Busch, Team Lowe’s Racing Finish Eighth in Kansas

Kyle Busch

KANSAS CITY, KS (Oct. 9) – Kyle Busch drove the No. 5 Lowe’s / Shop Vac Chevrolet to an eighth-place finish in the NASCAR Busch Series race at Kansas Speedway on Saturday.

The result marked the first top-10 finish for the Team Lowe’s Racing crew since Chad Walter took over as crew chief in September, and Kyle Busch’s second top-10 Busch Series finish of 2005.

“It was a pretty good day for us,” Busch said. “We never got the car exactly like we wanted it, but we worked as a team, had some great pit stops, and Chad (Walter) and I are working really well together.

“It was frustrating to deal with all the lapped cars out there. I think we could have maybe pulled out a top-five, but the lapped cars were making it really tough, especially on the last restart. All in all, it was a good day. We learned some stuff that may help us at Lowe’s (Motor Speedway) next weekend, so that’s a positive.”

Just five laps into Saturday’s 200-lap event, an accident brought out the caution flag for the first time. Since races at Kansas Speedway have historically involved long periods of green flag racing, the No. 5 team chose to use the opportunity to bring Busch, who started the race in 29th position, to pit road and top off his No. 5 Chevy with fuel. Returning to the race in 34th position, Busch moved into the top-30 by the time the next caution flag came out on lap 30.

Busch reported that his car had a tight handling condition getting into the corners, but a loose condition coming out of the turns. Walter told his driver to pit for fresh tires, fuel and more chassis adjustments in an attempt to improve the car’s handling. Busch returned to the track in 23rd position for the lap 35 restart.

Over the next 30 laps, Busch worked his way into the top-15 before a one-car accident brought out a caution flag on lap 73. Busch brought his Hendrick Motorsports entry to pit road, where the Team Lowe’s Racing crew bolted on new tires and filled the fuel cell on the No. 5 machine.

Busch returned to the race in 13th position and remained in the top-15 until the next caution period on lap 123. With his car still not handling as well as he would have liked, Busch and Walter decided to pit again for chassis adjustments, tires and fuel. The pit crew did its job, getting Busch back out two spots ahead of where he was when he came to pit road.

Restarting the race in 10th position on lap 130, Busch stayed in and around the top-10 as five caution flags flew over the next 50 laps. When the yellow flag was displayed on lap 183, Walter told his driver to come in for what would be the No. 5 team’s final pit stop of the race. To retain track position, the decision was made to only take on new right side tires and make a slight chassis adjustment to the Lowe’s Chevy.

Returning to the track in seventh position for the lap 186 restart, Busch found himself dealing with a number of lapped cars that had restarted on the inside lane. By the time he was able to work his way around those lapped machines, two lead lap cars had passed Busch to drop him back to 10th. Busch worked his way back up to eighth before the final caution flag came out with five laps remaining, setting up a green-white-checkered flag finish.

In the final three laps, Busch held on to the eighth position to score the No. 5 team’s fourth top-10 result of the 2005 season. With the finish, team owner Rick Hendrick continues to hold the 25th position in the Busch Series owners’ points standings after 30 races of the 35-race season.

Next weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (LMS), Busch will be back behind the wheel of a Hendrick Motorsports entry in the Busch Series, but it won’t be the No. 5. Instead, Busch will drive the No. 57 Sta-Green Winterizer Weed & Feed Chevy, one of three Hendrick entries that will attempt to qualify for the Busch race at LMS.

Adrian Fernandez will make the third start of his NASCAR career behind the wheel of the No. 5 Lowe’s / Hitachi Power Tools Chevrolet in that event, and Team Lowe’s Racing driver, Jimmie Johnson, will make a rare Busch Series appearance, driving the No. 48 Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevy in Friday night’s race.

The 300-mile Busch Series race will air live from Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Friday, Oct. 14, beginning at 8 p.m. EDT on TNT and PRN Radio affiliates.