Now the fun begins.

In years past, when the NASCAR Busch Series schedule headed to its summer months tour of stand-alone events, participation from drivers in the Nextel Cup Series dropped off.

This season, there are seven Cup drivers running full-time in both series, and all seven - including Columbia native Carl Edwards - are expected to try to run Sunday’s Cup race at Pocono and Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn.

Nashville is the first of three consecutive weekends where Busch and Cup races will be in different cities, truly testing the determination of drivers running both series.

Kevin Harvick, the Busch Series leader by 297 points over second-place Edwards, is among those pulling double duty.

"The thing I look at is that the next five guys behind me" in points "are in the same boat I am," Harvick said. "If it’s weather, it’s going to be for everyone."

Last June, Edwards came to Nashville as the series leader, but rain forced a one-day postponement, forcing Edwards to leave Nashville and head back to Pocono for the Cup race.

The two races ended up on the same day, with Edwards winning the Cup race but failing to start the Busch race. He lost the points lead to Reed Sorenson and never recovered.