BUSCH ON 'LIFE' COVER:
NEXTEL Cup rookie Kyle Busch is featured with his brother on the cover of the April 15 LIFE magazine. One of the publishing world's most iconic brands, LIFE was first circulated as a weekly in 1936. It is now issued every Friday and distributed in more than 70 of the nation's leading newspapers, reaching 12 million readers. A NASCAR driver has never been on the cover.
HENDRICK AT TEXAS:
Hendrick Motorsports drivers have been successful in Cup Series competition at Texas Motor Speedway since the track opened in 1997. Labonte leads all drivers in top-10 finishes (5), while Jeff Gordon has the most top-fives (4) and Jimmie Johnson owns the best average result (7.67).
BUSCH ON 'TODAY':
Busch, driver of the NEXTEL Cup No. 5 Chevrolets, will be featured this week on the Today Show. The segment, which will air Friday, April 15 on NBC, was filmed at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway last weekend. Check local listings.
BUSCH & VICKERS PRESENT AT CMT AWARDS:
Busch and Vickers appeared at Monday night's Country Music Television Awards in Nashville, Tenn. The pair presented Toby Keith with "Hottest Video of the Year" honors for the hit "Whiskey Girl."
TEXAS TWO-STEP FOR BUSCH:
Busch will pull double duty at Texas, entering Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series event in the No. 57 Chevrolet of Hendrick Motorsports. The youngster will make two additional appearances in the No. 57 Chevy -- June 4 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Oct. 14 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
CALIFORNIA CAR FOR BUSCH:
Busch will pilot Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 251 at Texas -- the same car he drove to the pole position at California Speedway in February. The 19-year-old rookie broke the track qualifying record to become the youngest pole-sitter in Cup Series history.
TEAMMATES HIT THE ROAD COURSE:
Following Sunday's NEXTEL Cup event at Texas, Vickers and Busch will fly directly to Phoenix, where the teammates will take part in Bob Bondurant's Road Racing School. The three-day session will help prepare the duo for the upcoming road-course events at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
KELLOGG'S & ALBERTSON'S SUPPORT MARROW PROGRAM:
For every Kellogg product purchased in April at a Texas-based Albertson's grocery store, Kellogg's and Albertson's have offered to donate 10 cents to the Hendrick Marrow Program ($15,000 maximum) and double the contribution if a Hendrick Motorsports driver wins during the month. Thanks to Jeff's Gordon's victory at Martinsville on Sunday, the pledge has been bumped to $30,000.
KYLE BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/DELPHI CHEVROLETS:
(ON GOING TO TEXAS.) "Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) really likes Texas and I liked Texas in the Busch Series car. I didn't have a good Cup experience last year, but this time around we're ready it. I'm pretty happy to get back to the 1.5-mile tracks."
BUSCH:
(ON RACING AT SHORT TRACKS THE PAST TWO WEEKS.) "Our short-track performances the past two races weren't where we needed to be. We had a solid run going at Martinsville and just unfortunately couldn't close the deal because of an overheating problem. We took a hit in the points, but it's a long season. Over the next few weeks we're going to work on consistency and just better finishes."
BUSCH:
(ON RUNNING THE CUP SERIES AND BUSCH SERIES AT TEXAS.) "I've was fortunate to have success in the Busch Series at Texas last year (pole position, finished second) so I'm glad to be running on Saturday. It will help me to log some extra track time and it should help Alan and I figure out how the track will change. Maybe it will help us out on Sunday."
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/DELPHI CHEVROLETS:
(AFTER TWO WEEKS OF SHORT TRACKS, ARE YOU HAPPY TO BE HEADED FOR TEXAS?) "I love Texas. We had the potential to be contenders at both Martinsville and Bristol, but just didn't get the results we wanted. We hope to have the same kind of showing at Texas we had in California, Vegas and Atlanta. My main goal this weekend is to perform to our potential, like we're capable of. This team has a lot of talent and we've worked really hard to build good race cars for Kyle. As a crew chief, I'm anxious to get there."
GUSTAFSON:
(ON THE TEXAS-TO-PHOENIX LEG OF THE NEXTEL CUP SCHEDULE.) "The way the schedule has us heading to Phoenix right after Texas, we thought it would be easier on the team and truck drivers to stay out in Texas and switch over the cars and trucks in Texas before heading to Phoenix. We will have trucks arriving in Texas on Sunday night, then we'll work all day Monday to switch out the cars before heading to Phoenix that night. This has been a busy, busy week in the shop preparing two sets of race cars."
