Kurt Busch leads the Nextel Cup Series in poles this season. Credit: Autostock

Notes: Engineering key for Penske, says Busch

MARTINSVLLE, Va. -- It is no secret that Penske Racing has suffered a lackluster 2006, and Kurt Busch says that additional engineering help is the answer.

Busch arrived at Penske amid high expectations after championship stint at Roush Racing. Busch took over for the retiring Rusty Wallace, who easily qualified for a Chase spot in his final season.

Subway 500 Qualifying Results Pos. Driver Speed Time 1. Ku. Busch 97.568 19.408 2. J. Gordon 97.377 19.446 3. D. Hamlin 97.187 19.484 4. R. Newman 97.162 19.489 5. T. Stewart 97.038 19.514 6. D. Blaney 96.825 19.557 7. Dale Jr. 96.775 19.567 8. J. Green 96.627 19.597 9. J. Johnson 96.460 19.631 10. K. Schrader 96.440 19.635 • Complete lineup, click here PolesitterKurt Busch takes the pole at Martinsville Strong runsChase points leaders qualify well at Martinsville Garage PassDrivers say anything can happen at Martinsville NASCAR TodayWard Burton makes his return to Nextel Cup racing this weekend Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

But things have not worked out for Busch or teammate Ryan Newman all season. Busch has been very fast on Fridays -- he leads the series in poles with six -- but he has only 10 top-10s. Statistically, it has been his worst season since his rookie year.

"We're probably going to add a few more people in the offseason to help with the engineering support and just pick up the pace," said Busch, won the pole at Martinsville on Friday. "We know we haven't run up to par this year."

Busch is banking on increased engineering support to produce the setups that the team lacked in 2005.

"When I started with this group back in February at the first race, some of the setups I looked at I might have looked at a few years back when I was with a different race team," Busch said.

"We've come a long way in just one year. These past eight months, we've been very busy."

No deal for Ward -- yet

Ward Burton hasn't been offered a deal for next season to drive the No. 4 Chevrolet that he will drive in Sunday's race, but he is the front-runner.

"We're looking awfully hard at him,'' said car owner Larry McClure. "From the looks of the tremendous popularity of Ward here, it's hard to discount what he's worth.''

McClure said he's agreed to a sponsorship deal for the No. 4 next season and is trying to get a deal to start a second team.

Red Bull favorite?

Could 2004 Champ car champion A.J. Allmendinger emerge as second driver for Toyota's Team Red Bull next season?

Bill Elliott was scheduled to drive for Team Red Bull next week at Atlanta, but recently was asked to step aside for Allmendinger, who has driven in some truck races for Bill Davis Racing.

Elliott failed to qualify for last week's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Team Red Bull's first attempt to make a Cup race.

Second car for RYR

Doug Yates, the co-owner of Robert Yates Racing, said he's "really close'' to a sponsorship deal for the No. 88 next season.

There have been reports that RYR might field only one car in 2007, but Yates said the plan is to remain a two-car team.

Gordon: Burton in for tough day

A poor qualifying spot at Martinsville can lead to a myriad of problems, mainly an undesirable pit stall, but Jeff Gordon says that Jeff Burton can overcome his 28th-place qualifying run.

Burton enters Martinsville with a 45-point lead over Matt Kenseth.

"For Burton, all eyes are on him and it's about not making mistakes now instead of going out and attacking," said Gordon, who qualified second. "That's tough because you don't want to get off your normal game plan.

"You come in to a short track like Martinsville and it's tight and narrow and a lot of instances happen on pit road and on the track. He's probably thinking, 'I just want to survive this weekend.'"

Nice VH1 plug, Tony

Tony Stewart won at Martinsville in the spring for his second victory there. The win earned him another grandfather clock, which track officials award to race winners.

Stewart isn't worried about where he will put another clock if he wins on Sunday.

"Don't worry. Flava Flav's got more clocks than me," Stewart said. "So, until I catch up with him, I'm not worried about it."

Earnhardt: 2004 Atlanta still hurts

The circuit hits Atlanta Motor Speedway next week, site of a late-race slipup by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2004.

Earnhardt was third in points and running in the top five late in the race, but he was racing rookie Carl Edwards hard on the backstretch when the two made contact, sending Earnhardt into the inside wall. He finished 33rd.

What made the mistake even more painful was the fact that Earnhardt won the next week at Phoenix, but by that time, it was too late. Too many points had been lost.

"I was focusing more on the win there when I should have been focusing more on the points situation," Earnhardt said. "I had a great opportunity to gain on Kurt [Busch] there in that race, I will never forget that."