Notes: Eury ready to hand over 8 car reins to Gibson (cont'd)

"It was an unfortunate incident and we apologized to our viewers, on air right after the words were spoken," George McNeilly, senior director of communications for ESPN/ABC, said Saturday afternoon.

"We don't characterize it as a personal issue between Tony and ESPN, no. The matter's now in NASCAR's hands and I think the tape speaks for itself."

McNeilly said ESPN uses tape delays for two-way radio communication on its broadcasts and while "certainly tape delays are appropriate for random radio talk shows, we don't feel the need for a tape delay when working with professional athletes."

Stewart has already been penalized twice this season, first with a $10,000 fine and probation through Dec. 31, 2007 for skipping his post-race media obligation at Phoenix in April; and then with a $25,000 fine and the loss of 25 driver points for cursing during a live TV interview following his victory in the July 29 Allstate 400 at The Brickyard.

McNeilly said the network had shared the video footage with NASCAR, whose spokesman, Ramsey Poston, said "we're looking into it." Poston said the sanctioning body would not have a response until it had reviewed the tape.

Reed slides through

Ganassi Racing driver Reed Sorenson had a bird's eye view of Kansas pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson's crash in the opening moments of Saturday's Happy Hour practice (read more), and later said he'd almost done the same in his No. 41 Dodge, which ended up second to Johnson on the practice's time sheet (complete speeds).

"It was slick, and after five laps you'd get almost a second drop-off on your times because of the tires," Sorenson said. "It was weird. I was in the middle of the backstretch when Jimmie crashed, and I almost did the same thing.

"We ran almost the whole session on old tires, and when you're running around on old tires, it's slippery, but at least you're used to it and it's not so bad. But at first, it's a handful and quite a drop-off."

Sorenson, who's run 18 of the first 30 Busch Series races, was happy to have Saturday off.

"This is good," Sorenson said as the Busch race got ready to start. "I get to relax and watch [the Busch race], and I got to talk to Jimmy [Elledge, his Cup crew chief] a lot more about the setup on the Cup car, so that was good. I think we've got a top-10 car for [Sunday]."

Keller equals mark

South Carolina Busch Series veteran Jason Keller, by starting Saturday's Yellow Transportation 300 at Kansas in the 33rd position, tied Tommy Houston for the most starts, 417, in Busch Series history.

Keller, who spent some time out of the series during the past couple of seasons before returning with CJM Motorsports, is still happy to be in the series, where he's made most of his career.

"I'm very proud of what we've been able to accomplish and I'm looking forward to good things -- it means a lot," Keller said. "It means I've done something right to be here for that long. I'm in a very good place right now. I try to do my very best but do it quietly and it's not going to be done any differently from here on out."

Keller finished 16th (results), which was his career average finish coming into the race.

Risk versus reward

Busch Series leader Carl Edwards experienced what that was all about when he spent some time behind pit road before returning to the racetrack Saturday, only to destroy his No. 60 Roush Racing Ford in a vicious impact with the safer barrier (watch videos).

Earlier, ESPN analyst and former two-time Cup champion crew chief Andy Petree had said there was a great benefit for the eight Chase for the Nextel Cup drivers, including Edwards, who were in the Yellow 300 field.

"Definitely better to be racing, in my opinion," Petree said. "I think it is a little bit of a risk for these guys to be out there in the car, but the gain is so much that I think they have to do it.

"They learn about air pressure, they learn a few things they can try without all the pressure of being out there under the gun of this championship. I think it's a good thing for these guys to be racing."

Edwards was not injured in the crash, which shortened his car almost up to the windshield when it hit the wall head-on.