RICHMOND, Va. -- Forget a green flag; ringing a bell might be a better way to start Saturday night's event at Richmond International Raceway. And no need for that "gentleman, start your engines," stuff, either. Bring in ring announcer Michael Buffer, complete with tuxedo and perfectly styled gray hair, to ask if everyone is ready to rumble.

“

He doesn't like a Hendrick race car, and everybody knows what he says on the radio every time he gets around us and all the things he says. He just doesn't have a good perception of any one of us, and I guess me.

”

DALE EARNHARDT JR.

They'd be appropriate adjustments, given the on-track haymakers that racing heavyweights Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch have traded during the last two events at the .75-mile facility. Last spring saw the two drivers spin out as they battled for the lead with three laps remaining, an altercation that extended a two-year winless streak for Earnhardt and led to plenty of boos and one-finger salutes directed at Busch. Five months later the automotive pugilists got to together again on the same race track, and this time it was Busch spinning into the wall as Earnhardt salvaged a good finish.

Running through it all is the undercurrent of what happened in 2007, when Hendrick Motorsports effectively made room for Earnhardt by cutting Busch loose. Busch landed at Joe Gibbs Racing, and has easily experienced more on-track success, even if he lags well behind Earnhardt in popularity. Throw in a pair of controversial accidents and the hot lights of a Saturday night short track, and the combustible mixture brews once again.

Round 3, anyone?

"I don't know," Earnhardt said. "I like racing Kyle. He's a real tough competitor. But hopefully we don't have any of that going on this weekend. Hopefully we can all try to win a race and not be bouncing off each other."

Like it or not, everyone will be watching whenever the two drivers get close to one another on the race track. The Earnhardt/Busch spats of the past two races have been irresistible fodder for the media outlets that cover NASCAR, and provided Richmond with a hook with which to sell tickets to Saturday night's event. The track had a 33-race sellout streak snapped last fall, when the remnants of a tropical storm pushed the event back to Sunday afternoon.

"I think the media plays it up as they want to, and if it's good for the sport it doesn't matter to me," Busch said of his rivalry with Earnhardt. "If it sells tickets, that's all that matters -- to get people in the stands." (Continued)