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KYLE BUSCH
SPECIAL PAINT DESIGN: The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is sporting a special paint design for this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sponsored by Hitachi Power Tools and Lowe’s, the car features a distinctive green and black color scheme, similar to the “inspired” design elements featured on the Hitachi Power Tools product line.
Hitachi Power Tools, a Lowe’s vendor partner, is also an associate sponsor on Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, as well as the No. 12 Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Pontiac Riley, driven by Adrian Fernandez and Mario Haberfeld in the Grand Am Road Racing Series.
Q&A WITH DRIVER KYLE BUSCH:
You had a runner-up finish in your second Busch race at Atlanta, and you won a truck race there last year. Is it safe to say you like the track? “Yes, it’s a very cool track. I usually like tracks that have a lot of grip, and Atlanta definitely doesn’t fit the bill in that respect, but I still like it. It seems like there are an infinite number of lines you can find to run anywhere on the track, and I love that.
“There is one spot coming off Turn 2 that, if you’re running the low line and start to slide up, you have a tendency to get sideways but otherwise, it’s a really fun track to race on. You get on about 40 lap tires and you really start to slide around, and that can be a handful, but it really makes it a driver’s track.”
Some say the track is almost too fast. Do you agree? “It’s definitely one of the fastest tracks we go to, but the truth is, you’re only really turning those incredibly fast lap times for about three or four laps while your tires are new. After that, you’re just not able to go that fast. Also, the track is very wide, so you don’t really get the sensation of speed that you do at some of the tighter race tracks. I like going fast, so it doesn’t really bother me.”
You had a top-10 at Mexico, but you haven’t had the finishes you’ve wanted in the other three races. What are your thoughts on the season so far? “Well, we’re having to play catch up, really. I feel bad for Chad (Walter, crew chief of the No. 5 team), because he’s having to kind of go from scratch on our setups. He doesn’t really have a notebook he can look back on from 2005.
“Boston (Reid) and Blake (Feese) are good drivers, but they had very little experience on asphalt, so it’s difficult to take the notes from their races and apply them to what we’re trying to do this season. That’s not a slam against those guys at all. They just hadn’t developed the feel for the stock cars on asphalt to really describe exactly what was going on in terms of the handling. All they really could say was ‘tight’ or ‘loose,’ so the crew chief was having to do the best he could with limited feedback. I don’t envy the position those guys were in. I can’t imagine stepping into a Busch car with only a few starts on asphalt under my belt. Talk about a ‘trial by fire.’
“Chad’s having to go back and look at the notes from my rookie year, and the cars have changed so much just in those two years that it’s apples and oranges. We’re trying to figure it out quickly, and I think we will get it to where it needs to be, it’s just going to take some time. You know, I had kind of a slump in the middle of the 2004 season, so I hope that the slump is coming in the first part of the year this time, and we’ll get it turned around quickly. I have all the faith in the world in Chad and the team.”
TEAM No. 5’S HISTORY AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY: In four Busch Series starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the No. 5 team has three top-10 starting positions. The team has one top-five finish in that span, which came with driver Kyle Busch. In october, 2004, Busch qualified fourth and led 17 laps, but was unable to catch Matt Kenseth, the eventual race winner.
In last year’s race, rookie Blake Feese qualified eighth, but a tight handling condition on his No. 5 Lowe’s / Hitachi Power Tools Chevrolet resulted in a 23rd-place finish.
KYLE BUSCH’S HISTORY AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY: In six NASCAR starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch has one win (driving the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevy in the Craftsman Truck Series race last October), and one runner-up finish (driving the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevrolet in the Busch Series race in Oct., 2004). Busch finished 12th in both of his Nextel Cup Series starts at Atlanta in 2005. In his first Busch Series start (10/25/03) and his first Nextel Cup start (10/31/04) at Atlanta, engine timing issues left him with 43rd-place finishes in both events.
CHASSIS INFORMATION- Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 312 – Kyle Busch drove this chassis to a 23rd-place finish at Richmond International Raceway in May, 2005, and a 36th-place finish at Dover International Speedway in June of last year (after being involved in an accident with Kevin Harvick while both were running in the top-five).
In 2004, Busch drove this chassis to a fifth-place finish in the October Busch Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
POINTS STANDING: Rick Hendrick, owner of the No. 5 Lowe’s / Hitachi Power Tools entry, is 17th in the NASCAR Busch Series owners’ points standings after the fourth event of the 35-race season.
Kyle Busch is 15th in the Busch Series drivers’ points standings.
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