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CUP: Big Weekend For Kyle Busch
Written by: Tom Jensen   
11/06/2009
Fort Worth, TX
 
Kyle Busch will pull triple duty this weekend racing in the NASCAR Camping World, Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series at Texas. (Photo: LAT Photographic) ยป More Photos

Love him or hate him, Kyle Busch comes to race every single weekend, and this one is no exception.

Busch, the 25-year-old Las Vegas native, will compete in all three of NASCAR’s top divisions this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, starting with Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.

So far this year, Busch has won 17 races in NASCAR’s top three divisions, and he has an outside shot at matching or even eclipsing his own record of 21 victories set last year. Although to reach that lofty total again, presumably would require a couple of victories this weekend on the fast 1.5-mile Texas oval.

He’s certainly capable of doing it here. Busch has won three consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Texas in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camrys. And he’s finished second twice in a row in Billy Ballew’s Toyota Tundras in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

“In the Truck Series and Nationwide Series, Texas has been a pretty good place for me,” said Busch. “I have qualified well there in the Trucks and I have finished second twice. I think we’ve got a great shot of being able to sweep both Nationwide Series races at Texas again this year, like we did in 2008. We have great cars at Joe Gibbs Racing and there’s no reason we won’t have a good shot. Besides that, we’ve got a third or fourth two out of the last three times in the Cup car, so it’s been good, as well. So, I am looking forward to keeping that run going at Texas.”

In the Nationwide Series, Busch leads Carl Edwards by 215 points with three races to go. If Busch wins at Texas and leads the most laps, and Edwards finishes 19th or worse without leading a lap, all Busch will have to do to clinch the title is start the final two races of the season at Phoenix and Homestead.

“The Nationwide Series, we felt really good about,” said Busch. “Going in with (crew chief) Jason Ratcliff and all the guys on the 18 team, we’re really looking forward to these last three races. We feel like we’ve got a good chance at winning that championship. We really run well
at Texas. I like going to Phoenix since it’s out on the West Coast. It’s always fun out there. Last year, we ran second to our archrival Carl (Edwards) at Homestead. We feel really good about these last three races. It should be fun. Any championship in NASCAR is a big thing and, for me, it would be my first championship, period.”

As if Busch didn’t already have a lot going on, Texas will be his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race with new crew chief Dave Rogers, who is replacing Steve Addington.

“Dave and I have worked together on the Nationwide side before, so we have a sense of what we need from each other and what we need to talk about,” said Busch. “It might be a bit of a learning curve for Dave, so that’s going to be the biggest thing, probably Dave getting ready and getting everything and all his paperwork in order for this new car. For me, it will be just talking with Dave, spending some more time with him, trying to get everything going. That’s going to be the biggest thing in these final races, just trying to prepare ourselves and trying to get ready for 2010.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED, and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



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