Food City 250 - Kyle Busch Notes

PREVIEW: KYLE BUSCH (NO. 5 LOWE'S/SPECTRACIDE CHEVROLET)
VENUE: BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY (.533-MILE OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR BUSCH SERIES (RACE 26 OF 35)
EVENT: FRIDAY, AUG. 25 (250 LAPS, 133.24 MILES)

BRISTOL WINNER: Kyle Busch took the lead with 12 laps remaining in March's NASCAR Busch Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway and held off Kevin Harvick to earn his first career victory at the Tennessee short track. With four Busch Series starts at Bristol, Busch has posted one victory, one pole and three top-five finishes.

MARCH MADNESS: Busch completed 29 green-flag passes on his way to winning the March 25 Busch Series race at Bristol. Of those 29 passes, 12 came in Turns 3 and 4 (48 percent); eight on the frontstretch; six in Turns 1 and 2; and four on the backstretch. Busch also turned the fastest lap of the race with a speed of 122.281 mph on Lap 252 of 300.

SHORT-TRACK STAR: Three of Busch's seven career Busch Series victories have come on short tracks. He won at the Bristol half-mile in March, the .686-mile Indianapolis Raceway Park in August 2004 and the .75-mile Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in May 2004. The Richmond victory marked his first in the Busch Series.

TRIPLE PLAY: At Bristol, Busch will run the Busch Series and NEXTEL Cup events for Hendrick Motorsports, along with Wednesday evening's Craftsman Truck Series race in a Chevrolet Silverado fielded by Billy Ballew.

DON'T MESS WITH A GOOD THING: Crew chief Chad Walter has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 275 as the primary option for Friday's Busch Series event at Bristol. It is the same car that earned a win at Bristol in March and sixth-place finishes at Darlington, S.C., in May and Dover, Del., in June.

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KYLE BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/SPECTRACIDE CHEVROLET: (CAN YOU MAKE IT TWO BRISTOL WINS IN A ROW?) "I hope so. We had a pretty good car there in the spring. I think Kevin Harvick was a little bit better than we were. For as well as we ran, I think we can fine-tune the Lowe's/Spectracide Chevrolet a little bit and make it even better. Hopefully we'll start further up front and stay there all night."

BUSCH: (WHAT DID THE WIN AT BRISTOL MEAN TO YOU?) "Winning at Bristol is one of the biggest wins a driver can have, besides Daytona, Indy and the '600' at Lowe's Motor Speedway. For me, it was a lot of fun to run that well. In the Busch Series, I've had two third-place finishes and one DNF from a wreck after leading about 60 laps. We seem to have the Busch car figured out at Bristol. Now we need to get the Cup car figured out, too."

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CHAD WALTER, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/SPECTRACIDE CHEVROLET: (WHAT DID IT FEEL LIKE TO GET YOUR FIRST WIN AT BRISTOL THIS YEAR?) "In August 2004, we had a great race car at Bristol. We got the pole for the race and led until a miscommunication saw us pit at the wrong time. The penalty put us deep in the field. We got back up to 14th and then got tangled in an accident. So, honestly, when we went to Bristol in March, we felt the track owed us one. We were great in practice. Qualifying was snowed out so we started 20th. Kyle felt comfortable in the car. I just knew that with as strong as our cars have been at Bristol, we could win that race. The season up to that point had been full of bad luck, and Bristol is not the type of place you expect to turn your luck around, but we did. Everything came together for us. I would be lying if I didn't say that I felt a huge amount of personal accomplishment, but even more than that I was just happy for this team."

WALTER: (AFTER GETTING THE WIN IN MARCH, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE TRICK TO WINNING AT BRISTOL?) "Every car is basically going the same speed at Bristol. About 15 seconds to be exact. So, in order to beat all of those cars that are just as fast as you are, you have to be able to get that something 'extra' from your car. Basically, the driver has to be able to abuse the car when needed. If Kyle knows that he's able to get a little something more out of his car when he needs to Friday night, then he'll be more comfortable with pushing it a little further. That's the trick, I guess -- just having a car that's capable of something a little more."

WALTER: (WHEN RANKING THE BEST TRACKS TO COLLECT A NASCAR WIN, BRISTOL ALWAYS SNEAKS IN THERE. WHY?) "Any win is great, but there are those certain tracks that are just more special than others. Bristol is possibly the most exciting track on the circuit. It's exciting for the drivers, the teams, the fans -- everyone. When there is that much excitement and you top it off with a win, it doesn't get much better than that. A win at Bristol is definitely something you can beat your chest over."