NASCAR NCTS (CHARLOTTE) - Craftsman Truck Series News And Notes

• Kyle Busch Eying Third Consecutive Win At Lowe’s

• LMS Race Starts Seven-Week Stretch

• Series Approaches 300th Race

• Fike Tops Rookie Standings

‘Rowdy’ Busch Looks For Third Straight At LMS

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 14, 2007) – When Kyle Busch pulled into Victory Lane in the No. 51 Chevrolet at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last season, the name “Rowdy” Busch was painted above his window.

Busch, a long-time Days of Thunder fan, had the name put there in honor of “Rowdy Burns,” the character who drove the No. 51 in the movie.

This weekend, Busch is back in the No. 51 Chevrolet for Friday’s Quaker Steak and Lube 200 presented by Circle K – and so is “Rowdy”.

Busch will be aiming for his third consecutive win at Lowe’s, a task he knows is difficult.

“Its going to be really tough,” Busch said. “You have plenty of good guys out here. We’re just trying to work with what we have to make it three-in-a-row.”

Although three consecutive wins at one track is not a series record, it is rare. Jack Sprague (No. 60 Con-way Toyota) (Phoenix 1996-97) and Ted Musgrave (No. 9 Team ASE Toyota) (California 2001-03) are the only other drivers to accomplish it. Brendan Gaughan (No. 77 South Point Hotel Chevrolet) holds the series record with four straight wins at Texas Motor Speedway from 2002-03.

Busch competed in seven races last season, putting together impressive results. He finished in the top 10 in all seven and had three top-five finishes.

“You come over here wanting to have some fun and race hard and do a good job,” Busch said. “That is what we’re going to do.”

Teams Eager For Seven-Race Stretch

Friday night’s race will be the first of seven in consecutive weekends – the longest stretch on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule. The first five races of the season have been spread over three months, which has given teams the opportunity to brainstorm and fine-tune.

“It has given us a lot of time to go back to the shop and make some different changes to our trucks each week,” said series veteran Dennis Setzer (No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet). “Hopefully we can get all of that together and put it to some use these next seven races in a row.”

Rick Crawford (No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford) and his Circle Bar Racing team have put the early off-weeks to good use as well.

“We have had a lot of work to do at Circle Bar Racing,” Crawford said. “The off-weeks have been a welcome, because we’ve been trying to build our truck inventory.

“When the season first starts, you always look at the schedule and try to have yourself ready to go when that long stretch starts. We’re coming to Charlotte ready to go put on a great show for the fans.”

That is not to say that the team is looking ahead at upcoming races.

“Charlotte is first; we’ll worry about the rest of them later,” Crawford said.

NCTS Notebook: 300th Race Nears; Darnell Wins Again

Countdown to 300: Hornaday Wins 100th at Evergreen … The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will race for the 300th time on June 1 in the AAA Insurance 300 at Dover International Speedway. The race will feature six full-time drivers that competed in the series’ 100th race - the NAPACARD 200 at Evergreen (Wash.) Speedway on April 3,1999.

Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet) and team owner Dale Earnhardt shared a $100,000 bonus posted by sponsor Craftsman for winning at Evergreen. Hornaday, who started on the pole after qualifying was canceled due to weather, battled 1997 champion Jack Sprague in the early going and Butch Miller in the latter stages of the 200-lap race around the .646-mile oval. He took the lead for good at Lap 162, edging Sprague by 2.509 seconds to win his second consecutive race.

Both drivers, as well as Miller and Rick Carelli were eligible to collect the Craftsman bonus, having run all 99 races leading up to the milestone event. Carelli finished sixth, Miller 16th.

Hornaday was the defending series champion at the time, but Sprague went on to win his second series title.

Darnell Wins Again … Just two weeks after his win at Kansas Speedway, Erik Darnell (No. 99 Northern Tool-Equipment Ford) drove to Victory Lane again. Only this time, he did it in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.

Darnell’s Kansas win was the first of his career and was the quickest of a non-winning Raybestos Rookie of the Year, taking only 31 starts.

Darnell is currently 10th in the standings.

Huffman To Make Season Debut … NASCAR Busch Series driver Shane Huffman will make his season debut in the No. 40 Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet for Key Motorsports at Lowe’s. Huffman ran four of the last five events of 2006 for Key Motorsports; his best finish was 20th at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Mike Bliss and Clay Rogers have split driving duties for the first five races. Bliss has the best finish – 10th at California Speedway.

Fike Happy With Start Of Rookie Season

Five races into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, Aaron Fike (No. 1 Red Horse Racing Toyota) is right where he wants to be. He leads the Raybestos Rookie of the Year race by 17 points and is 11th in the standings, seven points out of 10th-place.

