3:00 PM March 24 Busch Series Preview from Bristol Motor Speedway

[The General]

Defending Winner:

Kyle Busch will attempt to defend his 2006 Sharpie Mini 300 victory this Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. Last March, Busch led 12 laps and held off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick to earn his sole victory of the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series season. With five Busch Series starts at Bristol, Busch has posted one victory, one pole position, three top-five finishes and four top-10s.

Leading The Field:

Busch has led 297 Busch Series laps this season, 185 more than any other driver, and paced the most laps in three of his four races: 46 at Daytona, 81 at Las Vegas and 143 at Atlanta. He has led 16 different times for a total of 510.72 miles, also best among all competitors.

Top-three Team:

Busch has finished in the top three in three of his four Busch Series races this season. He came in second at Las Vegas and posted third-place results at both California and Atlanta. Busch led 46 laps at Daytona, but finished 37th due to a fuel pump issue on Lap 82.

Average Running Position:

Busch averages a running position of 5.7 in four Busch Series races this season. That’s more than two positions better than any other competitor in the Busch Series.

Points Picture:

Despite having missed the Mexico City Busch Series race, Busch is fourth in the circuit’s driver standings. Adrian Fernandez finished ninth in the No. 5 Chevrolet at Mexico City to put car owner Rick Hendrick third in the series owner standings.

Winning Car:

Crew chief Mike Bumgarner has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 275 for Saturday’s Busch Series race at Bristol. It is the same car that won at the half-mile track last March and finished seventh there in August.

Hendrick Looking For 200th Nascar Win:

Car owner Rick Hendrick now has 199 combined NASCAR victories: 151 at the NEXTEL Cup level, 23 in the Busch Series and 25 in the Craftsman Truck Series. The total includes a 1983 Busch Series win by the late Dale Earnhardt at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in a car co-owned by Hendrick and Robert Gee.

Giving Back:

Busch completed all 195 laps of Saturday’s Busch Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, resulting in a $19,500 donation to the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund by the makers of Garden Safe®. A $100 donation was made for every lap Busch completed on the lead lap.

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Kyle Busch, Driver Of The No. 5 Sta-green/lowe’s Chevrolet:

(ON WINNING AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY. ) “Winning at Bristol is one of the biggest wins a driver can have. For me, it was a lot of fun to run that well (last year). In the Busch Series, I’ve had two third-place finishes there and a top-10 again last fall, so we seem to have the Busch car figured out at Bristol. We had the Cup car figured out, too, with a second-place finish there last year, but with the Impala SS debuting this weekend, that’s a whole new deal. “

Busch: (on The Team’s High Level Of Performance, But No Wins In The Nascar Busch Series This Season. )

“There’s no doubt that the No. 5 Sta-Green/Lowe’s team is a force to be reckoned with. We’ve been in contention to win every time we’ve been on the race track. Last weekend at Atlanta, we led practice, dominated qualifying and pretty much dominated the race. To lose it there on a crazy mistake on pit road was just frustrating. We know we’ve got great race cars. The stats show that we’re capable of leading laps. As a team, we just want that trophy so we have something to show for it. For all the guys on the road and back at the shop, finally getting that trophy this year will mean a lot when it happens. “


Auto Racing Daily : NBS Bristol Preview- Kyle Busch