KURT BUSCH LOOKING TO ADD TO ROAD COURSE RESUME AT INFINEON
Miller Lite Dodge Driver Hoping Results Match Competitiveness In 2007 Races

SONOMA, Calif. (June 19, 2007) – Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch won poles at both road course races during the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season. He led more laps than any other driver and was in contention to win both races. Yet the record book shows only a fifth-place finish at Infineon Raceway and a 19th at Watkins Glen International as the results for his efforts.

“It was definitely the same old story it seems our team has faced so many times in that the results just did not match our competitiveness,” said Busch, the 2004 series champ who has now driven Penske Racing-owned Dodges in 51 races. “We’re determined to get that turned around and there’s no better place to do that than this weekend’s return to road course racing.”

This weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway will mark the debut for the new Car of Tomorrow models on a road course. Busch and his Miller Lite Dodge Avenger team feel that they are plenty prepared.

“We’ve been looking forward to getting back to the road courses for a long time now,” said Busch, who won the pole and finished fifth in last year’s visit to the winding road course located at the southern tip of the Sonoma County wine country. “With the great test we had at VIR (Virginia International Raceway, the 3.27-mile road course located 12 miles east of Danville, Va.) a few weeks back (tested on June 6), we’re unbelievably excited about getting out to Sonoma (Infineon) and see how we stack up this time around.”

“I think that the braking is much better with this car (COT) than what we had last year and that’s a big plus, I feel,” said Busch, currently 16th in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points, 144 points out of Chase eligibility. ‘With this car, there is no sense of the rear end lifting when you get into the corners. You can really dive in there and the car seems to stick really well.

“As big as the new car is, getting into the turn is one thing and getting through and out of it is another,” added Busch. “It can really be a handful from the apex of the turn and out. But, I really like the feel of this car. In the road course races last season, it seemed like we were seeing the brakes go soft during the final stages of the races and that led me to believe that we might be facing some potential brake issues during the stretch run after the final pit stops had been made.

“My confidence level with the brakes we had last year maybe wasn’t where it should have been. What affect that may have had on our lap times and how we charged the course, I guess we’ll never know that, the way that things turned out. From what I’ve seen with the package we’re running on this new COT, I’m confident that we’ll be fine on that end.

“As strong as we were on the road courses last season, we’re thinking we have the opportunity to get out there and have an even stronger Miller Lite Dodge this time around,” said Busch. “It was a good feeling to finally get acknowledged for our road racing efforts last year. Because we’ve yet to win a Cup race on the road courses, I doubt that we’re looked at as a favorite going into this weekend’s race at Sonoma (Infineon). But at the same time, I don’t think it would be too big of a shock if we do really well out there.”

* * *

This weekend’s schedule at Infineon Raceway calls for practice on Friday from 12:00 noon until 1:30 p.m. A single round of qualifying at 4:05 p.m. will determine Sunday’s 43-car stating field. Saturday’s action includes practice sessions at 9:00 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (350 kilometers/110 laps/218.9 miles) has a 2:00 p.m. PDT (5:00 p.m. EDT) starting time and features live coverage by TNT-TV and PRN Radio.

* * *

Notes of interest:

--Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch captured both road course pole positions during the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season. He ran the fast lap of 93.055 mph (76.987seconds) in winning the pole at Infineon Raceway last June and continued his pole-winning ways at Watkins Glen International last August when he took the top starting spot with a speed of 122.966 mph (71.727 seconds).

--Kurt led more laps than any other driver in road course competition during the 2006 season, leading three times for 67 of the total 200 laps (33.5%). He led one time for 29 laps in the 6/25/06 Infineon race, where he finished fifth. He led two times for 38 laps (led most laps) in the 8/13/06 Watkins Glen race, where he finished 19th. Jeff Gordon was second in road course laps led last season, leading three times for 45 laps.

--“It was definitely the same old story it seems our team has faced so many times in that the results just did not match our competitiveness,” Kurt said. “Jeff Gordon was probably the class of the field at Sonoma (Infineon Raceway) last year, but we probably had a car that could have finished second. We led some laps and then got behind on our pit sequence. I thought we could run just as good as our teammate (Ryan Newman) and he finished second. They all came out ahead of us on the pit sequence (after a 15.2-second final pit stop) and right there at the end, it was all about track position.”

--“The race at Watkins Glen last year was certainly another win that got away,” Kurt said. “We won the pole and just set sail. We led the most laps and had the field covered until that pit road fiasco happened toward the end of the race. I still get a little shaky when I think back about that one. We definitely had the best car, but didn’t come away with too much to show for it.” Kurt started from the pole and had already led twice for a total of 39 laps when the final round of scheduled green flag pit stops began. He held a 1.324 second lead on Tony Stewart on Lap 53 when crew chief Roy McCauley made the call for Kurt to pit the next time around. Just as Kurt veered to the right and turned down the pit lane, the caution flag came out for a Joe Nemechek spin entering the carousel turn. NASCAR officials ruled that Kurt had not made it to the commitment line before the flag was displayed and the team was notified that they would have to restart at the tail end of the longest line. Kurt finished 19th.

--One might say that Kurt’s big-league racing career was launched at the winding road course located at the southern tip of the Sonoma Valley. In 1999, Kurt was vying for NASCAR's Southwest Tour title, and in the then 20-year-old Las Vegas native's mind a road course race equated with a weekend off. The majority of the schedule was conducted on ovals, so to the young driver, well, it just didn't seem like a regular race weekend. But in retrospect, the 1999 Southwest Tour race at Infineon Raceway was perhaps the most important of the young Kurt's career. For just two months after his 3.317-second victory over Mark Reed, he received a telephone call that eventually led to NASCAR's NEXTEL Cup circuit. "The year I won it was the year they changed the configuration of the track. It was the first year of the 'chute,'" Kurt recalled. "I believe a lot of the teams were watching that day, plus the race was live on ESPN. We had one full-time guy. Of course, we had the seven guys that went over the wall, the team owner was the spotter, and we maybe had a couple of support guys. We probably had a group of 10 guys come race day and we usually had five or six at the shop that volunteered their time. It was a special day and something that I’ll always remember"

--Kurt and crew will be racing their new PSC-518 Miller Lite Dodge Avenger this weekend at Infineon Raceway. It is the car the team used in recent testing at Virginia International Raceway in preparation for this weekend.

--Kurt does it for the fans. Can any other driver match this? He’s batting a .987 average. Kurt has been going out to his merchandising trailer on race days to sign autographs and has missed only three times in seven years (225 of 228 races). “There is no other driver who reaches out to his fans like Kurt does,” said Karen Eubanks, who along with husband, Joey, have operated Kurt’s souvenir trailer for years. “The way the sport is today, so many of the drivers absolutely refuse to do much on race day mornings. That’s certainly not the case with Kurt. He loves to come out and spend time with the fans.” “Honestly, I think it works to really get him pumped up for the race,” added Joey. Kurt’s record will move up to 226 of 229 races this weekend as he has scheduled an autograph signing Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. PDT at his merchandising trailer. Fans must visit the trailer and get tickets in advance in order to participate.

--NASCAR Loop Data Stats for Infineon Raceway: (courtesy NASCAR PR)
Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge)