ROBOTS PAINT SCHEME FOR '5':
Coinciding with the March 11 launch of the movie "Robots" presented by 20th Century Fox, Kellogg's will trade in the No. 5 Chevrolet's traditional paint scheme for a nuts-and-bolts Robots-themed design for Sunday's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
MR. BUSCH TEACHES DRIVER'S ED:
Kyle Busch will jump into the driver's seat this week, but with a different agenda than he's used to. The 19-year-old NEXTEL Cup rookie will stop by Spring Valley High School in his hometown of Las Vegas to educate students on safe driving. Busch graduated one year early from nearby Durango High in 2002.
HOMETOWN APPEARANCE:
Busch will meet fans and sign autographs Thursday, March 10 from 4-6 p.m. PT at Nextel Central (Monorail Station), located at 3300 Paradise Road in Las Vegas.
TWICE IS NICE FOR BUSCH:
Busch will pull double duty at LVMS this weekend by entering Saturday's Busch Series event in the No. 5 Lowe's-sponsored Chevrolet of Hendrick Motorsports.
SIGN AND DRIVE:
Prior to the NEXTEL Cup event, Busch will meet fans and sign autographs at 9 a.m. PT on Sunday, March 13 at the Kellogg's Racing souvenir rig, located outside Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
BUSCH BECOMES YOUNGEST:
Busch became the youngest pole winner in NEXTEL Cup history Feb. 27 at California Speedway, setting a track record of 28.248 seconds (188.245 mph) in the process. He replaced Donald Thomas, who was 20 when he won the pole position at Lakewood (Ga.) Speedway on Nov. 16, 1952.
KYLE BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/ROBOTS CHEVROLETS:
(YOU'RE A LAS VEGAS NATIVE. IS THERE ADDED PRESSURE WHEN YOU COME HOME TO COMPETE?) "Because I grew up here, it's always going to be great to race in Las Vegas. I cut my teeth at the 'Bullring' not too long ago and have made my way up to the big speedway. It's going to be a lot of fun. Last week in California, and even in Daytona, I have been trying to get the feel for the Cup cars and gain the experience that I need to get the Kellogg's cars running up front. If there is just a slight chance that I can keep up with the Jeff Gordons and Jimmie Johnsons, I'll be very happy."
BUSCH:
(YOU FINISHED 41ST IN YOUR FIRST CUP START AT LAS VEGAS. HOW WILL THIS WEEKEND BE DIFFERENT?) "We completed only 11 laps in last year's Cup race at Vegas. That was kind of a bummer, but I've had strong runs in the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series so my confidence is there. As a driver you always look forward to running well in front of your hometown crowd so I'm hoping to get the job done this weekend."
BUSCH:
(ON WINNING HIS FIRST NEXTEL CUP POLE POSITION.) "My crew chief, Alan (Gustafson), and I are just beginning to get our chemistry going. It usually takes a while for a team to jell, but we've done that pretty fast. Although we're sure to have our bumps in the road, I think things can only get better. It's how you recover from those bumps that counts."
BUSCH:
(ARE THE CARS TOO LOOSE UNDER THIS NEW RULES PACKAGE?) "I think it's a big factor now for a lot of people. I can drive a loose race car, but last year I had a few problems where I was just riding around and all of a sudden the car would snap out from under me. To avoid that this year we're just working on getting the cars comfortable and getting some grip back."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/ROBOTS CHEVROLETS:
(ON TESTING LAS VEGAS.) "The weather was a factor in the Las Vegas test. When we go back this weekend it's bound to be warmer. But you can't control the weather and just have to perform based on the hand you've been dealt. Weather can't be an excuse, because we learned a lot about what the car does when we make certain changes. We have a fundamental base to go off of."
GUSTAFSON:
(KYLE IS ALSO RUNNING THE BUSCH SERIES RACE. WILL THAT HELP THE CUP TEAM?) "I think Kyle knows he can go out and win any given Busch race. His expectations of his performance in that car are extremely high. The extra track time for him will help by giving us an indicator of where the track will go, how things will change and what adjustments we might need to make."
GUSTAFSON:
(DO YOU HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE TIRE WEAR IN VEGAS?) "I'm very concerned. When we tested out there, the tires were falling off like they do in Darlington (S.C.). As a team, we'll concern ourselves with controlling that factor, as well as watching the ways other things shake out during the race. I think we will most likely take tires whenever we can. The only thing I see changing the tire situation would be if the track changes once rubber is put down on it. Then the likelihood of having major tire wear will go down."
Raybestos Rookie Kyle Busch will be making his ninth career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start and second at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this Sunday. Busch made his Cup series debut one year ago at the 1.5-mile Nevada speedway where he started 18th but completed only 11 laps before he was sidelined by an accident, leaving him 41st at the finish.
KYLE BUSCH, No. 5 KELLOGG’S CHEVROLET:
HOW SPECIAL WILL IT BE TO RACE IN YOUR HOMETOWN? “It’s kind of like the Daytona 500, you just take it as any other race. Going back to Vegas is going to be fun. We’ve got a bunch of friends out there and stuff like that. We’re going to be able to go out there and have a good time and maybe cook out one night and maybe just hang out. But as far as going back there to race, it’s a racetrack that we tested at so we tried to get some good knowledge of it and tried to work on the race package and a qualifying package because you don’t have the impound rules at Las Vegas. It’s going to be fun. We’re looking forward to going out there and hopefully doing the best of our ability that we can.”
WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD WEEKEND FOR YOU AT LAS VEGAS? “I’d like to qualify somewhere in the top-20 and hopefully finish somewhere in the top-15 and just have a good solid day. For me, I wouldn’t say that we’re going to go out there and set the world on fire right away. We just have to work on our Ps and Qs and start crossing out Ts and working on dotting our Is. It’s going to be a big deal on trying to get comfortable with the car and get comfortable with the long races and working with the NEXTEL Cup Series veterans.”
THE TRACK AT LAS VEGAS IS GETTING OLDER, WHICH USUALLY MEANS A SECOND AND THIRD GROOVE RACING GROOVE. HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT IN TESTING? “At Vegas it wasn’t so much in testing but it will definitely be more so on the race weekend. When it was new, everybody ran the bottom pretty much, especially through three and four. The older that it has gotten, one and two have really widened out pretty wide. There was a second groove; a lot of people were running higher than what I thought they would be. With the asphalt getting older at Las Vegas, it’s getting a little bit slicker and the times are falling off, kind of like Rockingham or something like that, especially with the softer tires even more so now. It’s just about how you can get your car to drive over the long run.”
YOU HAVE EXCELLED ON THE 1.5-MILE HIGH DOWNFORCE TRACKS IN THE BUSCH SERIES. DO YOU HAVE A BIG COMFORT ZONE WHEN YOU GO BACK TO A PLACE LIKE THAT? “It would be a comfort zone going back to those places soon as I get some experience and as soon as I start doing well at them. It’s going to be a little bit different going back there and trying to do well. We’re going to run the Busch Series race there as well so I feel comfortable going back and running that race. Hopefully the team and the guys will give me a good piece. We ran like third, fourth, fifth all day there last year and we were about ready to win the race and we got black flagged. Going back there with the Cup race is all about getting seat time and learning.”
