TENNESSEE, 25 August 2003 — Kurt Busch arrived at the Bristol 500 in Tennessee on probation and left with a victory under his belt on Saturday, in a race interrupted by a record-tying 20 caution flags.

Busch’s triumph around the Bristol Motor Speedway track was his third in four visits, fourth of the season and eighth of his career for Ford in beating the Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick and Dodge of Jamie McMurray.

Today, Busch was placed on probation for the rest of the season following an altercation with driver Jimmy Spencer.

The latest incident in an ongoing feud occurred after the Michigan 400, where Spencer punched Busch in the face earning him a $25,000 fine and a suspension for this weekend and probation for the rest of the year.

Subsequently, audio tapes revealed to the public of Busch’s conversations with his pit crew during the race have indicated that Busch intentionally drove into Spencer’s car but did not cause any damage at the time.

Spencer was suspended for Saturday night’s race, during which Busch did nothing to endear himself to an already unfriendly crowd. His Ford Taurus made contact with the Dodge Interpid of Sterling Marlin on lap 373, sending it into the wall while Marlin was running second.

“I apologize for Sterling Marlin,” Busch said upon climbing out of his car.” The apology did not silence the booing.

In the race, four-time champion Jeff Gordon dominated the first half leading 179 laps but his car soon faded.

On lap 380, Busch overtook Harvick and thanks to some of the late race cautions, he was never seriously challenged the rest of the way. Matt Kenseth, who started 10th and finished fourth, extended his lead in the standings to 351 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished ninth.

Tagliani Wins Champ Car Pole in Montreal

In Montreal, Alex Tagliani delighted the home crowd Saturday, snatching the pole from Oriol Servia in the final qualifying session for the Champ Car World Series Molson Indy Montreal.

A Montreal native, Tagliani earned his second pole of the season and fifth of his career on his fifth lap Saturday. His Ford-Cosworth covered the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 1 minute, 19.665 seconds for an average speed of 122.418 miles per hour.

Bruno Junqueira’s lap of 1:19.671 was just six hundredths of a second slower than Tagliani’s, but the Brazilian will start third. Junqueira started second at the previous two Canadian stops, finishing second and third at Toronto and Vancouver, respectively. He won the Mario Andretti Grand Prix two races ago.

Junqueira qualified ahead of series points leader Paul Tracy, who was second Friday but dropped to eighth on the grid. Tracy owns a 20-point lead over Junqueira in the standings.