“I think everything has gone really well so far,” Fike said. “My goals coming into the season were to run in the top 10 in points, win rookie of the year and I’d like to win a pole … a race win would be nice too.”

Fike has finished in the top 10 in consecutive races and led six laps at Kansas – the first lead he has had in 57 NASCAR races (including 52 NASCAR Busch Series starts). He also knows that he could be doing better in the standings.

“We should have more top 10s; we’ve run up front almost every race,” Fike said.

The Loop Data backs him up. Fike’s Average Running Position is 11.925, eighth-best in the series. He is quick to give the credit to his team.

“I’m just happy to be with a good team,” Fike said. “Red Horse Racing is giving me a good truck every weekend. Hopefully we can just keep the momentum going. When you’re running good you want to be out there racing every weekend.”

Despite his early success, Fike knows how tough the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is.

“This series is one of the most competitive in racing,” Fike said. “You have a lot of good veterans out there and there are almost 20 different trucks that can win any week.”

Raybestos Rookie Of The Year Standings

Driver Points 1. Aaron Fike 59 2. Willie Allen 42 3. Tyler Walker 41 4. Kelly Bires 37 5. Blake Bjorklund 36 6. Joey Clanton 35 7. Tim Sauter 35 8. Jason White 12 9. Casey Kingsland 5 10. Brian Sockwell 1

Toyota Leads Manufacturers’ Standings

Toyota has picked up where it left off last year with an early lead in the Manufacturers’ Standings. Toyotas have won four of the five races this season, including the season-opener by Jack Sprague and three straight by Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota). Last year Toyota had 12 wins and won its first-ever Manufacturers’ Championship.

Erik Darnell picked up the first Ford win of the season at Kansas. Chevrolet and Dodge are searching for their first wins. Ron Hornaday, runner-up at California, has the best Chevrolet finish of the season; Ken Schrader’s 12th-place finish at Martinsville is the best for Dodge.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Manufacturers' Championship

Toyota 42 Ford 29 Chevrolet 24 Dodge 15

In The Loop: Busch Tops Loop Data Charts

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway the past two years has become Kyle Busch versus the field.

Busch, who will step into a Craftsman Truck for the 26th time in his career, has won the past two races at LMS and has made the annual race an Us vs. Him extravaganza, pitting the Craftsman Truck regulars against the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series star.

Busch has shown his brilliance the past two years, collecting some impressive stats. He holds the top rank in Average Running Position (3.082), Driver Rating (147.9 – the maximum is 150.0), Fastest Laps Run (81), Green Flag Speed and Laps in the Top 15 (264).

But it’s not as if Busch has stolen the show with ease.

Terry Cook is one driver who has consistently vied for the Lowe’s Motor Speedway title. He was the runner-up in each of the past two years and ranks near the top of many Loop Data categories. Cook has an Average Running Position of 6.432 (second-best), a Driver Rating of 119.0 (second-best) and the third-fastest Green Flag Speed.

Then there’s the hard-luck case of Mike Skinner. Over the past two races at LMS, Skinner has started twice from the pole and led a total of 78 laps, but has an average finish of 28.5 to show for it. Skinner got caught in an accident in 2005 and blew an engine last year. Otherwise, his Lowe’s runs have been solid. Skinner has an Average Running Position of 8.473 (fourth-best), a Driver Rating of 110.4 (third-best) and 26 Fastest Laps Run (second-most).

This Week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders (Through 5 races of the 25-race season)

* Points leader – Mike Skinner (905) * Driver Rating – Mike Skinner (132.3) * Winnings – Mike Skinner ($228,925) * Laps led – Mike Skinner (423) * Victories – Mike Skinner (3) * Budweiser Poles – Mike Skinner (3) * Top-five finishes – Mike Skinner (5) * Top-10 finishes – 3 drivers with 5 * Raybestos Rookie Leader – Aaron Fike (12 over Willie Allen) * Races led – Mike Skinner (5) * Weeks in Top 10 – 9 drivers tied with 5

FAST FACTS

Next Race: Quaker Steak & Lube 200 presented by Circle K The Place: Lowe’s Motor Speedway The Date: May 18 The Time: 9 p.m. (ET) TV: SPEED, 8:30 p.m. (ET) Track Layout: 1.5-mile paved oval Race Purse: $544,474 2006 Winner: Kyle Busch 2006 Pole: Mike Skinner

Pos. Driver Pts 1 Skinner 905 2 Bodine 797 3 Crawford 777 4 Hornaday 751 5 Sprague 734 6 Musgrave 727 7 Benson 703 8 Crafton 683 9 Kvapil 653 10 Darnell 644

Schedule: Friday – Practice 10 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.; 11:20 a.m.. – 11:40 a.m. (rookies) and 11:50 a.m. – 12:50 p.m. Qualifying 4:35 p.m.