KYLE ALMOST COLLECTS ‘TEXAS TRIPLE’ – Busch Misses Series Sweep After Nationwide and Truck Series Wins

FORT WORTH, Texas (November 8, 2009) — This weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch almost accomplished what no other NASCAR driver has ever done before — win races in NASCAR’s top three series during a single event weekend. Busch recorded victories in the Nationwide Series Saturday afternoon and the Camping World Truck Series Friday night — but he ran out of fuel with three laps remaining and finished 11th in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race to miss a weekend series sweep.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)

Busch started the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race fifth in his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 18 M&M’s Camry and dominated much of the 334 lap race at the one-and-half-mile Texas oval. The Las Vegas-native led the field six times for a total of 232 laps, before he ran out of fuel in the closing laps and had to make one last pit stop. Busch ended up 11th and his older brother Kurt managed to make it to victory lane.

“This 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry deserved to be in victory lane,” said Busch’s crew chief Dave Rogers, following the race. “I thought we had one of the best cars throughout the entire race, but it just didn’t work out that way. We were a little short on fuel. We had Kyle (Busch) back down and we thought we would save enough fuel, but we missed the numbers somewhere, or we didn’t get it full, or we didn’t pick up all we could pick up.”

Rogers, who was making his debut as Busch’s Sprint Cup Series crew chief, made the decision to keep Busch out on the track late in the race.

“Looking at our numbers and the lap times that he’d fallen off from what we had previously run — I thought for sure that we were going to make it until off turn four of the final lap,” explained Rogers. “We had several green flag runs this race so we were pretty confident we knew what we had for fuel mileage. I’m not sure what happened. We’ll take it back to the shop, look at it and learn from it. We’ll focus on how well we ran and not where we finished today.”

While Busch dominated the race, but ended up with a disappointing finish, his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin struggled most of the day before ending up with a runner-up result. Hamlin started 25th in his JGR No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry and led just two laps during the race. However, pit strategy after a scrape with the wall enabled Hamlin to finish second.

“Mike (Ford, crew chief) said we were half a lap to good, even if I ran hard like I did the previous run,” Hamlin said, after the race. “I got in the wall when I just made a mistake. We struggled on pit road today and really got ourselves back in the pack. Mike (Ford) came through and had a great pit strategy. All those other guys were short pitting and he decided to put our FedEx Office Camry out there for a while. When we decided to pit, it was just in time.
“Hats off to Mike (Ford, crew chief) and this whole race team,” said Hamlin. “I was trying to make something happen and got in the wall which ended up killing our car. The good part about that is I was able to save fuel because there was no pressure from behind. I was able to save fuel and our Camry got the best fuel mileage it got all day.”
JTG Daugherty Racing’s Marcos Ambrose (15th) and Michael Waltrip Racing’s David Reutimann (16th) followed Hamlin and Busch to the finish line. Reutimann ran among the leaders throughout the race and was as high as second, before he also ran out of fuel.

Other Camry drivers in the field were Scott Speed (18th), Joey Logano (19th), Michael Waltrip (23rd), Brian Vickers (26th), Robby Gordon (27th), Michael McDowell (41st) and Joe Nemechek (42nd).

In the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings, Hamlin gained three spots in the Chase standings and now sits eighth and Vickers is in 12th-place. Busch (13th), Reutimann (16th), Ambrose (18th) and Logano (19th) are also in the top-20 in the point standings.

The NSCS returns to action at Phoenix International Raceway, Nov. 15.

NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)

Busch dominated Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) race at Texas — leading the field six times for 179 of 200 laps — to earn his second victory in two days of NASCAR racing at the Ft. Worth oval. This triumph was also his fourth consecutive Nationwide Series victory at Texas.

Busch started sixth in his JGR No. 18 Z-Line Designs/WWE Camry and moved to the head of the field on lap 11. The Las Vegas-native led 52 of the first 71 laps, and then moved into the lead again on lap 72. He led the final 92 of 93 circuits en route to victory lane.

“I wanted to win this — not just get it — you know,” said Busch, after the race. “We
outwrestled all these guys with this ‘Smackdown vs. Raw’ Camry. This track is fun — of course, its fun when you have good cars. We love coming out to Texas. For some reason, this is one of my best race tracks. I seem to really like getting around here. This car was flawless again today, and we’ve had cars that have been flawless like this for the past four races here at Texas. That is a testament to this team. They do such an awesome job preparing these cars with all the extra hours at the shop, and all the guys that do a great job.”

“We’ve been running well all year long and we’ve been able to capitalize on good runs,” added Busch. “This is one of the races that we were able to capitalize on. This is our eighth win of the year. Unfortunately, we missed out on 11 others where we had second-place finishes. When you get to victory lane, it’s cool that you can get your team to victory lane and really celebrate with them because those are the guys that deserve to be there.”

In 2009, Busch has eight Nationwide Series wins and 25 top-five finishes in 33 starts. In addition to his Texas victory, Busch recorded race wins earlier this season at California, Texas (April), Richmond, Nashville, New Hampshire, St. Louis and Charlotte.

It marks the 14th Nationwide Series win for Toyota this season and the 36th victory for a Camry driver since Toyota became a participant in the series at the beginning of the 2007 season.

Following Busch to the finish line were Jason Leffler (third), Vickers (seventh) and Mike Bliss (10th). Other Camry drivers in the field included Michael Annett (22nd), Logano (24th), Kasey Kahne (30th) and Chase Miller (39th).

