Accident Gives Busch 29th-Place Finish at Kansas

Kyle Busch

KANSAS CITY, KS (Oct. 10) – An accident during Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series race at Kansas Speedway cost Kyle Busch and his No. 5 Team Lowe’s Racing crew a chance to make up significant ground in their battle for the 2004 Busch Series championship.

After the No. 8 car of points leader Martin Truex, Jr., suffered heavy damage in an early race incident, it appeared that Busch and his Hendrick Motorsports team might be able to capitalize and significantly reduce Truex’s points lead with a strong finish.

That opportunity went away on lap 81, when Busch and his No. 5 Lowe’s / Shop Vac Chevrolet were collected in an accident triggered by a spin involving the No. 12 car of Tim Fedewa .

"The (No.)12 car looked like he got a little loose there under the (No.) 46, just a racing deal,” Busch said. “It's a shame that we got caught up in it, but he just couldn't quite hang on to it. It's such devastation and a great blow when you get caught up in something like that and there's nothing you can do.

“I was slowing down, thought I had it missed, but all of a sudden the thing snapped back to the right and ended up in the fence, so I don't know exactly what happened to it."

With significant damage to the front end of his machine, Busch took his No. 5 Chevrolet behind the wall. There, the Team Lowe’s Racing crew spent 24 laps replacing the car’s damaged nose and radiator, and used hammers to bend the steering box back into its proper position before sending Busch back out in 35th position to gain as many points as possible.

When the checkered flag was displayed, Busch was shown in 29th position, while Truex finished 30th, three points behind Busch. With six races remaining in the 2004 season, Busch and his team now find themselves 149 points out of the lead.

"It really could have been great but we missed out on a great opportunity,” Busch said. “The (No.) 8 car had a little bit of trouble there in the beginning. It's a shame that we did get caught up in that mess. We always seem to be able to equal out. We never seem to be able to get ahead of (Truex) and we never fall too far behind him, either. I guess we'll go on to the next races and see what we can get out of it.”

The accident was actually the second setback Busch and his team rallied back from on Saturday. After qualifying in the fourth position, Busch had to drop to the rear of the field before the green flag was displayed.

NASCAR rules dictate that teams in the Busch Series must start the event using the same tires they had on the car during qualifying. Saturday morning, a team member noticed one of the tires on Busch’s machine had a cut on it and was losing air pressure. NASCAR officials told the team they could change that one tire without being penalized, but a four-tire change would result in Busch being sent to the rear of the field.

Crew chief Lance McGrew felt that having four tires on the car with identical amounts of tire wear on them was more crucial than the track position, so the team elected to make a four-tire change.

Busch took the green flag in the 41st position and quickly charged through the field, moving into the top-20 by lap 11 of the 200-lap event. By lap 57, Busch found himself in ninth position, and moved into the top-five when the frontrunners began making their green flag pit stops around lap 60.

On lap 66, it was Busch’s turn to bring his No. 5 Lowe’s / Shop Vac Chevrolet to pit road. His Hendrick Motorsports crew made quick work of the pit stop, changing four tires, adding fuel and making a chassis adjustment in just 14.1 seconds.

Returning to the race in the 11th position, Busch moved back into the top-10 on lap 69. Seven laps later, Busch was being shown in sixth position when the caution flag was displayed for an accident involving Clint Bowyer.

With just 16 cars being shown on the lead lap, McGrew told Busch to come back in for fresh tires during the yellow flag period. Busch returned to the race in 11th position for the lap 80 restart before the accident ended his chances for a victory one lap later.

“All in all, the guys did an awesome, awesome, job putting that (car) back together and I can't thank those guys enough,” Busch said. “They are a championship caliber team. All you can do is go on to next week at Lowe's Motor Speedway.”

The finish marked the first time in seven races the Team Lowe’s Racing crew has finished outside the top-10, and only the third time this season the team has finished outside the top-20.

Next up for Busch and his Team Lowe’s Racing crew is a return visit to his sponsor’s namesake track, Lowe’s Motor Speedway, where Busch claimed his second career Busch Series win in May. Busch and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, will both compete in the SpongeBob Squarepants Movie 300 Busch Series event, presented by Lowe’s.

Johnson, making his first Busch Series start in three years, and Busch will both drive cars with special paint schemes featuring characters from SpongeBob Squarepants, the popular cartoon that airs on the Nickelodeon network.

“We had a pretty good test over (at Lowe’s Motor Speedway), so hopefully we can take Jimmie Johnson with his SpongeBob car and myself with the Patrick car and hopefully run up front," Busch said.

The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie 300, presented by Lowe’s, will air live on TNT and PRN Radio affiliates on Friday, Oct. 15, at 8 p.m. EDT.