KURT BUSCH FINISHES A STRONG SEVENTH AT TALLADEGA
-Miller Lite Dodge Driver Led Race With 25 Laps Remaining; Now 102 Points Out Of 10th- 

TALLADEGA, Ala.  (May 1, 2006) – Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch displayed winning potential in today’s Aaron’s 499 here at Talladega Superspeedway, but was very well satisfied with a seventh-place finish.

            “It was a really good day for our Miller Lite Dodge team,” said Busch, after posting just his second top-10 finish in the nine NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races held so far in the 2006 season.  “We had the car to beat with 25 laps to go, but the cautions bit us.  We had the lead and finally had them all strung out single file.

            “With the way our luck has gone the last few races, we’ll take that seventh and leave here with smiles on all our faces,” continued Busch, who moved up to 16th in the point standings after today’s weather-delayed race.  “It feels good to see us perform so well as a team, like we did here today.  We just need to keep this momentum and go on to Richmond and have another great run there.”

            Busch started today’s race from the fifth spot.  He was fortunate to be running in front of the tight four and five-wide racing that helped trigger an accident on the eighth lap of the race that involved some 15 cars, including Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman.

            Busch’s PRS-066 Dodge Charger was strong enough in the early going to climb to the front and lead for the first time on Lap 25.  With drafting help from drivers including Matt Kenseth and Elliott Sadler, Busch was able to remain in the top five until a round of green-flag stops saw him hit pit road on Lap 75. 

            Busch and his Roy McCauley-led Miller Lite Team overcame what could have been a disastrous situation after that trip down pit road.  NASCAR officials deduced that all the lugnuts had not been replaced on the left rear tire, forcing Busch to hit pit road again under the green on Lap 81.  After the missing lugnut was replaced, Busch rejoined the action running in the 27th spot and almost falling a lap down to the leaders.

            The No. 2 crew got the break they needed when Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun on Lap 89 to bring out the third caution period of the race.  That allowed Busch to circle the track and catch up to the rear of the field before hitting pit road once again the following lap.  A lightning-fast 13.102-second four-tire pit stop had Busch back up to 11th for the Lap 94 restart. 

            With 29 cars still running on the lead lap with 50 laps remaining, Busch had fought his way all the way back up to fourth and with 30 laps to go, he made a daring move to the inside to grab the lead from Jeff Gordon.  Drafting mate Kenseth dashed by Gordon on the outside and hooked up single file with Busch up front on Lap 163. 

            It was Busch leading a 10-car single-file breakaway up front with less than 25 laps remaining.  The Miller Lite Dodge appeared to be strong enough to win if the race would have stayed green until the finish.

            That would not be the case, however, as Bobby Labonte’s blown engine brought out the seventh yellow flag of the day with 23 laps remaining.  While several teams elected not to pit, most of the lead group, including Busch, Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers and Jeff Burton, elected to hit pit road once again for four tires and fuel.

“You have a hard time holding people off when you don’t have good tires, so I’m confident that we made the right decision there,” Busch later said after the race.  “We were poised for victory today. We had a good sniff at it, but we’ll go play again in Daytona.”

            Busch lined up 16th on the restart with 18 laps remaining in the race and hoped the race would stay green until the finish so that the new tire advantage would pay off.  However, another multi-car crash only four laps later brought out the eighth and final caution of the event.  The necessary cleanup set up the restart on Lap 180, with only eight laps for Busch to get the job done. 

            Busch was ninth on the restart and got as far back up the running order as second before getting shuffled back to seventh at the finish.

            At the checkered flag, it was Johnson coming home the winner, with Tony Stewart second, Vickers third, Burton fourth and Jamie McMurray fifth.  Kenseth finished sixth, with Busch seventh, Carl Edwards eighth, Scott Riggs ninth and Robby Gordon 10th.

            After nine races have now been completed on the 2006 NASCAR tour, Johnson is the points leader with 1,394 points.  Kenseth is second with 1,373, Stewart third with 1,316, Kasey Kahne fourth with 1,213 and Mark Martin fifth with 1,210.  Busch climbed up to 16th with 964 points.  He trails 10th-place Dale Jarrett by 102 points.

            The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup tour now heads to Richmond International Raceway for next Saturday night’s 400-lap battle on that .750-mile oval track.

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