Pop Secret 500 - Kyle Busch Notes

BUSCH RUNNING '84' AT CALIFORNIA: Driving the No. 84 CARQUEST Chevrolet, Kyle Busch will attempt to qualify for his third career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race Friday at California Speedway. Currently second in the NASCAR Busch Series standings with five wins and four pole positions, the 19-year-old has already made Cup starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway this season.

'84' PREPS AT KENTUCKY: Busch and CARQUEST Racing spent Aug. 18-19 testing a brand new Monte Carlo -- Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 320 -- at Kentucky Speedway. The car, which has produced excellent numbers in wind tunnel simulations, will be the team's primary option at California Speedway this weekend.

WEATHER SIDELINES MICHIGAN EFFORT: Two weeks ago, the No. 84 CARQUEST Racing team traveled to Michigan International Speedway in hopes of qualifying for the Aug. 22 NEXTEL Cup event. Unfortunately, the Aug. 20 qualifying session was rained out, which left Busch without a spot in the field.

COMING UP FOR BUSCH: Busch is currently slated to enter one additional NEXTEL Cup event in 2004 -- at Kansas Speedway in October.

KYLE BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 84 CARQUEST CHEVROLETS: (ON THE CAR HE'LL BE DRIVING AT CALIFORNIA.) "We're taking the same car that we had at Michigan two weeks ago. It's blown some awesome wind tunnel numbers and tested really well at Kentucky, so it's great on paper. Hopefully the California weather holds up so we can put the CARQUEST Chevrolet in the show."

BUSCH: (ON CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY.) "California Speedway is a fun track, very much like Michigan. I always look forward to going there because, being so close to Las Vegas, I've got plenty of family and friends that can make the trip. It's kind of like a homecoming."

BUSCH: (YOU HAVE TWO WINS AND A THIRD-PLACE FINISH IN YOUR LAST THREE BUSCH SERIES RACES. CAN YOU CARRY THAT MOMENTUM FROM THE BUSCH SERIES INTO THE NEXTEL CUP EFFORT?) "You certainly can take the momentum and put yourself in the mindset that you can go to California and have a good shot at running well. We're probably going to have similar setups in both cars, so they should mirror each other somewhat. The goals are a little bit different. On the Busch side, we're second in points and pushing toward that top spot. In the Cup Series, it's more about getting some laps and gaining experience at a different level."