After 33 of 35 races this season, Busch leads the unofficial NNS standings following the Texas race with 5,374 points. He now sits 272 points ahead of second-place Carl Edwards. Other Toyota drivers in the top-15 in the point standings include Leffler (fourth), Annett (10th) and Logano (14th).

The next race on the NNS schedule is at Phoenix International Raceway, Nov. 15.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS)

In Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Texas, Busch extended his series winning streak and also picked up his first NCWTS victory at the Texas track in the Billy Ballew Motorsports No. 51 Miccosukee Resort/Graceway Pharmaceuticals Tundra.

Busch has now won Truck Series races the last five times he has buckled the seat belts of the No. 51 Tundra. Along with his victory Friday evening in Texas, he had previously picked up first-place trophies in his last four series starts at Talladega (Oct. 31), New Hampshire (Sept. 19), Chicagoland (Aug. 28) and Bristol (Aug. 19).

In addition to his own winning streak, Busch also helped Toyota achieve a series milestone. When the Las Vegas-native crossed the finish line first at Texas, it was the 14th series win for Toyota in a single season — bettering the previous record of 13 wins by Tundra drivers in a single season, set in each of the past two years (2007 and 2008).

“That’s cool man — what a Tundra,” said Busch, following the race. “This Tundra was awesome and Richie (Wauters, crew chief) and these guys have really done their homework lately. It’s an accomplishment to beat the 33 (Ron Hornaday, Jr.) bunch here, that’s for sure. We got it done today. It was a great race and it was a lot of fun. It’s a pretty proud accomplishment to be here in victory lane — and to win five in a row. That’s pretty sweet.”

Busch started 12th and led twice for 54 (of 147) laps around the Texas track to record his seventh series victory of the season and his 10th career win behind the wheel of a Tundra. He took the lead for the final time on lap 98 and led the final 50 circuits on his way to victory lane.

Tundra drivers recording top-10 results behind Busch were Todd Bodine (fourth), Brian Scott (seventh), Skinner (eighth) and David Starr (ninth). Other Tundra drivers in the field included Aric Almirola (14th), Tayler Malsam (18th), Timothy Peters (19th), Stacy Compton (22nd), T.J. Bell (23rd) and Terry Cook (24th).

Toyota drivers have now won 65 NCWTS races since the start of the 2004 season.

Skinner remains third in the unofficial NCWTS point standings following Texas and now trails leader Ron Hornaday, Jr. by 355 points. Tundra drivers Bodine (fourth), Scott (sixth), Peters (eighth) and Starr (ninth) are also in the top-10 in points with two races — Phoenix and Miami – remaining this season.

The next NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on the schedule is at Phoenix International Raceway, Nov. 13.

Toyota NSCS Driver Finishing Positions at Texas Motor Speedway
2nd, DENNY HALIN
11th, KYLE BUSCH
15th, MARCOS AMBROSE
16th, DAVID REUTIMANN
18th, SCOTT SPEED
19th, JOEY LOGANO
23rd, MICHAEL WALTRIP
26th, BRIAN VICKERS
27th, ROBBY GORDON
41st, MICHAEL MCDOWELL
42nd, JOE NEMECHEK

Toyota Drivers in NSCS Point Standings — following Texas Motor Speedway**
8th, DENNY HAMLIN 5,975 points##
12th, BRIAN VICKERS 5,777 points##
13th, KYLE BUSCH 4,183 points
16th, DAVID REUTIMANN 3,969 points
18th, MARCOS AMBROSE 3,637 points
19th, JOEY LOGANO 3,600 points
** unofficial point standings
## competing in the 2009 ‘Chase for the Sprint Cup’

Toyota NNS Driver Finishing Positions at Texas Motor Speedway
1st, KYLE BUSCH
3rd, JASON LEFFLER
7th, BRIAN VICKERS
10th, MIKE BLISS
13th, TREVOR BAYNE
22nd, MICHAEL ANNETT
24th, JOEY LOGANO
30th, KASEY KAHNE
39th, CHASE MILLER

Toyota Drivers in NNS Point Standings — following Texas Motor Speedway**
1st, KYLE BUSCH 5,374 points
4th, JASON LEFFLER 4,349 points
6th, MIKE BLISS 3,818 points
10th, MICHAEL ANNETT 3,395 points
14th, JOEY LOGANO 3,206 points
19th, BRIAN VICKERS 2,403 points
** unofficial point standings

Toyota NCWTS Driver Finishing Positions at Texas Motor Speedway
1st, KYLE BUSCH
4th, TODD BODINE
7th, BRIAN SCOTT
8th, MIKE SKINNER
9th, DAVID STARR
14th, ARIC ALMIROLA
18th, TAYLER MALSAM
19th, TIMOTHY PETERS
22nd, STACY COMPTON
23rd, T.J. BELL
24th, TERRY COOK

Toyota Drivers in NCWTS Point Standings — following Texas Motor Speedway**
3rd, MIKE SKINNER 3,302 points
4th, TODD BODINE 3,150 points
6th, BRIAN SCOTT 3,050 points
8th, TIMOTHY PETERS 3,009 points
9th, DAVID STARR 2,987 points
11th, STACY COMPTON 2,890 points
12th, TERRY COOK 2,835 points
13th, TAYLER MALSAM 2,796 points
16th, T.J. BELL 2,509 points
18th, KYLE BUSCH 2,279 points
20th, ARIC ALMIROLA 2,005 points
** unofficial point standings

[Source: ToyotaRacing.com]