Sam's Town 250 - Kyle Krisiloff Notes

KYLE KRISILOFF
NO. 5 LOWE’S / HITACHI POWER TOOLS CHEVROLET
MEMPHIS PREVIEW

THIS WEEK’S DRIVER- KYLE KRISILOFF: Kyle Krisiloff will make the third start of his NASCAR Busch Series career this weekend, driving the No. 5 Lowe’s / Hitachi Power Tools Chevrolet.

In his Busch Series debut, Krisiloff qualified 26th at The Milwaukee Mile in June, but a mechanical problem just 25 laps into the race resulted in a 42nd-place finish.

In the Busch race at Michigan Speedway in August, Krisiloff finished 40th after making contact with the wall midway through the event.

Since joining Hendrick Motorsports last year, the 19 year-old Indiana native has competed in the American Speed Association (ASA), and ran a limited Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) schedule for Bobby Gerhart Racing this season, in partnership with Hendrick Motorsports.

Most recently, Krisiloff finished second in the ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this month.

DRIVER KYLE KRISILOFF Q&A

THE TEST SESSION LAST MONDAY WAS YOUR FIRST VISIT TO THE MEMPHIS MOTORSPORTS PARK, CORRECT? “Yeah, it was my first time at the track. We only did a one day test, and (crew chief) Chad Walter and I had never worked together before, so it took us a little while to get on the same page with our communication. By about midway through the day, we had it all worked out and I think we’ll run strong there. I wish we’d have had a second day to really tweak some things, but all in all, the test went pretty well.”

YOU’VE WORKED WITH A COUPLE OF NEW CREW CHIEFS THIS YEAR. WHAT’S THE HARDEST THING ABOUT LEARNING THE “LANGUAGE” OF A NEW CREW CHIEF? “The hardest thing is probably just helping the crew chief to understand my scale of handling. What I mean by that is, Chad’s worked mostly with Kyle Busch this year. Well, when I say the car’s really, really loose, what does that mean compared to when Kyle Busch says a car is really, really loose? What I consider as loose and what Kyle Busch thinks is loose could be extremely different. We just worked together so Chad could understand what my comments meant. As far as me giving feedback to Chad, he understood exactly what I wanted and worked on exactly what I needed him to in terms of the handling. I think we have a good handle on where we need to be.”

TEAM NO. 5’s HISTORY AT MEMPHIS MOTORSPORTS PARK: Team No. 5 has scored top-10 finishes in two out of three NASCAR Busch Series events the team has competed in at Memphis Motorsports Park. In 2002, David Green drove the No. 5 entry to a ninth-place finish, while Brian Vickers started third and finished fifth in the 2003 Memphis Busch Series race.

With just over 55 laps remaining in last year’s race, driver Kyle Busch was leading when a caution flag came out. A number of teams pitted for fresh tires, but the No. 5 crew chose to keep Busch on track to retain track position. Unfortunately, the handling on Busch’s car deteriorated on older tires, and Busch finished 14th.

Martin Truex Jr. won the event and padded his lead over Busch in the championships points standings by 64 points, leaving Busch trailing Truex by 208 points following the race.

TESTING: Kyle Krisiloff and the No. 5 team tested at Memphis Motorsports Park on Monday, Oct. 10.

CHASSIS INFORMATION- Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 345- Chassis No. 345 is new to the Hendrick Motorsports stable of cars for this season. This chassis is the same car Kyle Krisiloff drove in both of his previous NASCAR Busch Series starts at The Milwaukee Mile and Michigan International Speedway. Brian Vickers qualified on the outside of the front row with this car at Darlington Raceway in May.

MULTI-DRIVER TEAM: The No. 5 Team Lowe’s Racing crew is competing for the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series owners’ points championship with seven different drivers.

Kyle Busch has driven the No. 5 in 10 races, including a win at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May. Boston Reid and Blake Feese have six starts apiece in the Lowe’s entry, with Reid’s best finish being a 17th-place result at Nashville Superspeedway in June, and Feese’s best finish being a 23rd-place result at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March.

Jimmie Johnson drove the No. 5 in three races, scoring the team’s first pole position of 2005 at Darlington Raceway in May, and qualifying eighth the following weekend at Richmond International Raceway. Johnson’s best finish was a fifth-place result at Dover International Speedway in June.

Kyle Krisiloff made his Busch Series debut in the No. 5 at The Milwaukee Mile in June, and finished 40th in the Lowe’s Chevy at Michigan International Speedway in August.

In his NASCAR debut, open-wheel star Adrian Fernandez drove the No. 5 to a top-10 finish in the Mexico City Busch Series race, and finished 28th at California Speedway in Sept. Last weekend, Fernandez drove the No. 5 to a 40th-place finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and is also slated to drive the No. 5 in the final three Busch races on this season’s schedule.

Brian Vickers’ only scheduled start in the No. 5 this season came at Watkins Glen International earlier, where he finished third.

STATS AND FACTS