ALL IN WITH KURT

        Kurt Busch hosted a successful fundraiser for his charity Tuesday night at a Las Vegas pub. About $25,000 was raised for the Kurt Busch Foundation with proceeds earmarked for the Victory Junction Gang camps.
        Kurt and his wife, Eva, were there along with some big names in sports.
        Playing at Kurt’s table were Al Unser Jr., who lives in the Las Vegas area, Penske Racing and George Maloof, one of the owners of the Palms resort and casino.
        Another player at the table arrived as a winner. UNLV men’s basketball coach Lon Kruger was playing a few hours after his Rebels became the preseason pick to win the Mountain West Conference.
        Unser, 46, looked great and enthusiastically described his new role with the Indy Racing League. He said he’s split time this year with his dad, Al Unser, as a driver coach and consultant for the series.
        It was a special night, and no one was happier than Busch’s business manager, John Caponigro, president of Sports Management Network.
        Caponigro still was smiling from his Toledo Rockets’ victory over Michigan’s football team on Saturday. He was a Rockets quarterback in the early 1970s.
        I didn’t play, so I didn’t lose.
        I almost bid on football autographed by Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys in the silent auction. But minimum bid was $200 and that seemed high for a quarterback with a broken pinky who was going to miss the next four games.

VIRTUAL OBAMA
        Republican presidential candidate John McCain visited the Sprint Cup race in New Hampshire last month and wife Cindy was at Saturday’s Cup race near Charlotte, N.C.
        It’s not likely that Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama will be invited to racetracks owned by right-leaning folks, so his campaign found a unique way to get exposure to the younger crowd and racing fans.
        Obama became the first presidential candidate to buy ad space within video games.
        The ads appear as billboards or signage and urge players to vote and vote early.
        In addition to positions in "Guitar Hero" and "Madden 09," Obama’s ads are aimed primarily at game players who like sports games, including NASCAR.

NITRO CREW CHIEF CHANGES
        David Powers Motorsports started the dominoes falling over the weekend when it announced that Rob Flynn would not return next years as crew chief to Top Fuel racer Rod Fuller.
        Then on Monday, Kenny Bernstein announced that veteran husband-and-wife crew chief combo Tim and Kim Richards would retire at the end of the season. They had been with Bernstein since 2001 and tuned Kenny and son Brandon to 33 NHRA national event titles.
        The next day, Bernstein said he has hired Flynn to replace Tim and Kim.
        More crew chief transactions could be announced Oct. 31-Nov. 2 when the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series competes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.