Busch leads Chase pack onto the Bristol bullring

Bristol plays host on Saturday night to the latest Race to the Chase, which has three events remaining until the playoff field is set, at Richmond.

With five wins at Bristol, tied with Jeff Gordon for the most among active drivers, Kurt is considered the reigning "Bristol King." That has been particularly true since nine-time Bristol winner Rusty Wallace retired after the 2005 season. Kurt has certainly come a long way since his first race at the .533-mile bullring on March 25, 2001.

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Busch won his first race at Bristol in Spring 2002 and posted three consecutive wins at the track in 2003-2004.

"I looked at guys like Darrell [Waltrip] and Rusty and saw just how much they genuinely enjoyed each and every time the circuit raced at Bristol," Busch said. "Having a positive attitude about racing there is so important at Bristol and we normally always have that going for us when we get there.

"As far as the strategy behind my success, I learned from the very first race that you have to be around at the finish to do well at Bristol. It really is a situation of surviving the first 400 laps -- keeping the fenders on the thing and staying out of the wall. Then, if you're in good shape after four-fifths of the race, it's time to really get down to business during the final 100 laps."

Busch dropped to sixth in the point standings after a 36th-place finish at Michigan last week but remains firmly entrenched in the mix for a Chase berth. He is 178 points ahead of 13th-place Brian Vickers.

The Top 12 and their career stats at Bristol:

Tony Stewart Pos.: 1 | Points: 3,500 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg. St. Avg. Fin. 21 1 5 7 13.3 16.4

Jeff Gordon Pos.: 2 | Points: 3,216 | Behind: -284 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg. St. Avg. Fin. 33 5 14 20 5.5 11.3

Jimmie Johnson Pos.: 3 | Points: 3,197 | Behind: -303 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg. St. Avg. Fin. 15 0 3 7 16.3 16.4

Carl Edwards Pos.: 4 | Points: 2,995 | Behind: -505 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg St. Avg Fin. 10 2 3 4 23.2 13.9

Denny Hamlin Pos.: 5 | Points: 2,986 | Behind: -514 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg. St. Avg. Fin. 7 0 2 4 20.4 12.6

Kurt Busch Pos.: 6 | Points: 2,957 | Behind: -543 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg. St. Avg. Fin. 17 5 5 9 20.5 14.2

Juan Montoya Pos.: 7 | Points: 2,887 | Behind: -613 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg. St. Avg. Fin. 5 0 0 1 22.0 18.4

Kasey Kahne Pos.: 8 | Points: 2,884 | Behind: -616 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg. St. Avg. Fin. 11 0 2 4 11.0 19.3

Ryan Newman Pos.: 9 | Points: 2,845 | Behind: -655 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg. St. Avg. Fin. 15 0 1 8 8.6 19.2

Greg Biffle Pos.: 10 | Points: 2,821 | Behind: -679 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg. St. Avg. Fin. 13 0 4 7 14.6 12.1

Matt Kenseth Pos.: 11 | Points: 2,811 | Behind: -689 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg. St. Avg. Fin. 19 2 7 11 19.2 13.3

Mark Martin Pos.: 12 | Points: 2,791 | Behind: -709 Races Wins Top-5 Top-10 Avg. St. Avg. Fin. 41 2 15 22 10.6 12.7

Inside the Numbers

While Busch may be a beast on the concrete at Bristol he is by no means the only driver who has had success at the track. Seven drivers have at least five wins:

• Darrell Waltrip -- 12 wins in 52 races (23 percent)
• Dale Earnhardt -- nine wins in 43 races (21 percent)
• Cale Yarborough -- nine wins in 29 races (31 percent)
• Rusty Wallace -- nine wins in 44 races (20 percent)
• Kurt Busch -- five wins in 17 races (29 percent)
• Jeff Gordon -- five wins in 33 races (15 percent)
• David Pearson -- five wins in 20 races (25 percent)