KURT BUSCH LOOKING FOR “RICHMOND REBOUND” IN CROWN ROYAL 400
-Miller Lite Dodge Driver “Hoping To End Skid And Get Things Turned Around” In Saturday’s Battle-

RICHMOND, Va. (April 29, 2008) – Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch is looking for a “Richmond Rebound” in Saturday night’s Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway in hopes of turning his 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season around.

“We’re hoping to end the skid and get things turned around at Richmond, that’s for sure,” said Busch, who was relegated by a late-race crash to a 39th-place finish at Talladega last Sunday and fell to 20th in the Sprint Cup point standings. “April was a pretty wicked month of racing for us and it took its toll in the points.

“We’re looking to get a fresh start for May in Richmond and get on a positive roll back up the ladder,” said Busch, whose career Richmond record boasts one win, two top-five finishes and four top-10s in 14 races. “It’s been a pretty solid track for us through the years and is a great place to get headed back in the right direction.

“The biggest boost we have behind us going back to Richmond this weekend is the fact that we ran this new car in both races there last year and had solid performances in both races,” said Busch. “We finished fifth in the spring Richmond race and backed that up with another solid top-10 run (finished ninth) there last fall.

“We have a lot of notes to fall back on and we learned so much about the fastest lines around the track in last year’s races,” said Busch. “We may be down right now, but we’re certainly not out by any means. Richmond offers us a great opportunity to redeem ourselves and we hope to be prepared enough to take advantage of that.”

Busch started 33rd and drove to a fifth-place finish in last year’s Crown Royal 400. “That was a race that we really could have won,” Busch recalled. “We spun out early in the race and had a disastrous pit stop that put us down a lap at one time. We got the ‘lucky dog’ pass and returned to the lead lap.

“We found a line around the place that really worked, especially getting through (Turns) one and two and got the lead for a good part of the race,” continued Busch. “Our strategy bit us during the final portion of the race. We were able to rally back up to fifth, but we had a car there that night that was much more deserving than that.”

In last year’s race, Busch led on a Lap 261 restart and pulled away, as Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. trailed. The No. 2 car led until David Gilliland spun in Turn 3 on Lap 278 to bring out the seventh caution flag of the race. While Kurt and all but eight of the 17 lead lap drivers hit pit road, Johnson, Kyle Busch, Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart stayed out and comprised the top-five on the Lap 292 restart.

The call to pit road would be costly as the No. 2 car would never challenge again for the lead. Kurt was ninth on the restart. He fell back as far as 11th in the order, but rallied in the waning laps to post his second career top-five finish on RIR’s three-quarter-mile oval. Johnson’s strategy helped him claim the win, with Kyle Busch finishing second, Hamlin third, Gordon fourth and Kurt fifth.

Busch started 14th and finished ninth at Richmond in last September’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400. “We got caught up in a crash that damaged our car pretty bad about half way through the race, but still stuck it out and got us another top-10 finish out of it,” Busch recalled. “Man, when I got out of the car after the race and saw all the damage done from that crash, I was totally shocked. I’m sure it looked a lot worse than it really was as for structural damage of the car. But if I’d been able to see the car from where I was sitting, I would have probably thought that there would be no way we’d be able to run as competitive as we did for the remainder of the race.

“Those were two really strong and solid races for us at Richmond last season,” said Busch. “If we can get back there this weekend and run that strong, it would be just the shot in the arm our team needs badly right now.”

This weekend’s Richmond action gets under way on Friday with practice scheduled from 11:00 a.m. till 1:00 p.m. Friday’s 5:40 p.m. single round of qualifying will establish Saturday’s 43-car starting field, with all cars impounded immediately after the session. Saturday’s Crown Royal 400 (400 laps, 300 miles) has a 7:30 p.m. EDT starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio.

Notes of interest:

--Yes, that was popular comedian Ron White hanging out with Kurt Busch and his Miller Lite Dodge team on Sunday at Talladega. “Ron is a really cool guy and is as funny off the stage as he is on it,” Kurt said. “It was great having him there and he had the whole team in stitches before the race.

“Ron had done a show on Saturday night in Springfield, Mo., and wanted to swing back by the Talladega race and soak in the scene,” Kurt explained. “He requested to come in sort of under the radar screen in a low-profile atmosphere. Kristy (Cloutier, KBI Executive Assistant) did a heckuva’ job in putting it all together at the last moment. Ron brought his comedian buddy Alex Reymundo, one of the hottest Latin comics around these days, along for the day and he was about blown away with what all he saw and did.

“Ron’s been a NASCAR fan for years and he’s always looking for new material,” said Kurt. “I guarantee you that his trip to Talladega was worthwhile. We even had the time to chat a little about a potential new CD he’ll be putting out and we may be doing some promotional work with him relative to that project.

“He hung with us during pre-race and we had him up on the box in the pits for the early part of the race. Then we had Pauly (coach driver Paul “Tater Tot” Bostic) put him on the golf cart and show him around. They went over and had some fun at the new Miller Lite Party Deck down in Turn 1. They spent most of the last half of the race roaming around in the massive infield, taking in all of the weird stuff that goes on there. After the disappointing day we had out there on the track, it sure was nice to have him back at the coach after the race. He was still able to make me laugh; even after all we’d been through.”

