Winn-Dixie 250 - Kyle Busch Notes

PREVIEW: KYLE BUSCH (NO. 5 LOWE'S/SPECTRACIDE CHEVROLET)
VENUE: DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (2.5-MILE OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR BUSCH SERIES (RACE 18 OF 35)
EVENT: FRIDAY, JUNE 30 (100 LAPS, 250 MILES)

NO RESTRICTIONS: Driving a No. 5 Lowe's/Spectracide Chevrolet, Kyle Busch posted a career-best restrictor-plate finish of third in the most recent NASCAR Busch Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Busch started ninth and led 25 laps en route to the team's third top-five finish of the 2006 season.

BEHIND THE NUMBERS: Chad Walter, crew chief of the No. 5 Lowe's/Spectracide Chevrolet, has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 345 for Friday's 250-mile Busch Series event at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. This is the same chassis that finished 25th in the February race at the 2.5-mile track due to a broken valve spring, but posted the second-highest average running position (7.892).

STRONG QUALIFIER: In five previous Busch Series races at Daytona, Busch has posted four top-10 qualifying efforts. Busch started on the outside of the front row in February 2005.

HOME AGAIN: Jay Nolan, engine tuner for the Lowe's/Spectracide Chevrolet, calls Jacksonville, Fla., home. Nolan, who graduated from Bishop Kenny High School in 2002, began his racing career working on dirt modifieds at Jax Raceway.

TOP TEAMMATE: Brian Vickers, Busch's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, will also compete in Friday's Busch Series race at Daytona. Busch and Vickers worked together during the April event at Talladega, where they finished third and fourth, respectively. The teammates combined to lead 49 of 117 laps.

DAYTONA DEBUT: Busch won the February 2004 Automobile Racing Club of America event in his first career start at Daytona. One week later, Busch went on to qualify 14th and finish 24th in his first Busch Series race at the high-banked superspeedway.

HALFWAY POINT: With Saturday's race at The Milwuakee Mile in the books, the Busch Series has reached the halfway point of the 2006 season. So far, the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team has earned one victory (Bristol, Tenn.), one pole position, three top-five finishes and seven top-10s.

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KYLE BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/SPECTRACIDE CHEVROLET: (ON HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS' RESTICTOR-PLATE SUCCESS.) "We were watching DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) have a lot of success for a long time. Everyone went to work and Mr. (Rick) Hendrick made sure we turned our restrictor-plate program around. And we've certainly done that. We've got some guys who are hanging strictly restrictor-plate bodies. They've done an excellent job. The guys in the motor shop have been building us great motors and getting us that one or two extra horsepower. That's what it's all about. We qualify well. We race well. That's what counts."

BUSCH: (DO YOU HAVE A STRATEGY FOR RESTRICTOR-PLATE RACING?) "When the green flag falls, if you're in the front, you just want to ride. But, when you have guys that are going crazy behind you, coming up through the field and getting toward the front, you're getting pushed back. Then you're put in a position where you want to get back to the front because you never know when the big one is going to happen. And it's inevitable. It always happens."

BUSCH: (DO YOU LOOK FOR OTHER CUP DRIVERS TO WORK WITH?) "Absolutely not. You look for the best car that your car runs well with. In practice, you can usually find that. For some reason in the past few years my cars have run really well with the No. 2 and the No. 20. It doesn't matter who's driving them, my cars have just always worked really well with those two. So, you'll probably see me working a lot with Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and, of course, Brian (Vickers)."

BUSCH: (ON WORKING WITH TEAMMATE BRIAN VICKERS.) "The cool thing about Talladega was that we were able to work so much together and really help each other out. There was a time at the end of the race when we kind of had to separate and go run our own race. You want to stick there and stay with your teammate, but you know you're going to fall back, so you have to jump out of line and go. For as much as we did work together, it was good to be able to keep ourselves up front like that. You won't see that at Daytona, though. Cars will be all over the place. The cars won't handle as well, and the heat will affect it, too. It'll be more difficult for us to run together the whole time at Daytona than it was at Talladega."

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CHAD WALTER, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/SPECTRACIDE CHEVROLET: (WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN CONCERNS ABOUT RACING AT DAYTONA?) "Restrictor-plate racing is all about horsepower, which we definitely have here at Hendrick Motorsports. Another thing we look at is the handling of the car. July racing at Daytona is totally different than February racing. In July, the track gets greasy and slick, so the car's handling plays a much bigger role. Also, with the current Busch Series rules, it's hard to keep the car from getting too tight, so we've been working on that a lot as well."

WALTER: (YOUR TEAM FINISHED THIRD AT TALLADEGA. WILL THAT HAPPEN AGAIN THIS WEEKEND?) "Talladega and Daytona are two very different race tracks. At Talladega, you can just hang the car wide open. At Daytona, handling comes into play. The third-place finish at Talladega, though, was a huge confidence booster for this team. Kyle has greatly matured as a plate racer. From last year to this year, I've seen a 100-percent improvement in his drafting abilities. He's really learned how to pick and choose his battles out there. We're going to have a strong race car and the stronger car you have, the more friends you have out there. I think it will be a good one for us."

WALTER: (IS THERE A BENEFIT TO HAVING A TEAMMATE IN THE RACE?) "Definitely. In those final laps, there are about 10 guys who all want the same piece of real estate. If you have a teammate, I think your driver is more willing to pull out of line and make a move. Having a teammate is sort of like having a safety net in the end. He's your wingman."

WALTER: (CAN YOU GRADE YOUR TEAM'S PEFORMANCE AT THE HALFWAY POINT?) "The No. 5 Lowe's team has jelled really well. There are a lot of new faces on this team this year, but it all fell into place pretty well. Better than expected, actually. Our cars have improved and our setup is generally better. At the track, we just need to work on our consistency. That's the area we need to improve on and want to improve on. We definitely want to get better in the second half."