KB STARTING 19TH IN SUNDAY’S USG SHEETROCK 400 AT CHICAGOLAND
-Miller Lite Dodge Driver “Bit Twice In One Day By Luck Of The Draw”-

JOLIET, Ill. (July 7, 2006) – With qualifying for Sunday’s NEXTEL Cup race here at Chicagoland Speedway beginning at 3:40 p.m. this afternoon, the later you drew to qualify the better.  With qualifying for tomorrow’s NBS race beginning at 11:40 a.m., the earlier you drew to qualify the better.  Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch’s team drew first for today’s session and last for tomorrow’s.

            “I guess you could say that we got bit twice in one day by luck of the draw,” KB said with a slight chuckle.  “We’ve been running really well in the last few races and I’ve been saying that this race may be our next hurdle along the way.

“There’s still more work to be done, and I think this is a good track to test our ability,” KB said after turning in a lap of 178.318 mph (30.283 seconds) as the first driver to make his official qualifying run.  “The mile and a half tracks are where you have to be successful if you want to win a Nextel Cup Championship.

“We qualified 20th and had our problems at Charlotte (Lowe’s), but we tested at Kentucky and showed improvement at Michigan,” KB said.  “We didn’t qualify all that well there (started 13th), but we had a decent race day and finished ninth.  That’s what we’ll be looking to do here on Sunday – start from the middle of the pack, but work our way on up through there and get us another decent finish.”

Jeff Burton was fifth fastest in practice, but turned up the wick in qualifying as he turned in a fast lap of 181.647 mph (29.728 seconds) to claim the pole here today after going out 21st in the qualifying order.  Brian Vickers, who was fastest in practice, will start second after recording a lap of 181.318 mph (29.782 seconds).  Kasey Kahne was the fastest Dodge driver, earning the third starting spot with a 180.687 mph (29.886 second) lap.  Kevin Harvick starts fourth, with Jimmie Johnson fifth, Bobby Labonte sixth, rookie Denny Hamlin seventh, Matt Kenseth eighth, Mark Martin ninth and rookie J.J. Yeley 10th.

Starting in positions 11 through 20, in order, will be Casey Mears, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Scott Riggs, Dave Blaney, Jeremy Mayfield, Joe Nemechek, rookie Reed Sorenson, KB and rookie David Stremme.

“We knew we were behind the eight ball here today, but got all we could out of it,” added crew chief Roy McCauley.  “It never really cooled off all that much during the session, but you could see the sun starting to set and the haze getting heavier from about the time the 20th guy went out and on.  We have two practices here in the morning to get the car dialed in and we’ll make the best of it.”

Saturday’s schedule calls for Cup practice sessions from 9:00 a.m. till 10:00 a.m. and from 10:35 a.m. till 11:20 a.m.  Qualifying for tomorrow’s Durock 300 NBS race is set for 11:40 a.m., with that 300-mile, 200-lap battle getting the green flag at 3:05 p.m.  Sunday’s USG Sheetrock 400 (400 miles, 267 laps) Cup race has a 2:35 p.m. CDT starting time.  TNT-TV and MRN Radio will provide live coverage of both races.

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