Bliss admits 'Bristol makes me nervous.'

Despite his years of experience in the lower tiers of the NASCAR ladder, Mike Bliss will be making only his 40th career Nextel Cup start this week at the Bristol Motor Speedway and one can forgive him for being somewhat nervous.

It's not that Bliss is worried about such a minor milestone, his worries stem from the fact that his 40th start will come at what is arguably NASCAR's toughest track where, like Talladega, trouble can strike at any time.

Adding to the pre-race pressure for the former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion is that he and his #0 Haas CNC Racing NetZero Best Buy team are on the cusp of breaking into the top ten in points for the first time.

"You're always nervous going into Bristol," says Bliss, who goes into Sunday's Food City 500 13th in the points table just 15 points out of the top ten. "You can test all you want and think you've go the best car out there, but the fact of the matter is you never know what's going to happen once you get there.

"You can be riding along minding your own business and something happens on the backstretch that is so far away you can't even see it happening, and all of the sudden you're right in the middle of a big wreck. I mean, it's like that just about everywhere, but at Bristol it's obviously worse than anywhere else we go based on track size, banking and all the other variables involved."

After a solid, consistent start to the season, Bliss knows that Bristol is a track where he and the #0 team can either get a tremendously successful result, or an equally poor one depending purely on luck and being away from the wrecks when they happen.

"Skill and preparation is great, but at Bristol you always have to have a little luck," adds Bliss, who has yet to score a top ten finish in 2005, but who has also finished no lower than 18th in any of the four races held to date this year. "We're hoping we can get a little lucky in our NetZero Best Buy Racing Chevrolet this weekend."

Luck is something that has deserted Bliss at Bristol, the 39 year-old failing to qualify for his only other Nextel Cup Series race at the high-banked, half-mile oval way back in the summer of 200. However Bliss picked up a career best Nextel Cup finish last year at the short track in Richmond and with another short track (Martinsville) following Bristol, he feels it is time for his luck to change.

"We've got a little momentum going and these next two short-track races can make you or break you, so it's stressful," added Bliss. "This Haas CNC Racing team has come together this year and we're proud of what we've accomplished so far, but you find yourself getting greedy. You come into the year hoping for consistent finishes, top-15's, and a couple of top-10 and top-five finishes mixed in there and all of the sudden you're sitting 13th in points and top-15's aren't enough to satisfy you anymore.

"It's fun, but it's nerve-racking all at the same time. It makes you step up your game, even if you thought you were on top of it already. In that sense it's good, the ulcer it's liable to give you - maybe not so good."