Pepsi 300 - Kyle Busch Notes

KYLE BUSCH
NO. 5 LOWE'S/STA-GREEN CHEVROLET
NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY PREVIEW

LOWE'S TEAM MAKING POINTS PUSH: With a victory at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and a fourth-place finish Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch and his No. 5 Lowe's team have moved from 18th to sixth in the NASCAR Busch Series standings. Busch, who is running the full Busch Series schedule this season, is just 68 points back of third-place Clint Boyer.

BUSCH CELEBRATING THREE YEARS WITH HENDRICK: Kyle Busch drove his first-ever race for Hendrick Motorsports three years ago this week at Nashville Superspeedway. Just 17 at the time, Busch piloted a No. 87 Chevrolet in the April 11, 2003 ARCA Series event at the 1.33-mile concrete oval. The youngster turned in a dominating performance that day, leading 84 of 113 laps to beat out veteran Frank Kimmel (second) and current NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver Brent Sherman (third) for his first career ARCA victory.

SIGN OF THINGS TO COME: With an ARCA Series qualifying lap of 30.094 seconds and 159.460 mph in April 2003, Busch shattered Kimmel's then two-year-old Nashville track record. The Las Vegas native also led each Nashville practice that week and unofficially paced a 17-team open testing session at the track earlier that month.

NASHVILLE MARKED FIRST ARCA WIN: Busch's performance at Nashville in April 2003 marked the first ARCA Series victory in Hendrick Motorsports history.

THE KYLE BUSCH LINE: Since joining Hendrick Motorsports, Busch has accumulated victories in four different series. His body of work includes wins in the NEXTEL Cup Series (2), Busch Series (7), NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (3) and ARCA Series (3). He has finished second in the Busch Series championship standings (2004) and claimed Rookie of the Year honors in the Busch Series (2004) and NEXTEL Cup Series (2005).

YOUTH GONE WILD: Busch, who will turn 21 on May 2, holds NASCAR records for youngest NEXTEL Cup race winner (20 years, 4 months, 2 days); youngest NEXTEL Cup pole winner (19 years, 9 months, 24 days); youngest to win the NEXTEL Cup Rookie of the Year award (20); youngest to win the Busch Series Rookie of the Year award (19); and youngest driver to win a Craftsman Truck Series race (20 years, 18 days).

BUSCH AT NASHVILLE: Busch has two Busch Series start at Nashville Superspeedway, which both came during his 2004 rookie season. He qualified 12th and finished sixth in the April event, marking the third of 10 consecutive races in which Busch failed to finish outside the top-10. He held the points lead for three weeks during that stretch and never fell lower than second in the standings for the remainder of 2004. That June at Nashville, he started third and led the most laps, but finished 17th after running out of fuel.

A NEW CAR: Crew chief Chad Walter has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 356 for Saturday's Busch Series event at Nashville Superspeedway. The car will race for the first time this weekend.

RICK HENDRICK, OWNER OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/STA-GREEN CHEVROLET: (ON WHAT KYLE BUSCH HAS ACCOMPLISHED OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS.) "I don't think you'll ever see someone so young do what Kyle has managed to do. What I've been impressed with this year is that he's learned how to points race. Kyle has always been fast and aggressive. He's blown me away with his absolute car control. When he ran his first Busch Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway (May 2003) and finished second running against all the veterans, that just showed me he has an unbelievable gift. But since then, he's matured so much as driver. Not only can he run fast laps, he's learned how to run the whole race and see the big picture."

KYLE BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/STA-GREEN CHEVROLET: (HAVING WON YOUR FIRST RACE WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT NASHVILLE, IS IT A SPECIAL TRACK FOR YOU?) "Your first win at a track is always special. I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was a just a great day for me and my team. I have the trophy displayed at my house and I think of that day every time I look at it."

BUSCH: (YOU'VE CHOSEN TO GIVE UP YOUR NEXTEL CUP OFF-WEEKENDS TO RACE IN THE BUSCH SERIES. WHY?) "I just love to race. It may sound strange to people, but honestly, the more I'm in the car, the more relaxed I am. Aside from that, I feel like we have a great Lowe's team that can run for the championship. Ever since I finished runner-up to Martin Truex Jr. in 2004, I've felt like there's unfinished business."

BUSCH: (HOW HAS RUNNING BOTH SERIES AFFECTED YOUR SCHEDULE? HOW ARE YOU MANAGING IT?) "It's really been different. I have very little 'downtime,' but that's OK because I love to race. It's all about time management and I'm learning to do that as I go. Sometimes you have to weed out some things, or give up some things, but it's what I love to do. It's all worth it."

