Milwaukee ? Seats are going quickly now, but a few good ones still remain.

NASCAR’s “Silly Season” hit full swing with a couple of announcements already this week, another big one expected soon and four drivers getting head starts on 2004 when practice opens today at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Two questions were answered with the announcement Wednesday that Jeremy Mayfield had re-signed with Evernham Motorsports through 2005 and Thursday that Busch Series standout Scott Riggs would take over for Johnny Benson at MBV Motorsports next year.

But bigger news could come this weekend.

Bill Elliott, the 1988 Winston Cup champion and a two-time Daytona 500 winner, will retire from full-time competition and probably run in a handful of races next year, according to Fox TV’s “Totally NASCAR.”

Can you name a better place than Atlanta for the Dawsonville, Ga., native to announce such plans?

Regardless, four teams start racing with the drivers they hired for next year: Haas/CNC with Ward Burton, Bill Davis Racing with Wausau’s Scott Wimmer, MB2 with Joe Nemechek and Hendrick Motorsports with Brian Vickers.

So what’s left? Richard Childress Racing, Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Petty Enterprises have yet to announce drivers for their open seats.

Feeling better

Coming out of Martinsville, Va., with a 13th-place finish put NASCAR Winston Cup Series leader Matt Kenseth in a better frame of mind.

“Two out of the last four tracks we have coming up we’ve won at before,” said the Cambridge, Wis., native who won at both North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham and Phoenix International Raceway last year. “Homestead (Fla.) is new for everyone and Atlanta is probably one of my favorite tracks to go to, so I’m feeling good and I’m ready to go.”

Dixie meets Manhattan?

No question, NASCAR views New York City as a prime, untapped market for the sanctioning body, and several parties have looked into the logistics of bringing a race to the Big Apple.

Speedway Motorsports, the company that owns tracks such as Lowe’s Motor Speedway outside Charlotte, and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, remains interested, chairman Bruton Smith said. But the Meadowlands is out because the National Football League Giants would veto it, and Long Island won’t work because of traffic in and out.

“If I had the date, yes I’d build (a track),” Smith said in a recent interview on the Speed Channel. “At one point, I had an option on some land in Atlantic City, but that’s a little too far. I wanted to build something where you could see Manhattan.”

Can’t do that

NASCAR suspended Marc Smith, a crewman for Winston Cup championship contender Kevin Harvick, until Wednesday for attempting to circumvent the inspection process last weekend, and crew chief Todd Berrier was fined $5,000 for the actions of his crew member.

Additionally, two Busch Series drivers were nicked $3,000 apiece — Bobby Hamilton for “improper language” and Mike Harmon for throwing his restraint device at another competitor Saturday.

Tinkering

NASCAR has amended its rule giving a lap back to the first car one lap down when a caution flag flies.

From now on, a driver who gets a lap back because of the rule may not make subsequent pit stops within the same caution to top off his gas tank.

Individual accomplishments

Michael Schumacher, who surpassed Juan Fangio’s 46-year-old record for Formula One driving championships, shies away from any talk of an intergenerational rivalry.

“Fangio is on a level much higher than I see myself,” said Schumacher, who captured his sixth title earlier this month. “There is absolutely no comparison. What he did stands alone, and what we have achieved is also unique. I have such respect for what he achieved.”

Fangio took titles in 1951 and from ’54-’57, winning 24 of 51 starts (47.1 percent). Schumacher, who has won 70 of 190 races (36.9 percent), claimed championships in ’94, ’95 and 2000-’03.

Last laps

Injured Indy Racing League driver Kenny Brack has been transferred to the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana but could return to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis for further surgery, the series said. …

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. said he could be back in a race car within seven weeks. Unser suffered a fractured pelvis in an all-terrain vehicle accident this week. …

Milwaukee-area racer Steve Welk finished 10th in his rookie season in the Formula Ford 2000 championship, which concluded last weekend. …

Marc Ruetten of Oshkosh, Wis., is among the winners in a Coca-Cola promotion that will take 12 fans to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend for a trip that includes tickets, lodging and a 160 mph ride-along with a NASCAR driver.