Tackling the seventh-inning stretch.

You'll never see a book titled How To Win Friends and Influence People in Chicago under Jeff Gordon's byline, especially as Chicago Cubs fans still remember - with revulsion - the four-time NASCAR champion's off-key rendition of Take Me out to the Ballgame from May 2005.

Not only did Gordon forget the words, but he also referred to iconic Wrigley Field as 'Wrigley Stadium', which won no friends in the crowd.

"Obviously, the attention that I got is not the kind that I'd like for the singing," Gordon recalled, "It wasn't even the singing - it's the fact that I called it Wrigley's Stadium.

"I'm obviously not a huge baseball fan and did not want to sing. I wanted to throw out the [first] pitch but they said, if you do that, you have to sing. So, I agreed to do it. But, yeah, I probably got more negative attention over that than many things that I've done."

Kurt Busch, who will sing at Wrigley during the seventh-inning stretch Sunday afternoon, says he has found the secret to stay off the 'Worst of Wrigley Field' list during a previous appearance.

"I got to sing back in 2004, and my claim to fame is that I didn't make any highlight reels because I did it well enough not to be booed out of there by the loyal Wrigley fans," the avid Cubs fan revealed.

And how will Busch prepare for his encore performance on Sunday?

"About three Miller Lites, and I should be ready to go," he quipped.

by Reid Spencer / Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service