RICHMOND RACER: Busch has scored three top-10 finishes in his six Richmond starts. He possesses an average start of 10th and an average finish of 10.7 at the. 75-mile short track.
SHORT-TRACK STANDOUT: Of Busch’s seven Busch Series wins, three of them have been earned at short tracks. His career first, at Richmond in 2004, was followed by a win at Indianapolis Raceway Park later that season. Busch’s latest Busch Series win was earned at Bristol (Tenn. ) Motor Speedway in April 2006.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU: Busch, once NASCAR’s youngest driver, celebrates his 22nd birthday on Wednesday, May 2. He holds the record for youngest Rookie of the Year in NASCAR Busch Series history, which he earned at the age of 19.
MARK MARTIN AT DARLINGTON: Mark Martin will take over the reigns of the No. 5 Chevrolet next weekend at Darlington (S. C.) Raceway. Martin will drive the Hendrick Autoguard/hendrickcars.com Chevy in the May 11 race, marking the first of his three Busch Series events with Hendrick Motorsports this season.
CHASSIS 318: Crew chief Mike Bumgarner has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 318 for Friday’s Busch Series race at Richmond. This car finished third at Kansas Speedway last September.
KYLE BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 STA-GREEN/BUSCH GARDENS CHEVROLET: (ON HIS SPONSOR THIS WEEKEND, BUSCH GARDENS. ) “I’ve always loved roller coasters. They get your adrenaline flowing. It’s kind of like being in the race car. It’s exciting to have a theme park like Busch Gardens get involved with the team and with NASCAR in general. Hopefully sometime this year I’ll get a chance to check out some of the coasters they have at the parks. I don’t know if they can compare to what I went through in Talladega, but I’m sure they’ll be more fun. “
BUSCH: (ON HIS FIRST CAREER VICTORY AT RICHMOND IN 2004. ) “Richmond had just gotten brand new pavement before that race. We led a ton of laps and tied Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. ‘s record for most laps led there. We went on to win, just barely beating Greg Biffle. It was a very special night for us. Ricky (Hendrick) was there, and my crew chief Lance McGrew did a great job throughout the entire race. We just had a good solid race that night. “
BUSCH: (ON HIS SPECTACULAR BUSCH SERIES ACCIDENT AT TALLADEGA. ) “I’m really grateful for the safety provisions that NASCAR and my team have built into these race cars. I’ve never been on my roof before. The wreck in the Busch Series race last week was the worst wreck me or my team have ever been involved in. Restrictor plate races breed those types of wrecks and I’m lucky to be OK. NASCAR and Talladega Superspeedway track officials might consider paving the grassy area on the backstretch to prevent this from happening again. The car didn’t start flipping until it hit the grass. I guess I was ‘The Big One. ’”
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