Stewart

He hated it.

Stewart finished 20th and 41st in his first two trips to Martinsville in 1999. That prompted a variety of one-liners from Stewart about the .526-mile oval.

"It's like a parking lot with curbs around it."

"If I have a love-hate relationship with Martinsville, then we're missing the love part of the equation."

"I wish they would just fill the place up with water and put bass in there."

Well, in his three visits to the track since then, Stewart has a victory and two other top-10 finishes.

For his victory, he won a grandfather clock. Yes, a grandfather clock.

"It's the most unique of any of the trophies I've ever received, for sure," Stewart said. "It sits in the office at my house."

So with better finishes and such an interesting prize, has Stewart's opinion of Martinsville changed?

"No, it's still a parking lot with curbs around it," he said. "But now it's a parking lot with curbs where, if you win, they give you a really nice grandfather clock.

"Martinsville is Martinsville. It has a lot of tradition and history behind it. So any time you can win a race on that track, you respect it. I definitely don't dislike it as much as I used to. Winning did help that."

Memphis in the meantime
Try as he might, Kevin Harvick simply cannot be in two places at once. Harvick, who has been running all the Winston Cup and Busch Series races this season, is closing in on capturing the Busch Series title. So car owner Richard Childress wants Harvick to stay in Memphis through Saturday for the running of the Busch race there before flying to Martinsville.

In the past, Harvick has traveled back and forth between the Busch and Winston Cup sites in order to take part in qualifying. This week, veteran Rick Mast will drive Harvick's No. 29 Chevrolet during practice and qualifying at Martinsville, meaning Harvick will have to start at the back of the field.

"With just four races left in the Busch Series and Kevin leading the points, we decided to keep him in Memphis to get as much time in that car as possible," Childress said. "He was going to have to miss the final practice in the Busch car to qualify at Martinsville. We want to do everything we can to win the Busch Series championship."

Harvick, who was forced into Winston Cup a year early as a replacement for the late Dale Earnhardt, will compete only on the Cup series next year.

Burton to ditch Roush?
The hottest rumor in Winston Cup right now is that Jeff Burton, who has had a disappointing season, is trying to get out of his contract with car owner Jack Roush so he can take over as the driver of the No. 12 car owned by Roger Penske. Jeremy Mayfield recently was let go by Penske as the team's driver.

Burton won 15 races in the past four seasons with Roush, but is winless this season and only recently cracked the top-10 in the point standings.

Burton has said repeatedly that he is happy with the Roush organization. In fact, he reportedly has a financial stake in the organization and wants to become part of Roush Racing's management after he retires as a driver.

Still, the rumor refuses to die. It recently was reported by analyst Jeff Hammond on Fox Sports, and it is the "Burning Question" on the nascar.com web site this week.

Nuts and bolts
Greg Sacks, who has not raced in Winston Cup since being in a serious accident three years ago, will attempt to make the field for the NASCAR Modified Tour race at Martinsville on Saturday. ... Dale Jarrett, who is recovering from a concussion and a broken rib and says he is only 60 percent healthy, does not plan to have a standby driver at Martinsville.

Final word
Bobby Labonte, with one of the most bizarre rants of the year, on racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway: "We're going too damn fast, probably, when you think about it. Don't get me wrong. It's a great facility. But when you're so dependent on your aero and the tire is so hard, gee, it looks like 'American Pie' to me. It's pretty simple. I mean, we all know what can be done to the cars and the tires to make the racing better. But it seems no one wants to do that. Oh well, that's just what it is."