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Rudd among those out of top 35
April 4

Thanks to two more wrecks not of his making at yesterday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Ricky Rudd is on the outside looking in at a coveted spot in the top 35.

Rudd was involved in a collision with Matt Kenseth on Lap 324 and was caught up in a chain-reaction accident on Lap 333 that involved 14 cars and caused a red flag. Rudd still managed a 25th yesterday and improved two spots to 37th in the points standings - 31 points out of 35th.

NASCAR will lock in the top 35 of this year's points standings starting next week at Martinsville. Rudd will need to post a lap among the eight-fastest non-top 35 drivers to maintain his record 24-year string of 756 consecutive races.

Rudd and Mike Wallace are the only drivers who have started all five races but aren't in the top 35. Wallace is 13 points behind 35th-place Jason Leffler.

Former champion Bobby Labonte rose three spots to 34th despite being involved in the red-flag wreck. Labonte's Chevy returned and garnered a 22nd-place finish

With a 16th at Bristol, Kenseth also found some breathing room in the points, picking up three spots to 28th.nes will work out just fine for us."

Petty scores top ten
April 4

Kyle Petty isn't ready to call himself a contender, but his highest finish since 1999 gave him reason to hope.

Petty finished eighth in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday. It was his first top 10 since 2002, and his highest finish since a seventh place in November 1999.

``One race doesn't make it, but I think it shows flashes of it,'' Petty said. ``I really didn't do a lot except ride around and keep the car out of trouble.''

True, the race had 14 cautions for 115 laps, including a 14-minute stoppage for an accident that eliminated eight cars on the lead lap.

But by being there in the end, Petty is proving that this might be the season his family-owned operation turns things around.

Petty Enterprises is using motors built by Ray Evernham this year, and several personnel changes has everyone feeling upbeat.

``I said it over the winter, working with Ray Evernham and Evernham Motorsports, and working closer with Dodge was a big boost for us morale-wise,'' Petty said.

Jeff Green, the other Petty driver, also is headed in the right direction. He qualified sixth at Bristol, but was in an early accident and ended up 29th.

No back flips for Edwards
April 4

Carl Edwards, NASCAR's newest star, never had a chance to do any backflips at Bristol. His weekend went from bad in qualifying to worse once the race began.

Forced to start at the back of the field after wrecking his car during qualifying, Edwards damaged his radiator in a pile-up of cars on the second lap of the race. His team had to make repairs and any chance he had at a win was lost.

Edwards finished 26th, 53 laps down.

``That's the most miserable feeling in the world, sitting down there with five laps in and the radiator gets knocked out and you're watching those guys run,'' Edwards said. ``That's a big lesson to be learned.''

Edwards scored his first career Nextel Cup victory two weeks ago in Atlanta and celebrated by doing a backflip off of his car and onto the track. The win came one day after he won the Busch Series race and gave him an Atlanta sweep.

Stewart avoids disaster
April 4

Tony Stewart got a third-place finish after avoiding disaster when he spun in Turn 3 on Lap 379. When Brian Vickers' car got loose off Turn 2, Rusty Wallace went to the outside and Stewart dove low to try to avoid the No. 25. When they cleared Vickers' car, Wallace and Stewart wound up at virtually the same spot as they tried to go into Turn 3 and Stewart wound up turning his Chevrolet around.

He didn't hit the wall, though, and came away only with a rumpled fender and some ground to make up.

"It was luck," he said. "There's only so much you have control over. The rest of it is...your instincts tell you to do part of it but the rest is just luck. ...Nobody is going to tell you it's skill and they practice that all of the time and they've got it down to perfection."

Wallace didn't get any damage in that incident, but he'd lost two laps earlier after pitting for a blown tire and was caught up in a big crash on Lap 332 after having led 157 of the first 263 laps.

"I had them covered until the tire went," Wallace said. "It just blew out.

It was a great car, it was just flying all day long. It was perfect. ...I thought I had it won, I really did. We had a fast car, but stupid stuff happens."

Sweet start, sour finish for Rusty Wallace
Jenna Fryer
Associated Press,April 4

Rusty Wallace was the driver to beat at Bristol, where he has won 10 times.

He started out strong and led a race-high 157 laps. But his right front tire went flat during a long run and he had to pit under green, causing him to fall two laps down. Then he suffered slight damage in a 14-car accident, and later clipped Tony Stewart as the two tried to avoid another wreck. He ended up finishing 13th.

"Probably the most disappointing part of the day was (Rusty)," said Stewart, who finished third. "He probably was the class of the field all day. You know, he probably had the worst luck of anybody all day."

Wallace is retiring at the end of the season, but is trying hard to go out strong. He is currently ninth in the points.

"I had 'em covered all day long until the tire went," Wallace said. "I thought I had it won, I really did. Stupid stuff happens."

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