BUSCH: (WITH THE HECTIC SCHEDULE, HAS IT BEEN DIFFICULT TO JUGGLE YOUR AWAY-FROM-TRACK OBLIGATIONS?) "My sponsors have been really understanding about the schedule. They've all worked together with the people at Hendrick to help manage it. It's a lot of give-and-take, but it's been smooth so far."

BUSCH: (DOES IT SEEM LIKE IT'S BEEN THREE YEARS SINCE YOU JOINED HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS?) "It definitely doesn't feel like three years. Honestly, it's more like three days [LAUGHS]. It's been an honor to drive these cars for Mr. Hendrick and I've been lucky to have awesome teams behind me. Time flies when you're having fun. I guess that's a good way to put it."

BUSCH: (WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED IN THE PAST THREE YEARS?) "I've learned a lot, but I'd have to say patience is the biggest thing. I pick up something new every day and get faced with new situations every day. It's neat, though. I guess I've had to grow up pretty fast and deal with things most normal 20-year-olds don't, but I wouldn't change a thing."

BUSCH: (HOW IS THE KYLE BUSCH OF 2006 DIFFERENT THAN THE KYLE BUSCH OF 2003?) "I've learned a lot and grown up a lot. I'm still the same person, but I have more experience and knowledge than I did when I first signed with Hendrick. I feel like I'm seeing the big picture better and better all the time."

BUSCH: (LOOKING BACK OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS, DO YOU HAVE A HIGHLIGHT, OR HIGHLIGHTS, THAT STICK OUT IN YOUR MIND?) "I guess a couple stick out. My first Busch Series win at Richmond and my first Cup win at California were huge ones. I remember Mr. Hendrick's big hug when I won at California. When you get a hug from him, it's always cool."

BUSCH: (OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD CHANGE?) "I don't think I would change anything because I've learned from all my mistakes and experiences. My goal, knock on wood, is to only make a mistake once. Hopefully you learn, get better and move on."

BUSCH: (WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANOTHER THREE YEARS?) "I try not to look that farahead. Our immediate goals, of course, are winning the Busch Series and NEXTEL Cup championships this year. I'll just try to take things as they come and not look too far into the future. That can get you in trouble."

CHAD WALTER, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 5 LOWE'S/STA-GREEN CHEVROLET: (DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST IMPRESSION OF KYLE BUSCH AS A RACE-CAR DRIVER?) "The first race I watched him was three years ago in the ARCA car at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It was jaw-dropping what he did. It was ridiculous. I think he passed more than 20 cars in one lap or something like that. It was right then and there that I knew this kid was in a league of his own from a talent standpoint. I sat on the other side of the fence in 2004 when I worked at DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) and watched this kid come out of nowhere and challenge for a Busch Series championship as a rookie. You just sit there and look at his raw talent. He's fearless, he's fast and, having listened to him for two years now, he has a lot of insight into the chassis. There's nothing the kid can't do in a race car. It's just a matter of letting him grow a little bit. He's incredibly talented. I knew it three years ago and I'm glad to be back at Hendrick Motorsports to be a part of what Kyle is trying to do. It's only going to get better and it's pretty darn good right now."

WALTER: (ON BUSCH'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS.) "In today's day and age, with the competition level as close as it is, the talent pool as tight as it is, what Kyle is doing at his age is pretty darn close to unheard of. I don't know if you can compare Carl Lewis to Jesse Owens. There's just no way to do it. I don't know if you can compare Roger Clemens to Tom Seaver. But for this day and age, it's pretty darn hard to say that anybody is going to come close to what he's doing in all forms of NASCAR."

WALTER: (ON THE TEAM'S PERFORMANCE IN THE LAST TWO RACES.) "Right now, team morale is pretty high. Even though we had some rough finishes early on, the Lowe's team has been running really strong lately. We sat on a pole, led some laps, ran well on the speedways, and Mexico City was 'woulda, coulda, shoulda.' But we really didn't have anything to show for it. It was important that the team stayed confident and kept doing their thing. We knew the results would come and then it happened at Bristol."

WALTER: (ON BUILDING MOMENTUM.) "We were way down in points and now we're closer to where we belong. It's just crucial that week-in and week-out that we race our race. I always look at the points after the first race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. That's where you know where you're at and what you can and can't do. But these first races, you just have to show up and finish. That'll set you up for the rest of the season."