driver.

"The thing I look at is that the next five guys behind me are in the same boat I am," Harvick said. "If it's weather, it's going to be for everyone."

Edwards knows.

Last year, Edwards entered this race as the Busch Series points leader. But rain fell in Nashville, and Edwards had to bolt to make his Cup start in Pocono. Hank Parker Jr. ran the Busch race for Edwards, but the loss of points dropped Edwards from first (74 points ahead) to fourth (96 points back) in the standings. He never recovered, finishing third at 336 points behind champion Martin Truex Jr.

Edwards will have Parker standing by again this year as a backup driver.

DOUBLE DUTY "It'll be hectic. I know there have been a lot of meetings and conversations about the itinerary and just making sure there's no possible way for anything to go wrong, whether it's getting me to the Busch race or getting me back to Pocono for the Cup race on Sunday."  -- Kyle Busch  "I'm not sure how bad it's going to be, but I bet that by the end of the month, I'm going to be happy we're running at the same track. The last thing I want to have to do is travel back and forth with an IV in my arm."  -- Clint Bowyer  "I am just going to go where they tell me to and when they tell me to. I am sure a lot of work has gone into it, but I will let them handle all of that and it's nice I don't have to worry about it."  -- Reed Sorenson  Leilani ReportsCup drivers have little concern about injury while driving in the Busch Series Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

"This will be an interesting weekend because it's our first non-companion race of the season," said Pierre Kuettel, crew chief for Edwards' No. 60 Ford. "We have Hank Parker Jr. filling in for us for practice, but Carl will qualify."

Harvick will have two-time Busch champ Randy LaJoie as his wingman.

But the fact is Harvick could miss Saturday's race and still not give up the points lead.

"It's nice to have a big lead," Harvick said. "You can lose it in a hurry."

It would take a lot, though.

Paul Menard (seventh), Johnny Sauter (eighth) and Jason Leffler (10th) are the highest-ranked Busch-only drivers. Yet Menard is 589 points back.

Put another way, if Harvick and the Cup regulars missed every race in the upcoming three-week stretch of separate schedules and Menard won all of them, Harvick could still lead the points.

Those are all what-ifs. Rain or not, there'll still be a race at Nashville, and all weather aside, Harvick is still the man to beat.

When the circuit stopped in Nashville in April, it was Harvick who upped the ante on the 2006 season by winning his first race of the year. He took the lead with 52 laps left and held off teammate Clint Bowyer for the victory.

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"I thought we had the win and felt like we handed it over to Harvick, so of course I was a little upset afterwards," said Bowyer, who led 54 laps to Harvick's 66.

What it also gave Harvick was a 156-point lead in the standings at the time, but more importantly, it propelled Harvick's season into what has shaped up to be one of the largest points leads in Busch history at this point in the season.

In the following weeks, he won at Phoenix, finished second at Talladega and then won again at Richmond. His worst race since was a 13th-place finish last weekend at Dover.

If Harvick has any say in the matter, the hot streak will continue.

"Nashville was good to us the last time we were there," Harvick said. "We have to keep doing the same thing and keep controlling what we have control of."