Racebeat (03/23/03)
by Rich Romer

NASCAR Winston Cup: Kurt Busch didn't need any bumping, banging or late-race dramatics. Good clean racing and a little luck was all it took to get him back into Bristol's winner's circle. Busch, a runner-up three times this season, earned his first win of the year Sunday and defended his Food City 500 title by gambling on pit strategy and avoiding all but one of the 17 cautions at Bristol Motor Speedway. Coming off last week's thrilling door-to-door battle with Ricky Craven that he lost, Busch had little competition as his Ford Taurus led the final 96 laps and easily held off Roush Racing teammate Matt Kenseth by .390 seconds. Bobby Labonte was third in a Chevrolet,

Ricky Rudd finished fourth in a Ford, Roush Racing rookie Greg Biffle was fifth and Sterling Marlin scored his highest finish of the season by coming in sixth in a Dodge. The ending lacked the drama of last year, when Busch scored his first career victory by knocking Jimmy Spencer out of his way.

This year, he stayed patient as he coasted around the .533-mile bullring -- he spun out once midway through the race -- and let the bumping and banging go on behind him. There were 17 cautions, three short of the race record, but only one was serious. Kyle Petty needed help getting out of his car after he hit the wall with 75 laps to go. Walking tenderly, he was placed on a stretcher and taken to Bristol Regional Medical Center for evaluation. Because of all the accidents, the long green-flag runs were few and far between. When competition stayed clean long enough for 129 uninterrupted laps, cars had to start ducking off the track for pit stops. Those who had enough fuel kept running, hoping and praying for a caution, while the drivers who had to stop fell a lap behind the leaders. When Dale Jarrett finally hit the wall 109 laps from the finish, there were only five cars on the lead lap and all needed to pit. It was the break they needed, as Busch, Labonte, Rudd, Biffle and Marlin all went in for the stops knowing they were the only ones who could win. Busch took the lead from Labonte on the restart with 96 laps to go and didn't give it up through three more cautions. Kenseth, on the tail end of the lead lap, got his lap back on the next caution when he passed the leaders before crossing the line. That allowed him to race with the front five and close in on his teammate, but never close enough to challenge for the win.