KURT BUSCH QUALIFIES THIRD FOR ALLSTATE 400 AT THE BRICKYARD
-Practice Crash After Blown Tire Sends KB To Backup Miller Lite Dodge; Will Start From Rear-

INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 5, 2006) – Kurt Busch qualified third for Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, but will be forced to start from the rear of the field after a practice crash forced him to resort to a backup Miller Lite Dodge.

            “We were on a seven-lap run with scuffed tires and just blew a left-front tire,” KB said of the incident that occurred some 40 minutes into the first of two hour-long afternoon practice sessions.  “Obviously, it was unexpected. The team has already pulled out the backup and gone to work. It’s not our best foot forward because that was a great car, almost a pole-sitting car. We’ll have a good backup and give it our best effort.”

            “We certainly think we can (win with this car), KB added. “You put so much emphasis into one car to make it better. Obviously one is an A car and one is a B. I work for Penske, and they build great cars. We tested the backup car here, and it shook down OK. We should be all right. We’ll get some laps on it in Happy Hour and see where we stack up.”

            Earlier in the day, KB came within seven-thousandths of a second in putting his Miller Lite Dodge on the pole.  Battling against the odds of having to go out 25th of 50 drivers, he turned in a lap of 49.247 seconds (182.752 mph) which was faster than any lap the remaining 25 drivers could muster.

            “I thought we had a shot at the pole,” KB said.  “We went for it, just had to do it in the heat of the day. We made a valiant effort (and) to be third, that was a great showing.  Man, it’s bittersweet. It was right there, but it was 17 degrees cooler when the 31 car and the 07 car went out.”

            KB was referring to Jeff Burton (31 car), who was the second driver to hit the track and won the pole with a lap of 49.240 seconds (182.778 mph) and Clint Bowyer (07 car), who was sixth in the order and took the second starting spot with his 49.242-second (182.771 mph) lap.

            “We missed the pole by seven thousandths (of a second), but what I do have on my side is driving for Roger Penske on Sunday, and I hope that all comes into play for us.”  KB said.  “There was the phone call that came in Friday morning from Roger.  He reminded me that they won here in May (laughs), so we’ve got a little work to do and hopefully we can pull off the double that he was talking about here on Sunday.”

            Kasey Kahne will start fourth, with Jimmie Johnson fifth, J.J. Yeley sixth, Greg Biffle seventh, Ryan Newman eighth, Robby Gordon ninth and Kevin Harvick 10th.

            Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard has a scheduled 2:30 p.m. start.  NBC-TV and the IMS Radio Network will provide live coverage of the race beginning at 2:00 p.m. EDT.

# # #