BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) _ From his perch behind the bar, Kurt Busch appeared completely at ease as he served up cold brews during a stint as a celebrity bartender.

He posed for pictures, signed autographs, chatted with fans and seemed to be soaking up the moment.

Oh, how far he's come.

Busch's appearance was a far cry from his reception here in 2003. He had just notched another win at Bristol Motor Speedway, but his celebration was muted by the thundering negative reaction he received from the 160,000 fans in attendance.

In the three years since, Busch has slowly and surely won some support.

Is he NASCAR's most popular driver? Absolutely not. But he's certainly not Public Enemy No. 1 anymore.

``It's been nice,'' he said Friday. ``I think people are starting to warm up a little bit. Someone told me that during the hauler parade into the track, a guy dropped down in front of the truck and did a snow angel (Busch's victory celebration).

``We're just doing more and more appearances, trying to inject some fun into them and reach out to fans a little bit to give them a chance to get to know me.''

The fans at Bristol will get to see a lot of Busch this weekend. He'll start from the pole for Saturday night's race, where he'll be going for his sixth career victory on the .533-mile bullring.

Busch won here in March, using a bold bump of former teammate Matt Kenseth to grab his only victory of the season. He'll try to make it a sweep in a less controversial fashion and appears to have a car good enough to do it _ Busch was fastest in practice, leading nemesis Kevin Harvick in the session.

``We had a great practice, and the way the car was underneath me really gave me a lot of confidence,'' Busch said.

Busch needs it now, with his championship hopes falling out of reach. He's currently 14th in the standings and has three races to rally into the top 10 and qualify for the Chase for the championship.

``Our chances are very slim, but we haven't given up,'' said the 2004 Nextel Cup champion. ``We attack each week as if it's the last week. No sense holding back. We're just going to let everything rip and see where we wind up.''

Even if Busch fails to make the Chase, this season still will be considered a success.

Before this year, his first driving for car owner Roger Penske, he was universally disliked. He came across as cocky and arrogant and had a longtime feud with veteran Jimmy Spencer that exploded when Spencer punched him in the nose after a race in Michigan in 2003.

NASCAR suspended Spencer for one week. Busch went on to Bristol the next week and found himself vilified, even though he had been the one punched in the face.

The journey was rocky from there _ even during his championship season _ and his career hit rock-bottom late last year in Phoenix when a reckless-driving arrest outside the track led to his early dismissal from Roush Racing. Busch already was headed to Penske at the end of the year, but Roush refused to let him finish out the final two races of the season.

Busch has done a major image repair since joining Penske, starting with fan events like his Thursday night bartender stint.

The true test, though, could come here at Bristol. The slightest slip-up certainly will end his championship chances, and it's possible the crowd just might wildly cheer his failure.

Or if he scores his sixth win in the past 10 Bristol races, he could be booed yet again when he reaches for his trophy.

Either way, Busch will take it in stride.

``I really think it just comes from winning,'' he said. ``It's no different then the way they booed (Jeff) Gordon or Dale Earnhardt. It comes and goes with success, and I'll take it if it means I'm winning.''