Notebook: Is it Kyle, or is it Steve?

            BRISTOL, Tenn. – Who wins three straight at Bristol? Kyle Busch … or Steve Addington?

            Busch swept the 2009 races at the lively short track last year. Addington was his crew chief. Now Dave Rogers calls the shots in Kyle Busch’s pit, while Addington is Kurt Busch’s crew chief. The elder brother won the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 7. Kurt Busch has five career victories at Bristol.

            At the moment, Addington has a hand in a lot of streaks: Kyle Busch’s streak at Bristol, Kurt Busch’s streak (two straight March victories) at AMS and the potential for consecutive victories this year for Kurt.

“Steve (Addington) led the ’18; team (Kyle) to a dominant win at Bristol last spring,” said Kurt. “They came back and won the August race by saving their best for last.”

            Stay cool – The experience of Carl Edwards – returning to the track to wreck a contending driver – is a bit extreme, but David Reutimann said payback is common in the Sprint Cup Series.

“After something happens and it’s your fault, you go down there and talk to the guy and say you're sorry, that's all fin,” said Reutimann. “But, chances are, you've got something coming. As a matter of fact, me getting into Sam Hornish last year at Texas, causing him to get into Jimmie Johnson, I called and talked to both of those guys. That's a bad day when you've got to make two phone calls to apologize to two different guys.

“You do all the apologies and do all that stuff, but in the back of your mind, you know, well, if those guys hammer on me or something happens, I brought it on myself; I've got it coming, deal with it, suck it up and know, at least after the fact, you're even at that point and you shouldn't have to worry about it anymore.”

Launch pad -- Twenty-second in points is not where Denny Hamlin wants to reside, but the 29-year-old Virginian thinks the schedule is coming to him.

“This is usually a good stretch of races for us,” said Hamlin. “We start visiting tracks where we feel we should not only compete but be a threat to win each and every week.  Between Bristol, Martinsville, Phoenix and Richmond, we know we can be a team to beat.

“This spring stretch can get us pointed in the right direction, but it needs to be just a start. We need to keep up performance throughout the summer and into the fall.”

Quite the venue – Let’s suppose you’re the race-driving sensation of the world’s most populous democracy, India. Let’s suppose you’d like to try your hand at NASCAR. Where would you choose to debut in the Camping World Truck Series?

Why, Martinsville, of course.

Narain Karthikeyan will attempt to make the field for the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on March 27. He’s tested an ARCA car at Daytona and has competed in Formula One. He competed full-time in F1 in 2005, accumulating five championship points, which, in fairness, are five more than the career total of Scott Speed.

            Karthikeyan called having a chance to compete in NASCAR “a dream come true.” Wait till he gives Martinsville a try. It’s a difficult place for anyone, but it’s particularly difficult for a newcomer.

The biggest thing – According to Joey Logano, the greatest difficulty of Bristol is the lack of leisure time.

            For an average Joe, leisure time is a trip to the beach. For a race driver, it’s a straightaway, and at Bristol, there isn’t much to them.

“The biggest thing is that the straightaways are so short,” said Logano. “You don’t have time to do anything. You come off of one corner and you’re already looking toward your entry into the next corner. It gives you no chance to relax or rest.

“The first time I went to Bristol, I came in after a five-lap run and I was out-of-breath. I forgot to breathe! But, I’ve learned since then that you take a breath on the straightaways. I’m much better at it now that I’ve got it figured out.”

You may contact Monte Dutton at mdutton@gastongazette.com.