By Tom Groeschen
Enquirer staff writer

SPARTA, Ky. - NASCAR CEO Brian France attended Saturday night's Busch race, giving Kentucky Speedway a firsthand chance to impress the sport's top official.

Blake Feese climbs from his burning Chevrolet after he slammed into the wall in turn 2 on the 10th lap of the Meijer 300. (Patrick Reddy photo)

Speedway chairman Jerry Carroll said he will continue to pursue a Nextel Cup race and hoped Saturday's sellout crowd would impress France. Carroll said he spoke briefly with France but did not mention Nextel Cup.

"I think he's going to see what we can do," Carroll said before Saturday's race. "I'm antsy. I'm really ready to get a Nextel Cup race, and I'm disappointed we don't have one yet."

Carroll and his ownership group broke ground on Kentucky Speedway in 1998, and the track opened in 2000. From the beginning, Carroll identified a Winston/Nextel Cup race as his goal for Kentucky.

Thus far, the second-tier Busch Series has been the pinnacle.

While Kentucky has drawn crowds of about 70,000 each year for Busch, NASCAR continues to say it has no plans to give a Nextel race to Kentucky. An overcrowded schedule is one reason, and NASCAR also has said it wants to build two more potential Nextel tracks in the New York City and Pacific Northwest areas.

France was not available for comment Saturday.

Carroll has preferred to let the track speak for itself, with numerous drivers having praised the track, its expansive garage area and other amenities. But, no Nextel Cup.

"After all these years, if we're not going to get a race, I'd at least like to know why," Carroll said.

Carroll was enthused by Saturday's huge crowd and perfect weather, with temperatures in the 70s and low humidity.

"I think this is the best night we've ever had here," Carroll said. "We've never had so many walk-ups. I don't know what the figure is yet, but the weather is a big factor."

HE'S EVERYWHERE: Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was grand marshal for the race and gave the pre-race command of, "Gentlemen, start your engines."

GET REAL: No fewer than three reality TV shows were recording drivers at the Meijer 300 this weekend, including former Nextel Cup driver Kenny Wallace as one of the subjects of NASCAR Drivers 360 on FX.

POINTS RACE: Although Nextel Cup has unveiled its 10-race "Chase for the Nextel Cup" scoring format for later this season, the Busch Series will continue to use the traditional points system. Busch will not reset its standings with 10 races remaining in the season.

MEMORY LANE: Greg Biffle, doing double duty in the Busch and Nextel series this weekend, won Kentucky Speedway's inaugural event in June 2000 - a NASCAR Craftsman Truck race.

That night also is remembered for its massive traffic jams.

Three inches of rain fell the night before the race, washing out hundreds of grassy parking spaces and making it impossible to park all the cars. Some fans were turned away and eventually received refunds, leading the speedway to pave more lots and hire a new parking service.

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E-mail tgroeschen@enquirer.com