Carquest Auto Parts 300 - Kurt Busch Notes

Kurt Busch
Penske Truck Rental Dodge Charger Race Facts
NASCAR Busch Series - Lowe’s Motor Speedway

Kurt Busch will again be pulling “double-duty” this weekend as he and his Matt Gimbel-led Penske Truck Rental team will be debuting a brand new car in Saturday’s CARQUEST Auto Parts 300.

“It’s our brand-new PBC-015 chassis and we’ve been burning the midnight oil in getting it ready for this weekend, explained Gimbel, the 34-year-old Northhampton, Pa., native and Temple University engineering graduate who is overseeing the Busch Series programs for all three Penske drivers (Busch, Ryan Newman and Sam Hornish) this season. “We had a great test at Lowe’s last week, but unfortunately we crashed another car in the process.

“I love racing with Kurt and I really think he took it pretty hard when he got loose and the car got away from him,” continued Gimbel, who has led Busch to an incredible record of two wins, six top-five finishes and eight top-10s in his nine career NBS starts. “The great thing about it is that we never intended on racing the car he crashed (PBC-006). It was probably just going to be our backup all along. The big plan was to roll out the new ’15 car’ there this weekend and we’re putting as much advance work into it as possible. We were really strong last May in this race and finished second. We’re coming back to win there on Saturday night and if I was a betting man, I’d certainly have my money on Kurt Busch.”

Busch’s CARQUEST Auto Parts 300/Coca-Cola 600 schedule gets under way on Thursday with NBS practice set for 1:00 p.m. till 2:00 p.m. NASCAR NEXTEL Cup practice is on tap from 3:00 p.m. till 4:30 p.m. The final NBS practice is set from 6:00 p.m. till 7:00 p.m. The 7:10 p.m. single round of Cup qualifying will allocate all 43 starting spots for Sunday’s Coke 600. There is no scheduled action for NBS or Cup cars on Friday. Saturday’s action-packed schedule includes Cup practice from 3:00 p.m. till 3:50 p.m. and NBS qualifying at 4:05 p.m. The Cup cars get their final practice between 6:20 p.m. and 7:20 p.m. on Saturday, just prior to the 8:00 p.m. start of the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 (200 laps/300 miles) NBS race. Live coverage of the race will be provided by ESPN2 (TV) and PRN Radio beginning at 7:30 p.m. Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (400 laps/600 miles) has a 5:40 p.m. EDT start and features live coverage by FOX-TV and PRN Radio beginning at 5:00 p.m. EDT

Notes of interest:

--Kurt’s foray into NBS racing has been nothing short of spectacular. Entering Saturday’s CARQUEST 300, Kurt has raced in nine races. He won in his series debut at Texas in April 2006 and also came home the winner in an exciting dual with Robby Gordon on the Watkins Glen road course last August. His overall record in NBS competition sports the two wins, six top-five finishes and eight top-10s in those nine events. He has led laps in eight of the races and claimed the pole position for the Watkins Glen race last year. He has competed in two races this season, finishing fourth in the March race at Las Vegas and coming home eighth in the April Texas Motor Speedway event.

--Kurt will be the special featured “In-Race Reporter” during ESPN’s coverage of Saturday night’s CARQUEST 300 NBS race, providing viewers exciting in-depth behind-the-wheel coverage of the action. The ESPN-TV crew will talk live with Kurt before the race and during the cautions and will be interviewing crew chief Matt Gimbel throughout the 200-lap, 300-mile battle.