Sam's Town 300 - Kyle Busch Notes

KYLE BUSCH
NO. 5 LOWE’S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO
LAS VEGAS PREVIEW

KYLE BUSCH PULLING DOUBLE DUTY THIS WEEKEND: This weekend’s Las Vegas Speedway race finds Kyle Busch returning to the seat of the No. 5 Team Lowe’s Racing Chevrolet for the second time this season. In addition to competing full-time for Rookie of the Year honors in the Nextel Cup Series behind the wheel of the No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet, Busch will drive the No. 5 Lowe’s Busch Series entry in three races in 2005 (the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, this weekend’s race in Las Vegas, and the August event at Watkins Glen International).

TEAM NO. 5’s HISTORY AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team has scored a top-10 starting spot in each of the three NASCAR Busch Series races the team has competed in at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The team’s best finish in those events was posted by driver Brian Vickers in 2003, when he finished 13th. In last year’s race, Kyle Busch ran in the top-five for most of the day until he was penalized for allegedly jumping a restart late in the event. The penalty dropped Busch to 17th, and he rallied to finish 15th.

MULTI-DRIVER TEAM: The Team Lowe’s Racing crew is competing for the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series owners’ points championship with no fewer than four different drivers sharing seat time in the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevrolet. Boston Reid and Blake Feese will drive at least 13 races apiece, while Kyle Busch is piloting the car in three events. In a one-race deal, open-wheel star Adrian Fernandez, a native of Mexico City, drove the No. 5 to a 10th-place finish in last weekend’s Busch Series race in Mexico. Blake Feese will make his first start of the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series season next weekend when he drives the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevrolet at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

NO TEST: This weekend’s event marks the first race of the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series season for which the No. 5 Team Lowe’s Racing crew was not able to test. Kyle Busch did test his No. 5 Nextel Cup entry at Las Vegas, as did several of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates.

Q&A WITH DRIVER KYLE BUSCH: How do you feel about heading back to Las Vegas, your hometown? “I’m excited. Our test session at Vegas in the Cup car went really well, so I really feel like we can be competitive in both series this time around. Getting to race in front of the hometown fans is always fun and it gives me a chance to catch up with a lot of friends. It’s cool how much media attention Kurt (Busch, Kyle’s older brother), Brendan (Gaughan) and I get when we come here. It’s crazy, but it’s also a lot of fun.

“I think it probably does put a little more pressure on you, just because you always want to do well in front of your family and the hometown crowd. I had a tough time in the Cup race here last year, so as long as I can put on a better show than I did last time I was here, I’ll feel better about it. We really had a shot at a top-five in the Lowe’s car in the Busch Series race until NASCAR penalized us. It was a lesson learned for me, though, so something positive came from it. I’m glad I get the chance to come back and try to finish what we started last year.”

Are you worried about not getting to test at Las Vegas in the Busch Series car? “No, I’m not too worried about it. If I hadn’t got to test something out here, I might be more concerned, but I did get a lot of time in the Cup car out here, so I think we’ve got some good notes for the Busch team to work from. We ran really well here in the Busch car last year, and the mile and a half tracks seem to suit my driving style, so I think we’ll be OK.”

Q&A WITH CREW CHIEF JIM LONG:
You didn’t get a chance to test at Las Vegas. Why is that? “There was just not enough hours in the day or days in the week to make it happen, to be honest with you. The team’s been working their tails off, and we just couldn’t work a Vegas test into the schedule. When you figure that we went to Daytona, then tested with Adrian Fernandez at VIR (Virginia International Raceway), then headed to California, then tested with Blake (Feese) at Atlanta last week, then headed to Mexico last Thursday, I just don’t know when we could have worked it in.

“I’m still very confident about our chances, though. Kyle (Busch) and the team did really well here last year, and we’re fortunate to have a lot of data to pull from. The Cup guys (several of Hendrick Motorsports’ Nextel Cup teams) all tested here, including Kyle’s Cup team, and they brought back a lot of good info for us to chew on. I think we’ll do really well.”

CHASSIS INFORMATION- Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 312

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