Are you ready for R2K?

No, it’s not the latest laser eye surgery technique. Nor is it the name of a new robot in the next installment of the “Star Wars” movie series.

R2K is my shorthand way to refer to something that’s scheduled to happen March 23 at, in my opinion, the greatest track in auto racing — Bristol Motor Speedway.

The Food City 500 scheduled for that Sunday will be, according to the best count I can put together, the 2,000th race in the history of what is now known as NASCAR’s Winston Cup Series.

Numbers fascinate me. If you’re a sports fan, you’ll understand me when I say there’s a difference between statistics and stats. Statistics is a math course you avoid in college if you possibly can. Stats are the ammunition sports fans use in friendly battles.

Stats can be twisted for use in just about any argument, but the numbers themselves don’t lie. At least they shouldn’t. When it comes to NASCAR, however, the way the numbers are added up sometimes drives a stats freak like me berserk.

People who cover Winston Cup racing on a regular basis almost always have two books with them at all times when they’re at the track — a Winston Cup media guide and the weekly media update book. The media guide comes out at the beginning of the year. The media update is, as you’d expect, updated weekly with the latest statistical information.

Both books are invaluable. We simply could not do our jobs without them. Each book is prepared with tremendous care by people who deservedly take pride in their work.

In the 2003 media guide, however, Lee Petty is credited with having 55 career victories in NASCAR’s top series. In the update book, he has 54 wins.

Somebody should lock all the NASCAR historians in a room in Daytona Beach and not let them out until everyone agrees on one set of numbers. Until that happens, you’ve got to pick one to go by.

I’m using the race-by-race list in the “Stock Car Racing Encyclopedia” prepared by Greg Fielden, one of the main guys who’d need to be in that room to get this all settled.

According to those sources, this year’s Daytona 500 was race No. 1,995. That means Matt Kenseth’s victory on Sunday was race No. 1,997 with Atlanta and Darlington to go before Bristol hosts R2K.