Stater Bros. 300 - Reed Sorenson Notes

KYLE BUSCH
NO. 5 LOWE’S / STA-GREEN CHEVROLET
CALIFORNIA PREVIEW

Kyle Busch races at California Speedway on Saturday driving the No. 5 Lowe’s Monte Carlo in the NASCAR Busch Series. This marks his first trip to the two-mile Fontana, Calif. track since scoring the first Nextel Cup Series win of his career at the track last September. California Speedway is also the site of Busch’s first career Nextel Cup Series pole position, which he scored one year ago.

Q&A WITH DRIVER KYLE BUSCH:

ARE YOU CONFIDENT HEADING INTO CALIFORNIA, GIVEN YOUR PAST SUCCESS HERE? “Yes, the fact that we won a pole and a race here last year in the Cup car is a huge confidence booster. It may sound corny, but I feel confident every time I get to drive a Hendrick Motorsports car. We’re producing what I feel are the best cars and the best horsepower in the garage, and you always feel like you can be a threat to run well and win. We really seem to do well at the mile and a half and two mile tracks, and I think this weekend is going to be no different.

“Chad (Walter, crew chief of the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevy) and I have our communication down really well now, and I think we have a real shot at a top-five, if not a win.”

HOW HARD IS IT GOING TO BE TO BOUNCE BACK FROM LAST WEEK’S RACE AT DAYTONA? “It’s a little bit of a setback, obviously, but it’s not anything this team can’t overcome. We finished 25th, which isn’t great, but it isn’t a last-place finish either. You look back over the years and there are guys who’ve overcome bad finishes at Daytona and went on to win the championship. That’s our goal. Jeff Green wrecked at Daytona the year he won the championship by 600 points, so there’s a precedent there. Everyone’s going to have their problems at some point this season. We just hope we got ours out of the way last weekend.”

DO YOU THINK YOU CAN PULL OFF A SWEEP THIS WEEKEND AND WIN BOTH THE CUP AND BUSCH RACES AT CALIFORNIA? “Yes, it’s definitely something we can pull off. A lot of things have to go right for it to happen, but I feel like our Cup program and our Busch program are better than they were last year, and I’m definitely going to get up on the wheel and do everything I can to make it happen. If we could pull it off, it would be big. I think it would go a long way toward setting the tone for this season in both series.”

TEAM NO. 5’s HISTORY AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY: In five Busch Series starts at California Speedway, the No. 5 Lowe’s team has two top-10 finishes, both coming in 2004 with driver Kyle Busch. In the most recent Busch Series event at California Speedway, Adrian Fernandez qualified 33rd and finished 28th in the No. 5.

CHASSIS INFORMATION- Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 299 – Kyle Busch drove this chassis to a pole position and a 10th-place finish at Nazareth (PA.) Speedway in 2004. Last year, Blake Feese drove this chassis to a 28th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in April, 2005. In Oct., 2005, Jimmie Johnson scored a pole position with this chassis in the Busch Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

POINTS STANDING: Rick Hendrick, owner of the No. 5 Lowe’s / Sta-Green entry, is 25th in the NASCAR Busch Series owners’ points standings after the first event of the 35-race season.

RADICAL ROOKIE: