It took a part-time racer with no sponsor making only his seventh career start to break up the stranglehold the Nextel Cup Series has had in the Busch Series.

David Gilliland's biggest claim to fame before winning Saturday night's race at Kentucky Speedway was being a high school teammate of Tiger Woods.

"People have asked me all season how I feel about racing against the Cup guys and my story has remained the same," Gilliland said. "I want to be where they are some day and racing against them now will only prepare you for the Cup series. We beat them, so I don't mind at all."

Gilliland became the first Busch Series driver without any ties to a Nextel Cup team to win on the junior circuit since Mike Wallace's improbable win at Daytona International Speedway nearly two years ago.

He's also the only non-Nextel Cup Series driver to win on the junior circuit this year.

"After we missed the Charlotte race (in May) I was probably the most down I have been in my career," Gilliland said. "I went home and sat in my office with some of my trophies and told myself, 'I can do this.'"

With many of the Cup drivers staying in Michigan for Sunday's race, there were only eight Cup drivers at Kentucky doing double-duty. That allowed the Busch regulars to make their most-significant stand of the season with three top-five finishers.

The Nextel Cup Series will be at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., this Sunday, while the Busch Series will be at The Milwaukee Mile on Saturday night. The eight two-timers - Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, J.J. Yeley, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch - will give up a lot of sleep while flying all night between venues.

TV GUIDE: The 2007 racing schedule hasn't been released but one significant change is expected: All races will start no earlier than 2 p.m. The later starting times come at the demand of television networks Fox, FX, ABC, TNT and ESPN.

They pushed NASCAR to start most races at 4 p.m. to better capture West Coast viewers and create a link to prime-time shows, but they settled for a mix. None of the times, however, will be any earlier than 2 p.m.

WHAT CAN BIFFLE DO FOR BROWN? Car owner Ray Evernham had until last Friday to convince Dodge officials to allow UPS to sponsor Kasey Kahne's Dodge next year, and apparently he couldn't do it. That means UPS will sponsor Greg Biffle's Ford next year.

Reach Don Coble at don.coble@morris.com.