By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Katie Krebs heard on the radio Wednesday morning that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was testing his car at Kentucky Speedway, and the 19-year-old Cincinnatian raced to the Gallatin County track to watch. Chris Bungenstock, 34, of Verona took the day off work.

"I've been here about four hours, and in that time Junior has been on the track maybe 20 minutes," Bungenstock said. "But it's great. I'd definitely come back."

They were among approximately 30 fans who showed up to watch Earnhardt, the NASCAR Nextel Cup points leader, along with two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip.

This wasn't a chance occurrence. Kentucky Speedway is a favorite test track for Nextel Cup drivers.

"Of the top 25 drivers in the points standings, I think we've had 95 percent of them test at the track," speedway spokesman Tim Bray said. Of the biggest names, only Jeff Gordon has yet to practice here.

Many drivers arrive on short notice; the track updates its Web site with all test sessions. Fans can watch for free.

Drivers have a limited number of test sessions allowed at Nextel Cup facilities, so they often come here for additional practice. This is the largest track without a Nextel race, and at 1 1/2 miles it is similar to such NASCAR tracks as Charlotte, Las Vegas, California, Texas, Kansas and Chicago.

Earnhardt's team, which has seven top-10 finishes, wanted to brush up here after finishing 35th at Las Vegas and 19th at California.

"We missed something on the 1 1/2-mile, low-banked tracks for a year and a half now," said Tony Eury, Earnhardt's crew chief. "We decided to come and try some things."

Waltrip, a native of Owensboro, Ky., will on June 19 headline the Meijer 300, the track's Busch Series event.

"I've tested here enough to know it's a really cool racetrack," Waltrip said. "Who wouldn't want to race here?"

Kentucky Speedway gets testing revenue from each team. But as the track continues to hope for a Nextel Cup event, speedway general manager Mark Cassis said positive word-of-mouth from drivers may be the biggest boon.

"As much as (drivers) pack in here every week, I think we've got something they really like," he said.

E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com