Meijer 300 presented by Oreo - Kyle Busch Notes

KYLE BUSCH -- NO. 5 LOWE'S/HITACHI CHEVROLET
KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY PREVIEW

LIVE STRONG DAD: Brian Haaland, the rear-tire changer on Kyle Busch's No. 5 Lowe's/Hitachi Chevrolet, sends a message to his father, John Haaland, every race weekend. After John was diagnosed with stage-four liver cancer in January 2005, Brian had the words "Live Strong Dad!" inscribed on the back of his over-the-wall helmet. His teammates then surprised him by adding the message to each of their helmets. Last weekend, Brian attended his sister's wedding in their hometown of Minot, N.D., where his recovering father walked her down the aisle.

BUSCH AT HOME IN KENTUCKY: Busch, driver of the No. 5 Lowe's/Hitachi Chevrolet, has two career starts at Kentucky Speedway -- and two wins. The 21-year-old Las Vegas native qualified on the outside pole position and picked up a Busch Series victory there in June 2004. In May 2003, he started fourth and went on to win in ARCA Series competition.

KYLE COMMUTER: For the second consecutive week, Busch will travel back and forth between the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and Busch Series events. Following Cup qualifying on Friday, Busch will travel from Michigan International Speedway to Kentucky Speedway to practice his No. 5 Lowe's/Hitachi Chevrolet. He will return to Michigan to participate in Saturday's Cup practice and then travel back to Kentucky for Busch Series qualifying and the 300-mile race that evening. Busch will then compete in the 400-mile NEXTEL Cup event at Michigan on Sunday.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY: Busch's father, Tom, who has played an important role in his son's career, continues to travel to the race track every weekend, working as a spotter for the NEXTEL Cup team of driver Travis Kvapil. Tom Busch will not be in attendance at Kentucky, but will celebrate Father's Day with Kyle at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday.

LABONTE BACKING UP BUSCH: Driving a No. 5 Lowe's/Hitachi Chevrolet, Justin Labonte will fill in for Busch in Friday's first Busch Series practice at Kentucky. Labonte, who also practiced with the team last weekend at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, is the son of Hendrick Motorsports driver and two-time NEXTEL Cup champion Terry Labonte.

CHASSIS 312 FOR TEAM LOWE'S: Crew chief Chad Walter has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 312 as the primary option for Saturday night's Busch Series event at Kentucky Speedway. Busch drove the car to a pole position at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March and to a fourth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

KYLE BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/HITACHI CHEVROLET: (ON HIS WEEKEND TRAVEL PLANS.) "I'm not in the logistics department, thank goodness. I know the team has been working on the logistics for over a month, figuring out every little detail. But everything they plan can get thrown out of the window due to weather situations. It's very difficult in that respect. They did a great job last weekend flying from Pocono to Nashville. We never ran into any issues and the weather cooperated. So far, so good."

BUSCH: (ON KENTUCKY.) "I love Kentucky. That place is a lot of fun. I love running the Cup car there in testing. I like the Busch car there. We were fastest in practice a couple of years ago, then we wadded it up after qualifying second. The Lowe's team pulled out the backup car and with no laps on it we went out there and won the race. My team guys having the backup prepared the way they did was pretty impressive. Hopefully we can do the same thing this Saturday. Not wad one up, of course, but end up in Victory Lane again."

BUSCH: (ON HIS FATHER, TOM.) "My dad has been there since I began racing and I remember him teaching me how to play baseball in the backyard before I started racing. Coming up, running go-karts, he taught me how to ride, how to drive and exactly what to feel. There are a lot of different things that he's been able to help me with in my career. He helped take me up through the ranks -- through legends cars, dwarf cars, and then modifieds. Spending the money that he didn't have to spend is the biggest thing that I'm the most proud of with my dad. He sacrificed a lot to help us get as far as we did. Once I got a super late model ride with another guy, he went over there every day and worked on it and made sure everything was right there, too. He's always been there for me and my brother. He's always stuck in there with us and stuck up for us."

CHAD WALTER, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/HITACHI CHEVROLET: (ON KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY.) "This is my first time at Kentucky Speedway for any race. It seems like I've tested there with Cup teams about 900 times, but this is the first time I'll be there for an actual event. From what I've learned there during testing, Kentucky, unlike Nashville, is very sensitive to weather conditions. Going from daytime practice to nighttime racing will cause quite a difference in the Lowe's Chevy's handling. As a crew chief, you just have to keep that in mind when you set the car up for the race."

WALTER: (ON WORKING WITH SUBSTITUTE DRIVER JUSTIN LABONTE.) "As is typical when you work with a driver for the first time, the biggest difficulty is communication. Usually, you experience that during a test session or over the off-season, not when you're actually setting the car up for a race that same day."

WALTER: (ON HIS FATHER, MARLIN.) "Unlike a lot of people in this sport, racing wasn't in my family history. My dad's a heating electrician in Albion, New York. He's been to a couple of races, mostly Watkins Glen because it's close. He's incredibly ambitious and motivated, so I guess that's what I inherited from him the most. He's been very supportive of my career choice and I couldn't ask for much more than that. I went to Lowe's and got him a Shop-Vac for Father's Day. I fully supported our sponsors!"

WALTER: (ON KYLE BUSCH'S KNACK FOR KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY.) "Kentucky is probably the stand-alone race that I'm the least worried about. There's no doubt that Kyle has this place figured out. He's been there twice and won twice -- from 43rd in the Busch race, no less. We'll do our best to provide him a car capable of winning, and I have no doubt that he'll try his best to win every time he's in the Lowe's Chevrolet."