Nobody wants to be seen as a one-hit wonder.
As Kyle Busch Motorsports heads into the anniversary of its first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Nashville Superspeedway, General Manager and Competition Director Rick Ren believes – so far, anyway – the team is avoiding the dreaded sophomore slump.
“We had a long talk over the winter with everybody (on the team) and let them know everybody is expecting us to stub our toes (in 2011),” said Ren, whose team became just the second to win the series owners’ championship in its first season.
There’s no sign the organization has stumbled into the current season. Busch won February’s race at Phoenix International Raceway. Kasey Kahne repeated as a winner at Darlington Raceway last month.
No surprise: KBM is the owners’ championship leader heading into Friday night’s Bully Hill Vineyards 200. The No. 18 Toyota has a 14 point lead over Kevin Harvick Inc.’s No. 2 Chevrolet team.
Ren admitted the team lost some good personnel over the winter but promotion from within has kept the organization on track.
“Everybody’s focus is on winning races in 2011,” he said. “We’ve achieved that and it’s a pretty good thing.”
Only one other owner has won consecutive titles: Steve Coulter in 2002-03, with Mike Bliss and Travis Kvapil.
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