This weekend will be no different at Infineon Raceway, where the usual aces have landed rides for the first of two road course races on the Sprint Cup schedule.
Series regular Reed Sorenson was pulled from the No. 41 Dodge for Scott Pruett, while rookie of the year candidate Regan Smith gave up his seat in the No. 01 Chevrolet for Ron Fellows.
But in 19 previous races at Infineon, a ringer has yet to drive his way to Victory Lane. Irv Hoer was the first non-Cup regular to crack a top-10 with an eighth-place finish in 1990.
Robby Gordon, before he became a full-time Cup driver, scored finishes of ninth and second. Boris Said has the most top-10 finishes of non-Cup regulars at Infineon with four, and only three drivers have cracked the top five: Gordon (second), Pruett (third) and Terry Labonte, who was third in 2006 while not running a full schedule.
"It goes to show that it's not easy for these guys to come in, without a lot of time in the cars or practice, and run well," said 2000 series champion Bobby Labonte. "A guy like Boris, he's been in the Cup cars at different tracks besides Infineon and Watkins Glen. He knows the characteristics of these cars. A guy who's coming in for a one-off race? No, it's not that easy.
"They have a lot of road racing skill, maybe better than most of us, but they don't have that time with the cars."
Still, Said is hoping this trip to Sonoma will end what's seemed like a season-long slump.
"This has been the worst year of my career -- I haven't finished a race yet," he admitted.
Said's team failed to finish the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, and he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 three weeks later. He was wrecked out of the Nationwide Series race in Mexico City, and an engine failure in Germany last month ended his hopes of winning the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.
"This has really been a horrific year," he said. "I need to break the jinx this weekend. We have great equipment."
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TRIPLE CHASE OVER: Kyle Busch's bid to win three championships this season comes to an end Saturday when he skips the Nationwide Series race in Milwaukee.
Busch never officially had the race on his schedule, but could have hopped in a Braun Racing entry if he so desired. After wrecking out of last week's race in Kentucky, Busch declared he was "done" and would sit out Milwaukee.
The decision comes after consecutive manic weekends that saw Busch running in all three of NASCAR's top series, including a cross-country tour two weeks ago that saw him make history by racing at three different tracks on the same weekend.
His commitment to the Truck Series was to help team owner Billy Ballew win the owner's championship, and Busch has put the truck in second place -- just eight points behind Bill Davis Racing's No. 23 Toyota.
Busch is currently fifth in the Nationwide driver standings and is the Cup Series points leader.
This weekend's double -- the Sprint Cup Series is in Sonoma, Calif. -- is the most challenging for drivers running both series. A year ago, Denny Hamlin didn't even make the start of the race in Milwaukee and Aric Almirola had to get out of the car while leading once Hamlin arrived at the track.
James Buescher will now drive the Braun entry in Milwaukee instead of Busch. It will be Buescher's third career Nationwide start.
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DOUBLE BILLING: Michael Waltrip is giving longtime sponsor NAPA double billing this weekend by sending two cars to Sonoma adorned with the company logo.
Both Waltrip's No. 55 and Michael McDowell's No. 00 will be decked out in the NAPA blue and gold. NAPA has supported Waltrip since 2001 and together they've won four races, including a pair of Daytona 500s.
"They are wonderful supporters of mine, so I would like to say thanks for everything they have done for me," Waltrip said. "McDowell is going to California to showcase his specialty -- his experience is in road racing. He is very talented and was very impressive at the Virginia International Raceway test we did two weeks ago.
"As for me, I had a top-five finish at Infineon in 2004 and I have always run well there so I am really looking forward to having two NAPA cars on track and in the race. NAPA will have twice the chance of getting great exposure."
IceHogs edge Aeros to take 3-1 series lead
Nationwide struggles for mix of old and young
Kyle Busch set for historic cross-country triple
