BRISTOL, Tenn. -- What's a perfect Bristol?

That's a simple question for Kyle Busch, who won this event last spring.

"I think the perfect balance would be some good green-flag racing with a couple green-flag stops and yet still having some wrecks," Busch said. "I don't know what our average [number of] caution [flags] is, but probably at least 10 cautions during the race would be about right for Bristol.

"With the racing that we have here -- it's pretty good racing here now with the three lanes -- but you don't see as much beating and banging for the one groove that we all had to fight for before, because we can go anywhere now. It's good racing, but there's less contact and more room to maneuver around. I think the fans have their divided opinions and you're never going to be able to please everybody for 500 laps around this place."

Ryan Newman, who was the first driver to turn a sub-15-second qualifying lap here, basically agreed with Busch.

"To me, I'm a racecar driver and I want to see a race -- I want to see us go door handle-to-door handle and rub sides," Newman said. "I don't want to see us bumping and banging and getting mad because one guy spun another guy out. Now, in saying that, this new car doesn't allow us to spin each other out the way we used to, but we can still get it done. I like the racetrack the way it is.

"The way it was it was OK. It's not like it was a bad racetrack before. I just think it's a racier racetrack now -- and if fans are here to see a race, then those fans should be happy. If those fans that don't like it that much, they're not here to see a race, they're probably here to see crashing. Go visit your demolition derby."

Tony Stewart, another former Bristol winner, made it a trio.

"I know there are people who didn't think that the racing was as good of a race last year, but on the racetrack it was probably the most fun race that I've ever had at Bristol," Stewart said. "I think it's nice to be able to race guys and not have to run over them to pass them or knock them out of the way to pass them -- you can actually race and go around and find a different line to pass people. To me, it made it a lot more fun."

Yates putting good face on sponsor issues
For Yates Racing's No. 28 Ford, first it was creating a Web site: SponsorYates.com. Five races into the season, only two of which have been sponsored, Sunday's Food City 500 has brought a new gambit: 11 Million.

"We had the idea to put 11 million on the hood of the car and what we're trying to represent and illustrate is the average number of viewers watching the races the first part of the season on FOX -- and with that they're watching the 28 car go around without a primary sponsor on it," Yates' driver Travis Kvapil said. "So I guess what we're trying to show is there's an opportunity. There's obviously a lot of people watching the race, and that's how we're trying to illustrate our situation.

"It's kind of a shame that we don't have a company associated with [the No. 28], but we're trying to get across that there's an opportunity here. NASCAR is the most viewed sport on television right now and we're just trying to demonstrate that message."

Yates teammate David Gilliland has had a sponsor for the first five races with his No. 38 Fusion, freecreditreport.com, but that is a short-term effort. It's got both drivers concerned about their Sunday fortunes at Bristol, though team owners Doug Yates and Max Jones have made the commitment to run full schedules with both cars.

"We don't have room for ruined days right now, so we're just working real hard at trying to secure sponsorship to be able to run the entire season and just have that name to wear proudly on our car for Travis and I both," Gilliland said on Friday. "So it can be frustrating [at Bristol] sometimes, but hopefully, we can be fast enough to just be out front and stay out of harm's way.

"I think there are two more races with freecreditreport.com and we're actively seeking new sponsorship and partners with Yates Racing. It's a tough time right now. We're looking forward to trying to put together a good, solid finish this weekend and put ourselves in a good position in the points to make our teams that much more attractive."

Heading into Sunday, the 38 and 28 cars are in 28th and 29th, respectively, in the owner standings. (Continued)