Racebeat (08/24/03)
by Rich Romer

NAZARETH, PA--NASCAR Winston Cup: Kurt Busch avoided any post-race punches, but was in the middle of the usual bumping and banging in yet another win at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch, punched in the face by Jimmy Spencer after last week's race in Michigan, kept his head held high amid a flood of criticism from his competitors, raucous booing from the fans -- and of course, the chipped tooth and swollen nose Spencer gave him.

He instead put his focus on the Sharpie 500, running away from Kevin Harvick to score his fourth win of the season and third in the last four races at Bristol. But it didn't come without controversy. Busch spun-out Sterling Marlin midway through the race as he tried to pass Marlin for second place, and knew immediately it didn't help his cause.

Marlin was making a strong bid for his first win of the season -- and first ever on his home track -- when Busch spun him out as he tried to pass him for second place. Kenseth, as usual, salvaged numerous close calls with disaster by registering his 19th top 10 of the season. He stretched his lead in the standings to a seemingly insurmountable 351 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Gordon, who came into the event third in the standings, was the defending race winner, and started from the pole, likely had his shot at ever catching Kenseth wiped out when he wrecked with just over 50 laps to go. He finished 24th and is now 532 points out and fifth in the standings. As per Bristol tradition, the race was marked with numerous on-track incidents.