Texas Motor Speedway

After what CART pulled at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday, is there any chance we can get the IRL to take over the race date at California Speedway in November? DAN RENDANT Arcadia

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch has built his career on being arrogant, daring and brash while racing the heck out of a stock car. Fans don't call him "Rowdy" and boo him at pre-race driver introductions for nothing. Reporting from Avondale, Ariz. -- But on Friday, at least, a different Busch met the media for the first time since NASCAR, his Joe Gibbs Racing team, and his main sponsor, M&M's, lowered the boom on the driver for intentionally wrecking a rival a week ago. This Busch was contrite, subdued and respectful as he sat next to Gibbs, the NFL Hall of Fame coach, at Phoenix International Raceway.

Texas Motor Speedway sued CART on Tuesday, seeking millions of dollars that were lost because of the last-minute cancellation of a race. The inaugural Firestone Firehawk 600 was postponed only two hours before it was to start because drivers complained of dizziness during practice, when they reached speeds of more than 230 mph on the high-banked, 1 1/2-mile track. Eddie Gossage, the speedway's general manager, said CART would have known about the potential problems had it done proper testing.

Kyle Busch , already forced to miss two NASCAR races last weekend in Texas, also was fined $50,000 and given a stern warning by NASCAR on Monday. The sanctioning body put Busch on probation until Dec. 31 and said that if the driver makes another on-track move in that time deemed "detrimental to stock car racing or to NASCAR" or "disruptive to the orderly conduct of an event," then Busch "will be suspended indefinitely. " NASCAR's top-tier Sprint Cup Series has two more races this season: at Phoenix on Sunday and at Homestead-Miami (Fla.)

Re: Dan Rendant's letter of May 5 about CART canceling the race at Texas Motor Speedway over safety issues. I guess Mr. Rendant feels the most important thing in the world is that he get his entertainment, and if a few drivers get killed, oh well, there's always more where they came from. That guy would have fit right in at the Roman Colosseum. Mark Higgins Van Nuys Did you chuckle as I did at NASCAR President Mike Helton's choice of words? " . . . For somebody to say NASCAR doesn't care [about driver safety]

NASCAR fans shouldn't have to worry anymore about getting sunstroke at California Speedway. In announcing its 2005 Nextel Cup schedule Friday -- the most controversial in the 56-year history of the stock car racing sanctioning body -- NASCAR slotted the Auto Club 500, traditionally a May race, on Feb. 27, the week after the Daytona 500.

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch has built his career on being arrogant, daring and brash while racing the heck out of a stock car. Fans don't call him "Rowdy" and boo him at pre-race driver introductions for nothing. Reporting from Avondale, Ariz. -- But on Friday, at least, a different Busch met the media for the first time since NASCAR, his Joe Gibbs Racing team, and his main sponsor, M&M's, lowered the boom on the driver for intentionally wrecking a rival a week ago. This Busch was contrite, subdued and respectful as he sat next to Gibbs, the NFL Hall of Fame coach, at Phoenix International Raceway.

WINSTON CUP UAW-GM Quality 500 When: Sunday, race (Channel 4, 9:30 a.m.) Where: Lowe's Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 24-degree banking in turns), Concord, N.C. Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps. Last race: Jeff Gordon won the Protection One 400 in Kansas. 2000 winner: Bobby Labonte. Next race: Old Dominion 500, Oct. 14, Martinsville, Va. On the net: www.nascar.com. BUSCH Little Trees 300 When: Today, qualifying, 1 p.m.; Saturday, race (TNT, 9 a.m.) Where: Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Three weeks after winning another rain-postponed race, and since having surgery to repair the torn ligament in his left knee, Denny Hamlin gingerly climbed out of his car in Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway on Monday. "I'm still not 100% by any means right now," Hamlin said. "I feel like I'm 60 at best." That was still good enough to win at Fort Worth. Hamlin led the final 12 laps, the only time he was up front after starting the 334-lap race 29th. The final shootout came after a nine-car wreck took out polesitter Tony Stewart and dominating Jeff Gordon.

