Race 2 Win: Sprint Cup Series Race Notes

Sprint Cup Series

Kobalt Tools 500 - Kurt Busch Notes

KURT BUSCH LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK IN KOBALT TOOLS 500
Miller Lite Dodge Driver “Craving A Smooth & Solid Weekend For A Change” At Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. (March 5, 2008) – Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch’s 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season has already produced an unbelievable roller-coaster ride in just the first three races that are in the record book.

After starting dead last (43rd) in the Daytona 500 season-opener and overcoming a overabundance of obstacles to finish second, Busch and his Pat Tryson-led Penske Racing team came from a lap down to finish 13th at California in the second race. Busch appeared to be on course to pulling another rabbit out of his hat in last Sunday’s UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before a blown right-front tire late in the race ended yet another spectacular comeback.

“After finally having a race where we were not in a hole from the very beginning, starting up in the top 10 for a change, we were looking for some smooth sailing,” said Busch, taking a break from Monday’s testing at Phoenix to reflect on last weekend’s Las Vegas race. “We climbed up as far as fourth, but pretty typical with our luck so far when it’s just normal to have to play catch-up, we got slapped with a speeding penalty during our first pit stop under the green. So we found ourselves a lap down and trying to dig out once again before the race was even a quarter over.

“We’re going to have to figure the situation out in that’s two out of three races where we’ve gotten tagged for speeding,” said Busch, who also received a “drive-through” penalty for speeding midway through the Daytona 500. “I don’t know whether we’re not getting the right tach (tachometer) reading during the warm-up laps or what the problem is, but we have to get that figured out. It’s still hard to comprehend how I could have been speeding at Vegas last Sunday. We were pitting in the second box just behind Kyle (brother Kyle Busch). We followed him in and out of the pits. The No. 2 car gets the penalty and the 18 car comes out clean. It’s a mystery to me, but we’ll get it figured out.

“We got the lap down, but never gave up and kept plugging along,” said Busch. “We finally put ourselves in the ‘Lucky Dog’ spot and got the break we needed with about 50 laps to go when the caution came out for debris.

“We made some drastic changes during our stop under that caution, pulling all the rubbers out of the rear spring in an attempt to get the car handling better,” said Busch. “We were the last car on the lead lap for the restart and hoped to motor on back up through there. We got up into the top 15 and just sort of stalled there. Pat was counting down the laps and with 12 to go I got down in between (turns) three and four where something broke and she just took off for the wall.

“It was a pretty vicious hit, but we were able to shake the cobwebs out and get out of the car almost immediately,” said Busch. “The bottom line is that our luck ran out and we weren’t able to be the ‘comeback kids’ for the third straight race.

“Atlanta has been a good track for us through the years and we’re ready to bounce back this weekend with another good run,” said Busch, whose career record at Atlanta Motor Speedway sports a win back in the fall race of 2002. “It’s a whole new ball game this time around with the new car, but we were pleased with how we tested there with it last fall.

“We started on the outside pole and finished eighth at Atlanta in last October’s race and we’re hoping to be able to display that competitive strength again this time around,” said Busch, who fell from fourth to 12th in the Sprint Cup point standings after last Sunday’s disappointing 38th-place finish at Las Vegas. “To tell you the truth, with the way the season has gone so far, I’m just craving a smooth and solid weekend for a change. It’d be a really great weekend at Atlanta if we can qualify well and not run out of gas, get popped for speeding or have something else put us behind the eight ball early in the race. We’ve had to run the full-court press in every race so far this season. It’d be nice to be in the mix up front for a complete race. That’s definitely what we are hoping for.”

Busch, Tryson and crew will be racing their PSC-554 Miller Lite Dodge Charger at Atlanta this weekend. “It’s a brand new car and one of our newest generation COT models,” Tryson explained. “When Kurt takes to the track there at Atlanta on Friday, it’ll be the first time it has hit a race track.”

Busch’s overall career record on the lightning-fast 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway sports one win, one top-five finish and four top-10 finishes in 14 races. He started 17th and finished 11th in last year’s edition of the Kobalt Tools 500.

Practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday from 3:00 p.m. till 4:30 p.m. kicks off this weekend’s action. Qualifying to establish the starting grid for Sunday’s 325-lap battle is set for Friday at 6:45 p.m. local (live on SPEED-TV and PRN Radio). Saturday’s morning practice is scheduled from 11:00 a.m. till 11: 45 a.m. (live on SPEED-TV) and the final “happy hour” practice session is scheduled from 12:20 p.m. till 1:20 p.m. (live on SPEED-TV). Sunday’s $5,060,012 Kobalt Tools 500 has a scheduled 2:00 p.m. EDT starting time here on the 1.54-mile quad-oval track. FOX-TV and PRN Radio will provide live coverage of all the action beginning 30 minutes prior to race time.

Notes of interest:

--Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch and his Pat Tryson-led Penske Racing Team will be debuting their new PSC-554 Dodge Charger in the Kobalt 500 action at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend. “It’s a brand new car and one of our newest generation COT models,” Pat explained. “When Kurt takes to the track there at Atlanta on Friday, it’ll be the first time it has hit a race track.”

--That new chassis number does not mean that 554 or even 54 new COT cars have rolled through the assembly line at the Mooresville, N.C. Penske Racing Team headquarters. “We did designate the new COT cars by starting out numbering them 500 and above,” explained Gary Brooks, shop foreman for the team’s stock car end of the operation. “We had the first generation of the new cars that ran through No. 529. When we revamped and came out with the second generation model, we jumped up to No. 550 for those cars. Kurt will be racing the fourth of those cars that have come through the shop this weekend at Atlanta, thus the PSC-554 designation.”

--Quick-Stats Entering Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta (courtesy NASCAR PR):
12th in points – Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge)

Season-to-Date Driver Rating: 78.7 2008 Rundown

One top five

Average finish of 17.7

Led one race for nine laps Atlanta Motor Speedway Outlook:

One win, four top 10s

Average finish of 21.3

Finished eighth in October

Led six of 14 races for 280 laps Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight

363 Green Flag Passes, eighth-most

--The Sprint Cup boys head to the very fast and always exciting Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend, where Miller vs. Bud will go to round #4 of this NASCAR season. After a most impressive 2nd place finish at the 50th Daytona 500, the Blue Deuce has had it's share of bad luck the last two races but will look to rebound at a track that has seen the #2 Miller Lite Dodge finish in the top 15 the last three events there. Based on the performance of the #9 Bud team so far this season (three straight top 10 finishes), The Palms Casino Resort established the betting line at -3.5 positions in favor of the #9 car over the #2 Miller Lite Dodge this weekend. Sports book representative Fred Crespi had this to say about setting the line: "I am surprised at how the #9 car has performed so far this season. The Miller Lite Dodge has run very well also but hasn't translated those runs into solid finishes. You have to make the Bud car the favorite this weekend, but I would not be at all surprised to see the Miller Lite #2 car give Bud all they can handle."

--Kurt’s visit to his souvenir trailer at Atlanta Motor Speedway this Sunday will mark the 249th time in the last 252 races that he has been out on race day mornings to meet the fans and sign autographs. His continuing tradition began during his first full year on the Cup circuit back in 2001. Kurt is tentatively scheduled to be at his souvenir trailer from 10:30 a.m. till 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. Please verify that time by visiting the trailer in advance and picking up the free tickets for the autograph line.

-- Remember...”Spring forward” this weekend…Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday. Trivia, facts and common sense about Daylight Saving Time – DST (courtesy CEC):

Starting last year (2007), Daylight Saving Time was extended one month for most of the United States – Begins at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and lasts until 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of November. The new start and stop dates were set in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Daylight Saving Time for the U.S. and its territories is NOT observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and by most of Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Indian Reservation).

Indiana, which used to be split with a portion of the state observing DST and the other half not, is now whole. In the past, counties in the Eastern Time Zone portion of the state did not observe DST. They were on standard time year round. A state law was passed in 2005 that has the entire state of Indiana observing DST since April 2006.

California asked for federal "approval" to move to a "year-round" Daylight Saving Time in 2001-2002. Congress and the White House did not act on the request because of the world-changing events of September 11, 2001. No new legislation has been passed in California regarding this proposal since then.

--“The sun doesn’t shine on the same dog’s behind every day – but we sure didn’t expect a total eclipse.” –Coach Steve Sloan (on his 13-34-1 football record at Ole Miss from 1978-1982)