Busch's aim at mark comes at his worst possible track

In 1983, Sam Ard won four consecutive races in what is now known as the Nationwide Series. Two years later, Kyle Busch was born.

On Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, Busch, who turns 23 on May 2, will attempt to tie Ard's record that has been challenged seven times but never equaled.

Fast facts

What	Aaron's 312
Green	3:20 p.m. ET Saturday
TV	ABC, 2:30 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 3 p.m. ET

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The past three Nationwide races have showcased Busch's driving ability; his victories have come on an intermediate track, a short track and a road course. Now comes a 2.66-mile restrictor-plate track. Busch must defy history if he is to tie Ard with a victory in the Aaron's 312.

"We've never really had great luck at Talladega, and I'm hoping we can change that this weekend," Busch said. "It's my worst racetrack as far as catching a break. I was third there one time in a Nationwide Series race and that's about it."

Last year he ended up on his roof after contact from Tony Stewart sent his car into the retaining wall before flipping multiple times (watch video). He was running second at the time of the crash but finished 39th. In four Nationwide starts at Talladega, he has two top-five finishes and two DNFs because of crashes. He has fared worse in Cup races -- six starts, no top-10s, three cashes, four DNFs.

"The key there is to somehow stay out of trouble," Busch said. "You pretty much stay around the bottom since there is a lot of grip there and you can pretty much run wide open every single lap. When you get single-file at the bottom, sometimes it's hard to get a lane on the outside with enough good cars to get something going."

If Busch is looking for drafting help, he may want to hook up with Mike Wallace. Wallace historically runs well on superspeedways, though his stats at Talladega aren't as strong as he'd like. In 11 starts, he has three top-10s. His last series win was in July 2004 at the circuit's other restrictor-plate superspeedway, Daytona.

Wallace has had a quiet start to the 2008 season. He is ninth in points with two top-10 finishes. He was 24th at Daytona, his lowest finish there since the first race of the 2004 season.

Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards will resume their battle for the points lead. Bowyer has been first in the standings since a second-place finish at Nashville in March and leads Edwards by nine points.

Bowyer's best finish at Talladega is fifth in 2006; Edwards' best are two 10th-place finishes, in 2006 and again last year.