No offense against the Lone Star State, but Jimmie Johnson couldn't wait to stop talking about Texas. Johnson's march to a record fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title was rudely interrupted last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. An early crash left Johnson with a 38th-place finish and enabled teammate Mark Martin to slash Johnson's lead in the championship standings to 73 points from 184. Now Johnson hopes to at least keep, or even widen, his remaining lead in Sunday's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, the next-to-last race in NASCAR's 10-race Chase for the Cup title playoff.

Three weeks after winning another rain-postponed race, and since having surgery to repair the torn ligament in his left knee, Denny Hamlin gingerly climbed out of his car in Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway on Monday. "I'm still not 100% by any means right now," Hamlin said. "I feel like I'm 60 at best." That was still good enough to win at Fort Worth. Hamlin led the final 12 laps, the only time he was up front after starting the 334-lap race 29th. The final shootout came after a nine-car wreck took out polesitter Tony Stewart and dominating Jeff Gordon.

No offense against the Lone Star State, but Jimmie Johnson couldn't wait to stop talking about Texas. Johnson's march to a record fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title was rudely interrupted last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. An early crash left Johnson with a 38th-place finish and enabled teammate Mark Martin to slash Johnson's lead in the championship standings to 73 points from 184. Now Johnson hopes to at least keep, or even widen, his remaining lead in Sunday's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, the next-to-last race in NASCAR's 10-race Chase for the Cup title playoff.

Jimmie Johnson's drive to history took a hard hit against the wall and Kyle Busch ran out of gas trying to complete an unprecedented NASCAR trifecta. Kurt Busch won at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, taking over the lead with 2 1/2 laps left when his younger brother's car suddenly slowed on the backstretch after leading 232 of the 334 laps. Johnson, the series points leader, wrecked on the third lap. His crew needed more than an hour to basically rebuild his No. 48 Chevrolet, but he returned to finish 38th -- 129 laps behind Kurt Busch.

It has been missing from the Nextel Cup series all year: a back flip by Carl Edwards. The young driver from Missouri celebrates his victories by jumping backward from the window of his No. 99 Roush Racing Ford, a feat many expected him to perform more than once this season. After all, he had a banner year in 2005 with four victories and nine other top-five finishes, lifting him to third in the series championship in only his first full year on the circuit.

NASCAR fans shouldn't have to worry anymore about getting sunstroke at California Speedway. In announcing its 2005 Nextel Cup schedule Friday -- the most controversial in the 56-year history of the stock car racing sanctioning body -- NASCAR slotted the Auto Club 500, traditionally a May race, on Feb. 27, the week after the Daytona 500.

WINSTON CUP UAW-GM Quality 500 When: Sunday, race (Channel 4, 9:30 a.m.) Where: Lowe's Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 24-degree banking in turns), Concord, N.C. Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps. Last race: Jeff Gordon won the Protection One 400 in Kansas. 2000 winner: Bobby Labonte. Next race: Old Dominion 500, Oct. 14, Martinsville, Va. On the net: www.nascar.com. BUSCH Little Trees 300 When: Today, qualifying, 1 p.m.; Saturday, race (TNT, 9 a.m.) Where: Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Rookie Kurt Busch made his debut at California Speedway a memorable one Saturday, running off to an insurmountable lead, then almost bobbling it away on the last lap of the Motorola 200 in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck series. Fortunately for him, he gathered up his sliding Ford pickup in the second turn and held on for the victory, beating Andy Houston's Chevy by seven-tenths of a second.

Re: Dan Rendant's letter of May 5 about CART canceling the race at Texas Motor Speedway over safety issues. I guess Mr. Rendant feels the most important thing in the world is that he get his entertainment, and if a few drivers get killed, oh well, there's always more where they came from. That guy would have fit right in at the Roman Colosseum. Mark Higgins Van Nuys Did you chuckle as I did at NASCAR President Mike Helton's choice of words? " . . . For somebody to say NASCAR doesn't care [about driver safety]