“Ron definitely got some new material for his act there at Talladega on Sunday,” Pauly reported on Monday night. “If we’d had a video crew with us in the infield, he could have packaged that whole episode and made millions off of it. It was absolutely amazing how many people out there knew him and begged for us to stop.

“We made several stops and visited inside several of the campers. I don’t have to tell you what all offers people made to him. I’m certain that some of the stuff we saw and did will find its way into the material Ron uses on stage on down the line. We all had a blast.”

For additional information on Ron, we invite you to visit his site at http://www.tatersalad.com .

--The “Grand Opening” of the new Kurt Busch Superdome at the Victory Junction Gang Camp is set for Tuesday, May 20 at 2:00 p.m. The project was announced in May 2006, with Kurt announcing the donation of the initial $1 million in support of the project. The 28,000 square-foot facility will provide opportunities for indoor sports in a climate-controlled environment. "It’ll be like seeing a dream come true to finally get the doors open and see all the kids enjoying themselves,” said Kurt. “It’s been a labor of love for all of the people involved and I’m so proud and grateful to have the opportunity to make a contribution in this manner to the Petty camp.” Final details on the event will be announced within the next 10 days. Several sports and entertainment celebrities are expected to be on hand…stay tuned…

--According to Jessica Parker of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB), autographed sheet metal pieces donated by Kurt and Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman were among the “hottest items” auctioned off at the 23rd annual Race Fever AIDB benefit held last Friday night at the Speed Channel Dome, adjacent to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. “We raised more than $170,000 during the big night and the support we get from all the drivers and teams continues to be amazing,” Jessica said. “Kurt has been among the biggest supporters, donating auction items and his time by attending the events and spending time with the kids. We couldn’t do it without guys like him, Kyle Petty, Bobby Labonte and others. We’re so thankful to all who contributed to this year’s Race Fever night and look forward to another successful event in conjunction with next May’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.”

--Kurt and the Miller Lite crew will be racing their PSC-551 Dodge Charger in the Crown Royal 400 this weekend at Richmond. The car debuted in the April 12 Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix where Kurt started 40th and finished 23rd. “We had intended on running the Martinsville car (PSC-560) again this weekend, but that won’t be the case,” crew chief Pat Tryson explained. “We’ll have the car we raced at Phoenix last fall (PSC-520) there as our backup this weekend.”

--It might be looked upon as an unusual method of getting “hyped up” for qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway, but that’s the way Kurt put it. Before he took to the massive 2.66-mile track hunting for speed, he could be found earlier that morning hunting for turkey some 45 minutes away at Sellwood Farms near Sylacauga, Ala. “We had to be up early, hitting the road at five o’clock that morning,” Kurt explained. “It was part of a deal that our friends at Mossy Oak Brand Camo put together and it’s always cool spending time with those guys. It was the last weekend of the spring turkey hunting season in Alabama. We didn’t bag any, but we did see three big hens along the way. It was a cool way to spend the morning leading up to getting back to the track and getting hyped up for qualifying. It was Eva’s birthday Saturday and that made it even more pleasant.”

--Kurt & Kyle…beer & guacamole…Kurt and brother Kyle will be filming a special “guacomale-making contest” for ESPN-TV on Friday at Richmond International Raceway. “Kyle’s being sponsored by Hass avocados in Friday night’s Nationwide Series race and we thought it’d be cool to mix a little Miller Lite exposure into the friendly competition,” Kurt explained. “We thought we’d jazz the deal up a little, so there’ll be a registered chef wearing our colors in each corner. They will be coaching us on to see who can make a batch of guacamole the fastest. Eva and I love Mexican food. Too bad that the shoot will take place before we go out to qualify there on Friday night. Fresh guacamole and some chips…along with a cold Miller Lite…that always sounds like a great combination to me.”

--Kurt’s visit to his souvenir trailer at Richmond this Saturday will mark the 255th time in the last 258 races that he has been out on race days 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 3:30 p.m. till 4:00 p.m. at Richmond on Saturday. Please verify that time by visiting the trailer in advance and picking up the free tickets for the autograph line.

--Kurt thrilled with Chicago Cubs’ early season: “My Cubbies are really off and running this season, leading the Central Division with the (Milwaukee) Brewers coming into Wrigley Field for a three-game stretch before we head to St. Louis for three games with the Cardinals,” said Kurt. “I really look for it to be tight all season long between the Cubs, Brewers and Cardinals. Hopefully, this can be the year that Chicago sports fans have been waiting all their lives for. There’s been a lot of hype going on with their 10,000th franchise win they scored last week. It’s truly a great time to be a Cubbies fan, that’s for sure. Derrek Lee is back hitting the ball tremendously and we’re getting some great pitching out of (Carlos) Zambrano and (Ryan) Dempster. (Kosuke) Fukudome has come in and added tremendous excitement to the Cubbies’ game. I can’t wait to get back to Wrigley Field to see them play. We’re working on scheduling some trips up to catch some games in the next couple of months.”

--“Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but did it backwards and in high heels.” –Faith Whittlesey