KURT BUSCH HOPING HE CAN DELIVER VICTORY IN DAYTONA 500
Twice A Runner-up, Win Would Be “Incredible Achievement” To Present Owner, Team & Sponsor

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 13, 2007) – With three top-five finishes in only six career Daytona 500 starts, including runner-ups in 2003 and 2005, Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch is fully focused on winning this year’s edition of the “Great American Race.”

“It would be an incredible achievement and a monumental win, that’s for sure,” said Busch, the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Champion, who has a pair of third-place finishes in his two most recent races at Daytona International Speedway (finished third in last July’s Pepsi 400 and third in last Saturday night’s Bud Shootout.) “There would be no better way to kick off the 2007 season than to bring home a win in our biggest race to Roger (Penske, team owner), our Penske Team, Miller Lite and all our other great sponsors.

“Roger and his stock car teams have yet to make it into Victory Lane in the Daytona 500 and it’s been 19 years since Bobby Allison put the Miller car into the Daytona Winner’s Circle,” said the 28-year-old Las Vegas native. “With that considered, I probably don’t have to say how hard my Roy McCauley-led team will be trying to win and how much it would mean if we can pull it off.”

Entering the 2007 season, 33 Penske-backed entries have competed in 22 editions of the Daytona 500 dating back to 1972 (Rusty Wallace in 15 races, Ryan Newman in five races, Jeremy Mayfield in four races, Bobby Allison in two races, Dave Marcis in two races – and one race each for Gary Bettenhausen, Mark Donohue, Brendan Gaughan, Travis Kvapil and Busch’s debut last year). Allison’s runner-up finish in the 1975 edition rates as the best finish to date. In that race, held on Feb. 16, 1975, Allison drove the Penske-owned and Coca-Cola-sponsored No. 16 AMC Matador from a third-place start to the runner-up finish behind the late Benny Parsons, who was behind the wheel of the L.G. DeWitt-owned Chevrolet.

Since Penske Racing returned to NASCAR racing in 1991 after a decade break from the sport, Wallace’s third-place finish in the 2001 edition of the Daytona 500 and Newman’s third last year rate as the team’s best marks to date.

Interesting enough, it was Allison who presented Miller Brewing Company with its lone Daytona 500 winning sponsor’s trophy, when he took the checkered flag in the race on Feb. 14, 1988. Allison started his Miller High Life-sponsored and Stavola Brothers-owned Buick in the third spot and led 70 laps en route to his third career Daytona 500 win. In one of the most dramatic finishes in the sport’s history, Allison was able to hold off his 26-year-old son, Davey, on the final lap to emerge with a two-car-length victory.

“We finished second to Michael Waltrip back in 2003 and we were right there on winner Jeff Gordon’s rear bumper in 2005 at Daytona,” offered Busch. “We’ve been so close before and just hope to be back up there in a position to win again this time around in our Miller Lite Dodge.”

After competing in Fords during his entire NASCAR NEXTEL Cup career until last season, Busch is aware of what a Daytona 500 victory would mean to his manufacturer, Dodge.

“Dodge has won only once in the Daytona 500 in the last 21 years and it’d really be special to get them another big win,” said Busch. “We had a good pre-season test at Daytona with our new Dodge Charger. We started at the rear in the Bud Shootout last Saturday night and came to the front. With 10 laps to go, we got shuffled way back in the pack and still came back up there to finish third. I think I learn something new every time I get back out there in a race at Daytona and Talladega.

“We won’t be racing that gold car (special color scheme recognizing sponsor Miller Lite’s fourth gold award in the American-Style Light Lager category at the World Beer Cup) that we raced in the Shootout,” said Busch. “Instead, we’re racing a car that I actually thought was stronger and better-handling during the test. We didn’t all flip out yesterday (Sunday) when we were only 37th-fastest in qualifying, because we’re confident we have a car that’ll be fast in the long runs and not just fast for a single lap.

Busch and his Roy McCauley-led team will be racing their PRS-068 Miller Lite Dodge here in Thursday’s Gatorade Duel. The blue No. 2 Dodge Charger will start 18th on the grid in the second 150-mile, 60-lap qualifying race on this 2.5-mile track.

“The 68 car really dates all the way back to the 2003 season,” McCauley said. “It was built for Rusty, be we never raced it. At that time, we had other cars like the PRS-066 and the old ’58 car’ that were Rusty’s big speedway cars. So, you might say that this car has been mothballed for a few years and we brought it back out for its debut run four seasons later. It’s seen quite a bit of transition. We’ve had a Dodge Intrepid body on it, the old Dodge Charger body on it and now this new Dodge Charger body on it.”

Busch’s overall Daytona career record boasts five top-five finishes in 12 races. He started 34th and finished second in his only Daytona NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. He also has runner-up finishes in two of his three Daytona career IROC races. Busch’s overall career restrictor-plate race record sports 10 top-five finishes and 14 top-10 finishes in 24 races.

Only David Gilliland and Robert Yates Racing teammate Ricky Rudd, who claimed the front row starting spots for the Daytona 500 here in Sunday’s qualifying session, have their starting positions set. The remainder of the field will be determined in Thursday’s twin Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying races, which begin at 2:10 p.m. (live broadcasts by SPEED-TV and MRN Radio) The 49th Annual Daytona 500 (500 miles/200 laps) has a scheduled 3:15 p.m. EST starting time on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. The 2007 NASCAR season-opening race will feature live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio beginning at 2:00 p.m. EST.

Notes of interest:

--The “Challenge” update – no word yet out of St. Louis regarding Miller Lite’s challenge to Budweiser. The Milwaukee-based brewer put naming rights to Miller Park on the line for a weekend series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals in the “Challenge” issued last Friday morning. The “Challenge,” introduced by Miller Lite last season, pits the #2 Miller Lite car against the #8 Budweiser car, with the season-long NASCAR points leader winning the “wager” for his sponsor. “It’d be cool if they would take Miller up on it,” said Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch. “It would be a fun little contest fans could talk about the entire season. Not only that, it would impact the sports media who do not cover auto racing.”

--Nothing but rave reviews on Kurt’s special gold car he raced in the Bud Shootout – “It was quite amazing just how that gold car got everyone so stoked,” Kurt said on Monday as he reflected on last weekend’s Daytona action from his new home back in North Carolina. “Everyone kept saying how great the gold No. 2 car looked under the lights and on TV. I can only say that it certainly drove great because, the truth is; I’ve yet to see the tape of the race. I plan on watching it before we head back down to Daytona on Wednesday morning. With all the positive feedback we’ve gotten, I’ll bet we run the gold color scheme again before the season is through.”

--Speaking of that gold car(special color scheme recognizing sponsor Miller Lite’s fourth gold award in the American-Style Light Lager category at the World Beer Cup), the main man responsible for the attractive paint job didn’t care much for the color at first. “When we got it out of the paint shop and out into the prep area, I really didn’t like it,” said Cesar Bustos, the “paint guru” at the Penske Racing headquarters in Mooresville, N.C. “I thought it had too much of a green tint to it. My chief helper on the car, Jesse Simpson, talked me into getting the car outside the shop to get a second look at it. He’s probably the guy most responsible for us keeping that shade of gold. We had a big Shootout party over at my house Saturday night and we all agreed that it certainly was a cool looking car on TV. Some of the older guys said they even got teary-eyed when they saw it. Gary Brooks, our shop foreman, said when he saw it on TV, it reminded him so much of watching Bobby Allison’s gold Miller High Life car that he won the 1988 Daytona 500 with. All in all, I’d have to say that it’s my proudest achievement so far,” concluded Bustos, a 40-year-old Salinas, Calif., native.

--Kurt’s car for the 500 is a “brand new” old car – how’s that? The team will be racing their PRS-068 Miller Lite Dodge here in Thursday’s Gatorade Duel. The blue No. 2 Dodge Charger will start 18th on the grid in the second 150-mile, 60-lap qualifying race on this 2.5-mile track. “The 68 car really dates all the way back to the 2003 season,” Roy explained. “It was built for Rusty, be we never raced it. At that time, we had other cars like the PRS-066 and the old ’58 car’ that were Rusty’s big speedway cars. So, you might say that this car has been mothballed for a few years and we brought it back out for its debut run four seasons later. It’s seen quite a bit of transition. We’ve had a Dodge Intrepid body on it, the old Dodge Charger body on it and now this new Dodge Charger body on it.”

--“Just like I said last week going into the Bud Shootout, I don’t know why, but Kurt doesn’t get the recognition he deserves as being among the best restrictor-plate drivers out there,” Roy said. “If he didn’t get your attention here at Daytona last Saturday night, I don’t know what it will take to get it. He was up front with 10 laps to go and got shuffled all the way back to 14th. Instead of hitting the panic button, he just calmly asked us how many laps remained and told me to count down the laps for him. Before you knew it, he was right back up there. I’m sure things will change when he gets that first plate win under his belt – and it’s coming soon, no doubt about that.” Stats galore back up Roy’s claim. Kurt was fourth overall in points earned in restrictor-plate racing in 2006. As a matter of fact, K.B. is fourth overall over the past five years in that same category. He has earned more plate-racing points during that period than Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick or Mark Martin. Only Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Jarrett have earned more points in the last five years on the Daytona and Talladega tracks.

--Kurt and Eva get a “bonus” at the Super Bowl -- sitting by actor Christian Slater. Kurt explains his recent trip to the Super Bowl in Miami:

“We had some appearances scheduled with Miller Lite in Las Vegas to pump up the Super Bowl. Not knowing my Bears would make the Super Bowl. I was committed to all those appearances, so Eva and I jumped on a plane afterward and headed to Miami from Las Vegas for the Super Bowl. We had a great time. We flew in Sunday morning, and we took a little nap before a Miller appearance I had to do before the game. We stopped by a horse track in Miami for the appearance. We watched one of the horse races, and the No. 2 horse won it. You gotta love that.

“We went over to the stadium and picked up some Super Bowl swag and went to find our seats in the stadium. We were sitting underneath an awning about five rows from the suite level and stayed bone dry. Eva and I toughed it out. We had it made, not exactly in the shade, but we were dry. We stayed for the whole game. The opening kickoff was great, and all the excitement around the Bears was great.

“There was actually a bonus involved. Eva sat next to Christian Slater. We were chit-chatting back and forth about football. Even though Christian had a Peyton Manning jersey on and I had my Bears gear on, we hit it off well. It was good to hang out with an actor like him and see how cool he is and how laid back he is.”

--“Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.” -- George S. Patton