Busch Silver Celebration 250 - Kyle Busch Notes

PREVIEW: KYLE BUSCH (NO. 5 LOWE'S/SPECTRACIDE CHEVROLET)
VENUE: GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY (1.25-MILE OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR BUSCH SERIES (RACE 22 OF 35)
EVENT: SATURDAY, JULY 29 (200 LAPS, 250 MILES)

NO REST FOR THE WEARY: While his fellow NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series competitors enjoy a break in the action, 21-year-old Kyle Busch has a busy week ahead of him. He will begin with groomsman duties in his brother's wedding in Virginia Beach, Va., before flying to St. Louis for Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series race at Gateway International Raceway. On Sunday, Busch plans to top off his hectic week with the Oxford 250 Super Late Model race in Oxford, Maine.

TOP-FIVE FINISHER: Busch started fourth and finished fifth in his single Gateway start in May 2004. It was the sixth race in a string of 10 consecutive top-10 finishes that vaulted him to the top of the championship standings in his rookie season on the Busch Series circuit. During that span, Busch recorded two victories and finished outside the top-five only three times in his No. 5 Chevy.

WALTER CHOOSES CHASSIS 345: Crew chief Chad Walter has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 345 as the primary option for Saturday's Busch Series event at Gateway. The car finished ninth at Richmond, Va., in May.

HOMETOWN SCORER: Dawn Pierce, scorer for the No. 5 Lowe's/Spectracide team, was raised in Jefferson City, Mo., about two hours from Gateway International Raceway. During the week, Pierce works as an executive assistant in the Hendrick Motorsports chassis department.

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BUSCH TO GREET GATEWAY FANS: Kyle Busch will greet fans and sign memorabilia at the Gateway International Raceway autograph session at the track's hospitality village on Friday at 4:45 p.m. local time.

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KYLE BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/SPECTRACIDE CHEVROLET: (ON GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY.) "Gateway is a difficult track. Turns one and two are much different from three and four, and the straightaways are very long. Overall, I think we should be OK. We were good at Loudon (N.H.), which is pretty similar to Gateway."

BUSCH: (HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE INTENSE HEAT ON RACE WEEKENDS?) "The heat is pretty bad in St. Louis. It's going to be really hard on the guys working on the cars throughout both days. The drivers, we race at night, but it's still not going to cool down. It's definitely not easy on us in those cars. We'll have to make do with what it is and try to stay cool. I definitely want to make sure I'm hydrated for the whole weekend. The best way to manage the heat is to drink a lot of Gatorade and get a good cooling system in the car and in your helmet. That's all you can do."

BUSCH: (ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BUSCH SERIES.) "The Busch Series is a proving ground in NASCAR. For me, the Busch Series is a great learning and training tool. There are different things you can do in this series to get yourself ready, as well as team members ready, for the next step, which is NEXTEL Cup."