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but first, these notes of interest:
--Could Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch be the new "Bristol King?" KB's
Bristol record at Bristol sports four wins and seven top-10 finishes in only
10 races. With Rusty Wallace, winner of nine career Bristol races, now
retired, only Jeff Gordon, with five victories, has more total Bristol
career wins than Busch among active drivers. However, Gordon has won only
once since 1998.
--Things weren't always so great for Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch at
Bristol. He recalls his first Cup race there back in 2001: "It wasn't
pretty," KB said with a laugh. "As a matter of fact, it was downright ugly.
The first time I crashed that day, it was on my on. The second time I
wrecked, I was in a big pileup. I guess you could say that the third time
was the charm, in that we punctured the radiator in that crash. That put us
out for good. They just kept on fixing it and putting me back out there to
get track time. When we were finally done for the day, I looked up on the
board and there were still about 400 laps of racing left. They didn't have
the tunnel down in the third turn at the time, so I was forced to sit there
and watch all the others go at it for another three hours."
--KB behind the wheel of another "Rusty car" this weekend at Bristol.he will
be racing the PRS-090 Miller Lite Dodge at B.M.S. this weekend, the same car
Rusty Wallace raced in this event last season.
--In support of the Gillette Young Guns program, Miller Lite Dodge driver
Kurt Busch will be doing a "media blitz" in New York City on Wednesday,
March 22. KB is scheduled to appear on "Live with Regis & Kelly," ESPN's
"Cold Pizza" and FOX News Channel's "Dayside with Linda Vestor." -Alan
Taylor Communications
--Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch will be the featured guest in a
one-hour satellite media tour from Bristol this Friday. Among the stations
scheduled to do interviews with KB is WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee's Channel 4. "Hit
time" for that interview is 6:30 p.m. EST.5:30 p.m. in Milwaukee.
--"Two wrongs don't make a right.but they make a good excuse." -Thomas Szasz
Contact: Tom Roberts
Scott Bussen
KURT BUSCH ON COURSE TO BECOME NEW “BRISTOL KING”
-Miller Lite Dodge Driver Attributes His BMS Success To His “Roots” & “Necessity After First Race There”-
BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 21, 2006) – Kurt Busch’s career record at Bristol Motor Speedway boasts four wins and seven top-10 finishes in only 10 races. It could be said that the Miller Lite Dodge driver appears to be “heir apparent” to the title of “Bristol King.”
With Rusty Wallace, winner of nine career Bristol races, now retired, only Jeff Gordon, with five victories, has more total Bristol career wins than Busch among active drivers. However, Gordon has won only once since 1998.
“I attribute my success at Bristol to my background on the short tracks – my roots of beginning my career on all those little tracks out West, like The Bullring at Vegas,” said Busch, who like Wallace, won his first career Cup race at Bristol in the spring (of 2002) and then went on to claim his second big-league win on the short track in Martinsville, Va., that same fall. “I cut my teeth on that type of track, so I think it made for a shorter learning curve.
“Oh, there was a learning curve,” chuckled Busch, whose victory last September at Richmond made him a winner on all of the short tracks along the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup circuit. “All you have to do is go back and look at my first Cup race at Bristol back in 2001.”
The official race report for the March 25, 2001, edition of the Food City 500 shows that Busch started 39th and finished 42nd. He completed only 118 of the 500 laps and exited the race due to an accident.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Busch said, now laughing. “As a matter of fact, it was downright ugly. The first time I crashed that day, it was on my on. The second time I wrecked, I was in a big pileup. I guess you could say that the third time was the charm, in that we punctured the radiator in that crash.
“That put us out for good,” Busch continued, still chuckling. “They just kept on fixing it and putting me back out there to get track time. When we were finally done for the day, I looked up on the board and there were still about 400 laps of racing left. They didn’t have the tunnel down in the third turn at the time, so I was forced to sit there and watch all the others go at it for another three hours.
“I promised myself that day a situation like that would never happen again. It became a necessity in my mind to become a good racer at Bristol. You also have to consider the fact that they announced that very weekend that my car sponsor (Sharpie) was going to also start sponsoring the August race there.
-more- -2-
“Seriously, I think that good racing luck has had a little to do with it, too,” offered Busch, who went on to claim his first career win the following spring at Bristol and then posted three consecutive Bristol wins in 2003-2004. “I was able to develop a real positive attitude about racing at Bristol and I enter the Bristol race week really looking forward to racing there.
“I looked at guys like Darrell and Rusty and saw just how much they genuinely enjoyed each and every time the circuit raced at Bristol,” said Busch, who will be racing the PRS-090 Miller Lite Dodge at Bristol this weekend, the same car Wallace raced in this event last season. “I have really grown to like Bristol so much that I’m pretty quick to name it as my favorite track of them all when I’m asked.
“As far as the strategy behind my success, I learned from the very first race that you have to be around at the finish to do well at Bristol. It really is a situation of surviving the first 400 laps – keeping the fenders on the thing and staying out of the wall. Then, if you’re in good shape after four-fifths of the race, it’s time to really get down to business during the final 100 laps.”
Of all of Busch’s career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victories entering this weekend’s Food City 500, the 2004 series champ points at two of his Bristol wins as most memorable and among his favorite.
“Yeah, without a doubt, that first win at Bristol back in 2002 will always be special,” said Busch. “You only have one first win and that’s mine there. It was a great feeling that I’ll always treasure. But, that win in the night race at Bristol in 2003 probably rates as my biggest career win to date. At least it does in my eyes. It is spectacular to win at Bristol at night. There’s just so much electricity and excitement in the air. The fact that we won the Sharpie race in the Sharpie car added to the importance and significance of that win.
In the March 2002 Food City 500, Busch started 27th and patiently moved toward the front. He was 17th after 75 laps and broke into the top 10 after a Lap 164 restart. He had cracked the top five by the race’s midpoint. He moved into second on the Lap 341 restart after the 11th caution period of the race. He moved into the lead on Lap 413 and never looked back en route to his first career Cup series win.
Busch started the August 2003 race from the fifth spot. The race came only six days after Busch had a highly publicized post-race incident with veteran driver Jimmy Spencer at Michigan. Busch ran among the top five early in the race, but fell off the pace for several laps due to a tight handling condition. The crew made continuous adjustments and had Busch back up solidly in the top 10 with 125 laps remaining. In only a matter of 15 laps, Busch rocketed from seventh to second between Lap 354 and Lap 379. He took the lead on the following lap and never looked back on his way to his third Bristol win and eighth career victory overall.
This weekend’s Bristol action gets under way on Friday with a practice session from 12:05 p.m. until 1:35 p.m. leading up to the single round of qualifying at 3:40 p.m., which will determine all 43 starting positions for Sunday’s race. Saturday’s schedule offers practice sessions from 9:30 a.m. till 10:30 a.m. and from 11:05 a.m. till 11:50 a.m. Sunday’s Food City 500 is scheduled to get the green flag at 2:10 p.m. and features live coverage by FOX-TV and PRN Radio.
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