Sam's Town 300 - Kyle Busch Notes

KYLE BUSCH
NO. 5 LOWE’S / SPECTRACIDE CHEVROLET
LAS VEGAS PREVIEW

Kyle Busch returns to his home track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend for the third time in his NASCAR Busch Series career. Busch grew up racing at the short track known as “The Bullring,” located just across from the speedway.

In his Legends car career, Busch compiled more than 65 wins at various tracks and won two track championships at “The Bullring,” where he also posted 10 Late Model wins in 15 starts in 2001.

In his most recent race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Busch posted a runner-up finish in the Nextel Cup Series race last March.

Q&A WITH DRIVER KYLE BUSCH:

YOU LEFT FOR VEGAS RIGHT AFTER YOU GOT BACK FROM MEXICO. WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR WEEK IN VEGAS? “Yes, I got off the plane from Mexico and three hours later I was on a flight to Vegas. Kurt (Kyle Busch’s older brother and 2004 Nextel Cup Champion) and I had a guy bring our four-wheelers out here, and we’re just going to get out on the sand dunes and have some fun with them for the next couple of days.

“He and I both love anything with a motor on it, and we enjoy going fast and doing jumps and all that, so the four-wheelers are perfect for us. There’s not many sand dunes in North Carolina, so we decided to make the most of this trip and take a couple of days off to just cut up and have some fun together.

“I don’t have a lot on my schedule until Thursday, then we’re on track all day Friday and then I’m going to sign autographs over at the NASCAR Café on Friday evening. Then, it’s the Busch race on Saturday and the Cup race on Sunday. After that, I’m looking forward to getting home for a couple of days. I haven’t seen much of my house in the past few weeks, so it will be good to sleep in my own bed.”

YOU TESTED AT VEGAS IN BOTH YOUR CUP AND BUSCH CARS. HOW DID THOSE TESTS TURN OUT? “In the beginning of the Cup test, we were pretty mediocre. We kept after it and kept trying different things and eventually we got it pretty good by the end of the test.

“On the Busch side, I’d say we were a top-10 car. We’ve got some more work to do, but we’re not far off from where we need to be.

“The main thing I remembered from last year is that you’ve got to keep your car on the white line (on the inside of the track surface). If you don’t, your lap times are really going to suffer.”

WHEN A DRIVER TRIES A DIFFERENT DRIVING LINE AROUND A TRACK, HOW CAN HE TELL IF A NEW LINE IS HELPING HIS SPEEDS? “Let’s say your car is tight. When a driver goes searching for a different driving line, what he’s really trying to do is find a line where he doesn’t have to turn the wheel as much. When you’re turning the wheel less, it usually helps you save your tires.

Most of the time, when the car is driving more comfortably and you’re not having to ‘saw’ on the wheel, your lap times are going to improve. So, I can’t tell that I’m a 10th of a second faster from one lap to the next, but I can tell if the car’s turning better, and chances are the lap times are better as a result.”

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO COME HOME TO VEGAS? “Anytime you get a chance to go home, it’s a good thing. The hardest part is coming up with enough tickets and credentials to take care of all the friends that want to come to the race, but that’s a good problem.

“The only other thing that’s a problem is that there never seems to be enough time to catch up with all the friends you want to spend time with. You just try and see as many of them as you can in the limited time you have, and hope the others understand.”

TEAM NO. 5’S HISTORY AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: Team No. 5 has started in the top-10 in all four Las Vegas Motor Speedway Busch Series events in which the team has competed, but has yet to score a top-10 finish here.

In 2002, Ricky Hendrick started ninth, but an accident on lap 118 ended his day. Hendrick suffered a shoulder injury in the crash that sidelined him for the next six races.

In 2003, Brian Vickers started sixth and finished in 13th position.

Kyle Busch has driven the No. 5 Lowe’s Chevrolet at Vegas for the past two seasons. In 2004, Busch was running in the top-five before being penalized for allegedly jumping a restart. Busch recovered to finish 15th.

Last year, Busch started third, but multiple pit stops to adjust the car’s handling resulted in Busch using up his allotment of new tires. In the race’s final laps, Busch pitted under caution for chassis adjustments, then drivers on fresher tires dropped him back to 11th position at the finish.

CHASSIS INFORMATION- Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 318- This chassis was built at Hendrick Motorsports in 2004. Kyle Busch drove this car to a victory at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last May. Adrian Fernandez drove this chassis to a 28th-place finish at California Speedway in September, 2005. Most recently, this chassis was driven by Fernandez at Texas Motor Speedway last November, where a crash left him with a 43rd-place finish.

POINTS STANDING: Rick Hendrick, owner of the No. 5 Lowe’s / Spectracide entry, is 14th in the NASCAR Busch Series owners’ points standings after the fourth event of the 35-race season. RADICAL ROOKIE:

In 2004, Kyle Busch had one of the most successful rookie seasons in NASCAR history, breaking or tying no fewer than eight NASCAR Busch Series rookie records, including:
Highest points finish-(Second)- held by Kyle Busch, 2004
Most top-10 finishes- (22)- held by Kyle Busch, 2004
Most pole positions- (Five)- held by Kyle Busch, 2004
Most championship points- (4,943) held by Kyle Busch, 2004
Most laps led- (1,108) - held by Kyle Busch, 2004
Most races led- (21)- held by Kyle Busch, 2004
Most wins- (Five)- TIE between Greg Biffle, 2001, and Kyle Busch, 2004
Most top-five finishes (16)- TIE between Greg Biffle, 2001, and Kyle Busch, 2004

In 2004, Busch was the top rookie finisher in 25 of 34 races

SPONSOR: The No. 5 Team Lowe’s Racing Chevy will carry the Spectracide logo on its quarter panels this weekend. Spectracide is a product of Spectrum Brands (formerly Rayovac Corporation), a global consumer products company and a leading supplier of batteries, lawn and garden care products, specialty pet supplies, shaving, grooming and personal care products, household insecticides and portable lighting.

In the ever-changing world of pest control technology, their powerful lines of lawn, garden and pest control products include Spectracide®, Spectracide® Triazicide®, Spectracide Terminate®, Garden Safe®, and No-Pest®.

Spectrum’s Spectracide and Sta-Green brands join Hitachi Power Tools, Shop-Vac, Pella Windows and Doors and Kobalt Tools as associate sponsors on the No. 5 for 2006.