NO ONE WOULD blame Kyle Busch if he were upset after the last-lap crash in last Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Daytona.

With two laps to go, Busch passed Tony Stewart for the lead. On the final lap, after Busch had blocked the two-time Cup champion, Stewart moved his Chevrolet to the outside. When Busch tried to block Stewart again, Stewart's car touched the rear of Busch's Toyota, sending it into a high-speed, teeth-rattling crash into the wall.

Following Stewart's victory, he was remorseful, saying he doesn't like to win under those circumstances. On a conference call yesterday, Stewart said he has spoken with Busch.

"When something like that happens, you want to make sure both guys are on the same page," Stewart said. "What happened is just part of racing. Kyle knew that my job was to get to his quarter panel. He was trying to defend his spot. Nobody in his position would've just stayed there and let somebody drive by him. He wasn't trying to wreck us. He was just trying to make me make a move to slow me down."

Stewart, the points leader, said a friend reminded him that last-lap crashes at Daytona are "nothing new." Stewart noted that the difference, with restrictor-plate racing at Daytona and Talladega, is "instead of two cars being involved, now we have 32 cars in the pack."

Kurt Busch, Kyle's older brother, describes restrictor-plate racing as "Catch-22." He said on a Tuesday conference call that if the race cars did not carry the plates, which reduce air flow from the carburetor into the engine and slow the cars, they'd be racing at 220 to 230 mph at Daytona and Talladega.

"It would be much more dangerous to hit the fence at that speed than it would at 180," he said. "The restrictor plates bunch us up. The fans love to see the cars side by side, nose to tail.

"You try to put yourself in position to win. When it gets down [to the last laps], drivers aren't going to give that extra inch that they were giving [earlier]. They're going for the win. If the race had ended without a wreck, we'd be [saying] it was a boring race.

"What's positive about the last two restrictor-plate races is, the drivers involved in wrecks all got out unscathed."

Referring to Carl Edwards' car going airborne and slamming into the catch fence in April, Kurt Busch said, "Talladega was more of an issue, because a couple fans got hurt, but that's something we can improve on with the catch fences."

Judging by the fans' reaction at Daytona, they loved the last-lap crashing. They were on their feet cheering. But what if Kyle Busch, or Edwards at Talladega, had not immediately climbed out of his car? What if they were seriously injured or worse? What if fans had been seriously injured? Fans should hope that NASCAR officials are studying this issue.

Daytona gate down

 

Did anyone else notice during the telecast of Saturday night's Cup race at Daytona that the backstretch grandstand was empty? NASCAR has to be worried when the summer race at Daytona isn't close to a sellout.

Tony Stewart prefers to take the glass half-full approach.

"Whether it's a packed house or not, there are still millions of people watching from the comfort of their homes," he said. "Just because there's an empty seat doesn't mean the sport is failing.

"I've got Sprint car teams and World of Outlaws teams, and I'm a racetrack owner. I see it every week. It's not something you just see at this level; you see it across the board."

NASCAR on CNBC

 

CNBC is airing "Inside Track: Refueling the Business of NASCAR" tonight at 9 o'clock (repeated at 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.).

The show will include a report on how the troubled American auto industry is affecting NASCAR. Another topic is Tony Stewart's new role as a driver/owner.

This week's race

 

Lifelock.com 400

Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill.

When: Saturday, 8 p.m.

TV/Radio: TNT/ESPN (950-AM), WNPV (1440-AM), WDSD (94.7-FM)

Course/distance: 1.5-mile oval/400 miles (267 laps)

Last year's race winner: Kyle Busch

Last year's pole winner: None; qualifying rained out; starting grid determined by points

Track qualifying record: Jimmie Johnson, 188.147 mph (July 2005)

Track facts: Kyle Busch led 165 laps, including the last two, in winning last year's race. Jimmie Johnson was runner-up; Kevin Harvick was third. Harvick won the first two Cup races at the track, in 2001 and '02 ... Tony Stewart is the only other two-time winner at Chicagoland ... Regan Smith's 12th-place finish Saturday at Daytona was his best in 10 starts this season. He was rookie of the year last season (34th in points) ... This will be Craig Rust's first race as the new president of Chicagoland Speedway. Rust is a former president of Watkins Glen International and the defunct Nazareth Speedway ... As expected, NASCAR asked a federal appeals court to reinstate the suspension of Jeremy Mayfield, calling him "a proven methamphetamine user."

2009 wins: Kyle Busch and Mark Martin, 3 each; Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, 2 each; Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, David Reutimann, Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano, 1 each.

SPRINT CUP STANDINGS

Through 18 of 36 races

1. Tony Stewart (1 last week) 2719 -

2. Jeff Gordon (2) 2539 -180

3. Jimmie Johnson (3) 2525 -194

4. Kurt Busch (4) 2414 -305

5. Carl Edwards (5) 2317 -402

6. Denny Hamlin (6) 2302 -417

7. Ryan Newman (7) 2235 -484

8. Kyle Busch (8) 2234 -485

9. Greg Biffle (9) 2215 -504

10. Matt Kenseth (10) 2201 -518

11. Juan Montoya (12) 2187 -532

12. Kasey Kahne (13) 2166 -553

13. Mark Martin (11) 2101 -618

14. David Reutimann (14) 2092 -627

15. Jeff Burton (16) 2061 -658

Up next: Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, July 26, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, 2 p.m.; TV: ESPN.