Kurt Busch - NASCAR Cup Series Preview Dover
May 27, 2008
--Kurt, Pat and crew are testing their PSC-550 and PSC-557 Miller Lite Dodge Chargers at Pocono. The "550 car" debuted at Darlington earlier this month where Kurt qualified fifth and finished 12th. The "557 car" was the car that debuted at Texas back in April.
--Kurt, Pat and the Miller Lite Team are racing their PSC-569 Dodge Charger this weekend at Dover. It is another brand new "second-generation" car out of Penske Racing's Mooresville, N.C., shops and will be debuting this weekend on the "Monster Mile."
--Kurt on the incident that occurred during last year's June Dover race that resulted in a 100-point penalty and probation: "Man, I look back now and it seems like that June Dover race last year was light-years ago," Kurt said. "It was a situation of two drivers racing extremely hard, probably too hard at that point in the race. It was a situation of no take and give like we should have been doing. After I got crashed, I just let my emotions take over and I know I shouldn't have let that happen. That was definitely a bone-head move I pulled on pit road, I'll admit that. But every time I've seen the video, the theatrics always seem to make the situation even worse than it probably was. We learned from the experience, for sure, but it's a thrill to look back and see how far our team was able to go after it happened. I look back on that race now and I have to point to it as a major turning point for our season last year. It was a perfect example of, 'We've got to get it in gear and we've got to make this Chase.' It was like a kick in the pants that put us on a pretty amazing stretch of races to make the Chase. It feels like an eternity ago that it did happen because of all the good things that happened during the remainder of the season."
--The Grand Opening of the new Kurt Busch Superdome at the Victory Junction Gang Camp last Tuesday was a heart-warming success. "Just to see all those kids in there smiling like they were made it all worthwhile in my mind," said Kurt. For the News 14 Carolina report on the ribbon-cutting & highlights of the event, please click here:
http://news14.com/content/top_stories/595907/kurt-busch-superdome-unveiled/Default.aspx
--Media members are invited to join Kurt, Pat and the Miller Lite Dodge crew on Friday night at Bubba's in Dover for some cold Miller Lites and to check out the new "Wii Miller Lite Racing Pit Crew Game." Consumers who can beat the Crew's times will win prizes and there will be an overall champion who will get a "grand prize." Kurt is set to participate, also. The event is open to the general public and will begin at approximately 8:00 p.m. EDT. Media members who would like to attend should contact Deron Nardo at dnardo@digcommunications.com or at (847) 707-2859.
--Kurt's 16th-place finish in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 was his best since his 11th in the event during his 2004 championship season. He finished 43rd in 2005, 39th in 2006 and 32nd in 2007. "The 600 has not been too kind for us over the last few years and it was great to finally finish the entire race for a change," Kurt said. "Those finishes don't represent how strong our cars have been. Just like there on Sunday when we led laps and appeared to have a solid top-five or top-10 run going, something happened like blowing a tire or having engine problems and that cost us a good finish. The 600 is a grueling race and we're definitely examples of having strong cars in the first half of the race, but not being our strongest when it counted most." Kurt started on the outside pole in last year's 600 and led two times for 107 laps before crashing out after 296 laps. In the 2006 edition, he crashed early in the race but returned. In the 2005 Coke 600, he started 35th and only completed 26 laps before an accident relegated him to the garage.
--The first of the 2008 "Ride With Kurt" events is scheduled for Wednesday, June 11, from 12 noon till 4:00 p.m. local time at Chicagoland Speedway. "We've added a little twist to it this season in that I'm inviting a special guest driver to come and help me out," said Kurt. "For Chicago, I'm pleased to announce that Mark Martin will be joining me for the event. I've always respected Mark as much as any driver I have ever known and I am thrilled that he agreed to be there. I know that the fans will get an extra kick out of Mark being there and it will certainly add to the excitement for the day." The high-speed, white-knuckle rides with Kurt and Mark behind the wheel will be in a special NASCAR Nextel Cup-style stock car provided by event sponsor - the Richard Petty Driving Experience. For complete event information and to purchase one of these exciting experiences, please visit www.kurtbusch.com, send an email to ridewithkurt@kurtbusch.com, or call 704-799-2428. All proceeds will go to the Kurt Busch Foundation, which just opened the Kurt Busch Superdome last Tuesday at the Victory Junction Gang Camp.
--Kurt, Pat and team are scheduled to test their new PSC-565 Miller Lite Dodge Charger again on Wednesday, June 4, at Road Atlanta, the 2.54-mile road course located in Braselton, Georgia. "We looked at several road courses to test our new road course car on and chose Road Atlanta because it offers a layout that should help us in preparing for both road course races this season. It has the ‘esses' and 12 turns, including one that runs downhill," Pat explained. "We were there last week (May 21) and got in a full day of testing. We think we learned some things that will help us when we get out to Sonoma (Infineon Raceway) for the race later on in June."
--Penske Racing's historic 300th major victory could come this Sunday, either in the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 IndyCar Series race at the Milwaukee Mile or in the Best Buy 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway. Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard teamed in an American Le Mans Series winning effort on May 18 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, to record Penske Racing's 299th major win.
--Kurt's visit to his souvenir trailer at Dover International Speedway this Sunday will mark the 258th time in the last 261 races that he has been out on race days to meet the fans and sign autographs. His continuing tradition began during his first full year on the Cup circuit back in 2001. Please verify the exact time of his 30-minute signing session by visiting the trailer in advance and picking up the free tickets for the autograph line.
--Kurt may still be looking for his first NASCAR Sprint Cup win and pole at Dover International Speedway, but the track certainly holds quite a bit of historical significance for the Miller Lite Dodge driver.
Kurt made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut during the September 2000 Dover racing weekend, a double-header adventure for the Las Vegas native that saw him post a remarkable winning performance in his only truck series start on the "Monster Mile."
"That was a pretty cool weekend for a 22-year-old kid there at Dover in 2000," Kurt recalled. "I was running for the Truck Series Rookie-of-the-Year and was third in the overall points when I got the call to drive the 97 car.
"My career was moving so fast back then," Kurt continued.