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BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Thomasville's Brian Vickers issued a warning Friday to Kyle Busch in light of their dustup after last weekend's Nationwide race.

Busch was angry at how Vickers raced him to the finish as they came to the checkered flag. Their racing allowed Brad Keselowski to win the race. Afterward, Busch ran his car against Vickers' on pit road and confronted Vickers as Vickers remained in his car.

"I'm willing to race him hard and clean and move on down the road," Vickers, a Trinity High School graduate, said at Bristol Motor Speedway where the Sprint Cup series races tonight. "If he's not willing to do that, then I'm willing to take whatever path he chooses. I'm going to race him the way he races me. He knows that, and he's been aware of that for a very long time and that's not going to change.

"He's out of rope."

MOVING ON? The Charlotte Observer reports that Brad Keselowski has an agreement in principle to drive in the Cup series next year for Penske Racing.

The Observer reports that no contract has been signed and that Keselowski appeared headed to the No. 12 team. David Stremme drives for that team this season and ranks 31st in the points.

Keselowski would not confirm or deny the report.

"I'm really not in a position to talk about any of that stuff right now," he said Friday night before the Nationwide race. "I'm really not prepared to address any of the rumors for next year."

Keselowski ranked third in the Nationwide points standings behind Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards heading into Friday night's race at Bristol.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. owns the car Keselowski drives in the Nationwide series and although Earnhardt wouldn't confirm the deal, he acknowledged he could be losing his driver.

MARTIN TAKES TOP SPOT: Mark Martin earned his fifth pole of the season and 46th of his career, moving him into a tie with Junior Johnson for ninth on the all-time pole list.

Martin, who holds the 12th and final transfer spot to the Chase, won the pole with a lap of 124.484 mph. Greg Biffle (124.307 mph) will start second. Rookie Scott Speed (124.146), Dave Blaney (123.970) and Matt Kenseth (123.897) complete the top five.

DANICA SKIPPING NASCAR? The Indianapolis Star states that team owner Michael Andretti could announce as early as next week that Danica Patrick will remain with the IndyCar team. Her contract expires after this season and has led to speculation that she might jump to NASCAR.

The Star quotes Andretti about the negotiations: "We've been back and forth a lot, but they want it and we want it. We're just going through the particulars right now. I'm happy with the way things are going."

NATIONWIDE: David Ragan has held off Carl Edwards on a two-lap sprint to the finish to win the Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Edwards was second Friday night and shaved nearly 100 points off of Kyle Busch's daunting lead in the series standings.

Busch was wrecked by 19-year-old Chase Austin minutes after taking the lead early in the race. He repaired his car to get back on the track, but finished a distant 28th.

Brad Keselowski finished third by overcoming his own early accident. Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.

PIT STOPS: Jay Frye, Red Bull GM, says the team is "working through different scenarios" with Toyota. Red Bull's contract expires after this season and there have been reports the team has considered a switch to Chevrolet. &ellipses; Rusty Wallace says he'll again field a two-car Nationwide team in 2010 with Steve Wallace and Brendan Gaughan as drivers. Rusty Wallace says he's not determined a manufacturer for next season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com