Full Throttle

The Bristol Motor Speedway — the World’s Fastest Half-Mile with 160,000 fans and three-wide racing — welcomes the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Denny Hamlin tells you why it’s his favorite track, and Juan Pablo Montoya talks about how racy it is. Plus, you’ll never guess who has the top Driver Rating in Thunder Valley.

Will Wild Child Kyle Busch move into the top twelve this week? The math says it’s possible.

With only three races remaining to secure a berth in the 2009 Chase, Busch must do what he’s already done twice in his career – win at Bristol. Busch was dominate at the half-mile oval in March, leading a race-high 378 laps en route to Victory Lane and a near-perfect Driver Rating (149.2). A repeat performance would go a long way in bringing Busch’s Chase hopes closer to fruition.

If Busch wins the Sharpie 500 Saturday night and leads the most laps, he will earn 195 points. That would mean drivers in positions 12-14 must finish 12th or better (127 points) to remain ahead of Busch. Looking at history, the advantage would certainly go to Busch. Mark Martin, currently in 12th place, has averaged a 13th-place finish in 41 career Bristol races and has only two top 10s in his last 13 attempts. Vickers’ average finish is 26th with two finishes higher than 20th in 10 career starts and 14th-place Clint Bowyer’s average finish is 14th in seven races.