Busch rolling as former teammates struggle early

Afterunceremoniously being cut loose by Rick Hendrick last year, Kyle Busch has raced this season as if he has something to prove. Fred Vuich/SI

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- While NASCAR parks itself for a weekend of Easter celebrations and the NCAA basketball tournament, there are plenty of drivers who are hot, but even more who are not.

The first natural break of the 2008 Sprint Cup season allows a chance to evaluate who is riding high and who needs to get it in gear for next week's 500-lap showdown at Martinsville Speedway.

Who's Hot

Kyle Busch: So he didn't win at Bristol and spun out while leading the race after his steering failed coming out of the second turn; this guy has the look of a potential champion to be in 2008.

It's not the fact the younger brother of '04 Cup champion Kurt Busch is leading the standings and winning races; it's the way he is driving on the race track that impresses even the most seasoned veterans of the sport.

"Right now, he is the 'Wheel Man' of the series," Mark Martin said. "I can't use the explanation that I might in the garage. But he's doing it. He's getting her done this year. He's doing it.

"When you watch Jeff Gordon drive, Jeff Gordon goes really fast. But you don't see a whole lot there other than going fast.

"You watch Kyle Busch drive and not only is he going fast, but you see he is taking your breath, too. I've been there before. When you are at the very, very top of your game. He's got car control and he is smart enough to be able to make it. He's not wrecking them and bringing them back on a roll back. He's putting it all together."

That is high praise from one of the most respected drivers in the garage,but the 22-year-old Busch isn't letting the compliments go to his head.

"It's pretty cool to have people talking about my abilities like that and to have my abilities for people to be able to talk about -- that's pretty special to me, Busch said last Friday at Bristol."I just go out there and drive the wheels off anything that I can drive the wheels off. Whether it's a go-kart, a Cup car, a Nationwide car, a truck or a late model car -- it doesn't much matter to me.

"I'm just going out there to have some fun and do what I can behind the wheel. Obviously my talents propel me forward to win races."

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: The big question entering this season was how Earnhardt fit into a Hendrick Motorsports team that already included such star drivers as two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and four-time title winner Jeff Gordon?

So far, Earnhardt has answered definitively.

Not only has he adapted to HMS, he has been the team's best driver through five races.

"He's done a great job," Johnson said. "He and Tony [Eury] Jr. both have done an amazing job. I think it was real smart of everyone to kind of switch gears midway through last year and get Tony building the cars and getting his people around him. And then when Junior came in, the transition has been kind of seamless.

"He really has done an amazing job. He came out and won a couple of the non-points races. He's been running well up there in the points and really doing a good job. So, I've been impressed with his performances and impressed with his involvement in the race team and also the level of feedback he is giving from inside the car. He is doing a great job.

"I don't think any of us knew what to expect, to be quite honest. We've all watched races where he's been real fast. We've watched him win races. He has been in points battles in years past. I don't think anybody knew what to expect. I think all of us at Hendrick had an open mind and welcomed him as we should and as we always support new teammates. He's doing a great job."

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