Busch’s younger brother Kyle will be hard to ignore on Sunday. The overall points leader earned a historic win in Atlanta last weekend. It was Toyota’s first trip to Victory Lane in Sprint Cup — and the first for a foreign manufacturer since 1954, when Al Keller earned a checkered flag driving a Jaguar.

Kyle’s hot start extends to the Truck Series, which he leads. He also is third in the Nationwide Series points.

And Kyle certainly is not a bad driver at Bristol, where he has four top-10 finishes in six starts, including a narrow win over Jeff Burton in the first Car of Tomorrow race last spring.

Tony Stewart, Kyle’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, has two poles and a win at Bristol’s summer race in 2001 to his credit.

Stewart and crew chief Greg Zipadelli seem to have things working well so far this season, as “Smoke” is eighth in the points and has run in the top five in two of his first four starts.

Carl Edwards had a tough week as he was docked 100 points and crew chief Bob Osborne was suspended for six weeks after the car failed inspection (the lid on the oil tank was missing) at Las Vegas a week ago.

And while many felt Edwards had the best car on the track in Atlanta last weekend, engine failure essentially denied the Roush Fenway Racing Ford driver a shot at winning for the third week in a row.

But Edwards knows how to come up big, especially at Bristol. He clinched a spot in last season’s Chase with a win in the summer race, and posted top-five finishes in both events two seasons ago.

My darkhorse pick, Martin Truex Jr., has had some tough luck as a Cup driver at Bristol. But do not fall asleep on the Mayetta, N.J. native, who won a Nationwide Series event at the track four seasons ago.

Keys to success at Bristol
Bristol is a track where a driver cannot try and force the issue. If he does, most often the result will be a wreck

Qualifying up front and staying up front during the race is the best way to avoid wrecking, but with so many cars fighting for position on so small a track, it’s easy to get caught up in someone else’s crash.

Luck is a bigger factor at Bristol than at many of the other tracks on the circuit. You have to be lucky if you are going to keep from getting caught up in a wreck.

The racing is intense, and this oval is a very physically demanding track that beats down a driver's body while beating up the car he's driving.

In addition to luck, plenty of patience is needed to do well at this short track because of the half-mile layout and the difficulty passing.

The concrete surface at B.M.S. was repaved last spring. I feel that the drivers really like that because the groove is now in the center of the track, which will make for more side-by-side racing and easier passing down low and up high. However, the fans likely will not be too happy as I do not expect as much bumping and banging.

The right combination of shocks and springs is crucial, as are top-notch, error-free pit stops. There are so many wrecks at Bristol that I'd say about 90 percent of the pit stops are under caution flags.

When the race is under caution, drivers wishing to pit must do so at Turn 2, drive all the way down the back stretch and exit at Turn 1.

On green-flag pit stops a key is to remember that based on where a driver is on the track — front stretch or back stretch — he will have to enter the pits either off Turn 2 or Turn 4. It's a costly mistake to enter from the wrong turn, as Jeff Gordon has twice done at Bristol.

The winner at Bristol will be the driver who had the right amount of patience, aggressiveness and luck.

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