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Kentucky: Kyle Busch preview
BUSCH AIMING FOR SECOND NATIONWIDE WIN IN KENTUCKY HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (June 9, 2009) - In 2008, Kyle Busch looked poised to bring home his second NASCAR Nationwide Series win in the Blue Grass state, leading 85 laps and holding the top spot on ...
Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:48 PM
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BUSCH AIMING FOR SECOND NATIONWIDE WIN IN KENTUCKY
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (June 9, 2009) - In 2008, Kyle Busch looked poised to bring home his second NASCAR Nationwide Series win in the Blue Grass state, leading 85 laps and holding the top spot on the scoring pylon until an accident on lap 163 ended his night.
This weekend, Busch hopes to reverse his fortune.
Busch will climb aboard the No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, fresh off a win last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. in hopes of redeeming his 2008 result. The Las Vegas native is on the prowl for his fifth NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the 2009 season and his third career win at Kentucky Speedway (he scored an ARCA RE/MAX Series victory at the facility in 2003).
As is the case with last year's Kentucky effort, Busch will be traveling to the track for race day-only as he will also be at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn this weekend with his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. Brad Coleman is slated to practice the car on Friday.
Currently leading the series standings by 65 points over second place Carl Edwards, Busch is also looking to increase his winning percentage behind the wheel of a NOS-sponsored Nationwide car. After the win at Nashville, Busch has won four out of the five races, dating back to October 2008, in which NOS has adorned his Toyota Camry.
Joining NOS on the car will be The Kyle Busch Foundation. Founded by Busch in 2006, KBF concentrates its efforts on assisting organizations across the country in fostering a safe environment for less fortunate children to live, learn, and challenge themselves. For more information, please visit kylebuschfoundation.org.
The Meijer 300 presented by Ritz at Kentucky Speedway will air on ESPN2 on Saturday, June 13 at 8 pm EST.
KYLE'S QUOTES ON RACING IN KENTUCKY
Why do you feel Kentucky Speedway is such a successful track for you?
"I just love the track. It's a lot of fun to race on, it's fast, there's plenty of racing room, and it just always seems to make for a fun night. The first time I came there (in the Nationwide Series) I wrecked a car after qualifying second and we took the backup car out and won with that. Last year, no one could touch us and I wadded the car up in the race. This year, I need to close the deal and get this 18 team and NOS Energy Drink into victory lane at this place."
What do you think the reason is for Kentucky lending itself to younger drivers doing so well there?
"It's a great race track. We call it the slow mile-and-a-halves because it's a flatter one like Charlotte, Atlanta, Texas are higher banks so they're the faster mile-and-a-halves. But there's a lot of grip there. There's a lot of room for error there. You can move around a little bit. The lines pretty much on the bottom but you don't have to be glued to the bottom. You can move up a little bit here and there. You can really arc it into the corners there. It's a relatively easy place for young drivers to get their start and get used to a race track. Plus, they get all of the practice there. I believe there's like two hours of practice, even maybe more. The Cup guys like myself, we may or may not come down and practice at all. I think Carl (Edwards) and Joey (Logano) might but I'm not going until the race. I've just got to count on my guy to set it up the best he can. I believe. We had a great race car just over adjusted on the pit stop once, got it a little loose and wrecked so hopefully we don't have that next week.
Kyle Busch's first and only win at Kentucky Speedway in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition came in his first series start at the facility in 2004.
Busch has led a combined total of 149 laps in over the course of three career starts in the Meijer 300 presented by Ritz. He averages a finish of 14.7.
In the 2008 race, Busch led a total of 85 laps but was involved in an accident on lap 163 while leading.
In each of his three career Nationwide Series starts at Kentucky Speedway, Busch has led at least three laps in each event.
Kentucky Speedway was the site of Busch's second career ARCA victory in 2003. He finished sixth in his only NASCAR Camping World Truck Series outing in 2008.
-credit: jgr
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