Humpy honored with ovation

Smith wouldn't let him go part-time

CONCORD -- Humpy Wheeler received a standing ovation from Sprint Cup drivers before Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, his final race running Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Wheeler, who has spent 33 years at the track, is considered one of NASCAR's top promoters. He announced his retirement last week after track owner Bruton Smith declined to let Wheeler move to a part-time role.

"Thank you for your contribution to each of us and your contribution to help build NASCAR to what it is today," NASCAR president Mike Helton told Wheeler in the pre-race drivers meeting.

Wheeler is considered one of NASCAR's top innovators, introducing lights on a superspeedway and other amenities that helped make Lowe's Motor Speedway one of NASCAR's top tracks.

NOT IN KENTUCKY: NASCAR is in no hurry to move a Sprint Cup race to Kentucky Speedway.

Bruton Smith announced last week he planned to complete the purchase of the track later this year. Smith then indicated he would have a Sprint Cup date there next season. A NASCAR spokesman said on Friday it was too far along in the scheduling process to move a race there in 2009.

Before the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, NASCAR chairman Brian France said the track near Cincinnati is in an area that already has plenty of Sprint Cup races.

"It's not a market we have set as highly desirable. It's well served," he said. "We'll look at things as we go down the road, but right now he doesn't own it. We've got to deal with the owners that do have it. We've got Nationwide events and Truck races, so we're working on that right now with them."

BUSCH'S TRIPLE: Kyle Busch seems to win everywhere he goes. In two weeks, he'll seemingly be everywhere.

Busch, who's won nine times this season in NASCAR's top three series, plans to race on three straight days at three tracks June 6-8.

"I think it's a concern for us if you watch him and he gets tired, or physically run down," said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. "I think where Kyle is right now, being 23, he can run pretty hard."

Busch is scheduled to drive in the Craftsman Truck Series on June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway, in the Nationwide Series on June 7 at Nashville Superspeedway, then in the Sprint Cup race on June 8 at Pocono Raceway. He'll shuttle between the tracks so he can qualify and practice his Sprint Cup car at Pocono on the same days he'll be racing in the other series.

YAO'S NASCAR DEBUT: Yao Ming likes cars and drives a specially made SUV that lets him fit his 7-foot-6 frame in the driver's seat.

The Houston Rockets center also knows how to change a tire -- just not as fast as he saw on Sunday.

"It was very cool," Yao said after assisting Kyle Petty's team in a simulated pit stop before the race. "They showed me how to change a tire and refuel a car in what, 12 seconds? That's a little different when you change your own tire."