Busch Earns Top-10 Starting Position In Busch Series Debut

FORTH WORTH, Texas (April 6, 2006) - Kurt Busch, making his NASCAR Busch Series debut in a Penske Truck Rental Dodge, posted the seventh fastest lap in qualifying Thursday for this weekend's O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch recorded a 186.793-mph, 28.909-second lap in the qualifying session that had 46 drivers attempt to make the field for Saturday's race. Denny Hamlin claimed the pole in his Chevrolet with a lap of 187.904 mph, or 28.738 seconds.

        "That was a great run for our Penske Truck Rental Dodge," Busch said. "We really picked up from practice."

         Busch and his Matt Gimbel-led team were ninth fastest in the first practice session and third quickest in the final one, both on Thursday.

         "It was Matt's call to make a few changes between practice and qualifying and they really worked, bringing the car up to the max for our qualifying run," Busch said. "We looked at a small spring change and made some air pressure adjustments and that made the car perfect."

         Penske Racing South teammate Ryan Newman, who won the pole for last fall's Busch Series race at the 1.5-mile track, spent some time Thursday with Busch and the team with which he competed in races at California and Atlanta earlier this year.

        "This is a whole lot of fun; we're having a blast," Busch continued. "I really enjoy working with Matt and his guys over here. They prepared a great car for this race.

        "We should be in great shape. We have the car adjustable to the point that I think we can be running up there in the front no matter what conditions we face here on Saturday.

         "This is a great team over here and I'm proud to be driving for them."

         The Texas Busch Series race is an impound event. Now that the cars have been qualified and the starting grid determined, the crews cannot touch the cars until Saturday morning and then only minimal changes are allowed.

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