KURT BUSCH STARTING 13TH AT RICHMOND ON SATURDAY
-Miller Lite Dodge Driver Says Car Is Ready For First Short-Track “Impound” Race Of 2006-

RICHMOND, Va.  (May 5, 2006) – Kurt Busch will start his Miller Lite Dodge from the 13th starting spot in Saturday’s Crown Royal 400 after turning in a lap of 126.062 mph (21.418 seconds) in today’s qualifying session here at Richmond International Raceway.

            “Man, the clouds rolled in there at the end and the temperature must have dropped about 15 degrees,” said Busch, who was second fastest in this afternoon’s practice session.  It was definitely a big bonus to have been a really late qualifier here today.  We won’t complain.  We’ll be fine for the race.

“This is the first time this year on a regular racetrack that we’ve had the impound, and our team really focused on the race setup,” Busch continued.  “We had two race setups in it in practice, and we kind of married the two together. I think we’ll have a good run with the Miller Lite Dodge. We’ve got to make the right decisions when to pit and get the two-tire and four-tire stuff right. It was a good run for us. The big thing with impounds is you don’t want to qualify too good. Then your race setup will end up going away on you, so that should be a nice, solid spot for us.”

Greg Biffle took the pole position with his lap of 127.395 mph (21.194 seconds).  Mark Martin will go from the outside-front-row spot after clocking in with a 127.029 mph (21.255 second lap).  Casey Mears starts third, with Brian Vickers fourth and Jimmie Johnson fifth.  Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top 10.  Matt Kenseth, Kyle Petty, KB, Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton completed today’s top 15 qualifiers.

Saturday’s Crown Royal 400 (400 laps/300 miles) has a 7:30 p.m. EDT starting time and features live coverage by FX-TV and MRN Radio.

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