Night Ends Early for Lowe’s Busch Racers

October 17, 2005 - With the success Team Lowe’s Racing has enjoyed in Busch races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in recent years you knew sooner or later there had to be a run of bad luck.

But nobody expected the bad luck encountered by the Hendrick Motorsports entries in the first 100 laps in Friday night’s Busch Series race.

Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Adrian Fernandez each made an early exit from the 300-mile Busch Series race that saw a record 14 cautions and two red-flag periods

Johnson finished 43rd, Busch 41st and Fernandez 40th.

Johnson and Busch appeared to have shots at bringing home a victory.

Johnson started the race in the No. 48 Lowe’s /Kobalt Tools Chevrolet from the pole position but he was the first victim of the carnage with less than 30 laps on the board after making contact with the wall.

“I (cut) a tire. I could hear the tire hitting the inside of the fender wall and at that point I knew I was along for the ride,” Johnson said.

That caution enabled Adrian Fernandez to stay on the lead lap. Fernandez, making his second oval track appearance in a Busch car, was driving a backup Lowe’s Hitachi Power Tools Chevrolet after crashing in qualifying.

While Fernandez stayed on the lead lap, Kyle Busch, driving the No. 57 Sta-Green Winterizer Weed & Feed Chevrolet, showed the crowd he had one of the fastest cars in the field.

Busch traded the lead with Ryan Newman (the eventual race winner) several times during the first 70 laps of the 200-lap event. When the caution flag came out on lap 71, Busch came to pit road for service.

As Busch was leaving his pit stall following the pit stop, the transmission on the No. 57 broke.

“We snapped the gears on the transmission,” Busch said. “As soon as they dropped the jack and I tried to take off, it broke on me. I didn’t have any gears at all.”

Fernandez was the lone remaining hope as he climbed to midfield. But his night came to an end in a violent crash on the backstretch after making contact with another car on lap 90.

“That was one of the hardest hits I’ve ever had,” Fernandez said. “We were doing OK. I was learning and we were moving up. I have a lot to learn but for a backup car with no laps on it we were pretty fast.”

Only 20 of the 43 car starting field were running at the end of the race. Accidents eliminated nearly all of those who did not finish.

Ryan Newman led 133 of 200 laps in winning his fifth consecutive Busch Series race establishing a new record.

The Busch Series returns to action Saturday at Memphis Motorsports Park with Kyle Krisiloff climbing behind the wheel of the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevrolet.