but first, these notes of interest:
--Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch and his Pat Tryson-led Penske Racing Team will be racing their brand new PSC-557 Dodge Charger in the Samsung 500 this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. "It's another one of the latest design of our COT Dodge Chargers," Pat explained. "It's pretty much a carbon-copy of the car we debuted at Atlanta. "We think we can get out to Texas and be really respectable."
--Kurt, Pat and crew hitting the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway tri-oval on Wednesday (April 2) in preparation for this weekend's return to Texas. "It's (the Wednesday test at the north-central Kentucky track) timely because we're coming off the disappointing day we had last Sunday at Martinsville and important because we need all the track time that we can get in our effort to get a handle on this new Dodge Charger," said Pat. "The time at the track will give us an opportunity to regroup and get everything clicking again before we head out to Texas.
Rather than chance anything happening, we're actually testing the Atlanta car (PSC-554) at Kentucky and saving the new piece (PSC-557) for this weekend."
--After all the controversy concerning tires in the most-recent intermediate-sized track race, the March 9 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta, the tire situation will definitely be a big topic this weekend at Texas. "Texas will certainly be interesting, especially since we are scheduled to be racing the same tire that Goodyear had at the track last fall," Kurt said. "The only problems we saw with tires in that race were caused by guys running over debris. The tire wear was great and it was pretty smooth sailing for everyone. This new car puts a different demand on tires. We saw what happened at Atlanta when the tires were really rock-hard. I guess that the big question to be answered this weekend is how these cars will race on the softer Goodyears. Hopefully it'll play out well and we have no problems there on Sunday." Pat summed the situation up like this. "We have faith in Goodyear to do what's best," he said. "Regardless of how the situation turns out, we'll maintain the attitude of it's all the same deal for everybody."
--Kurt's "Quick-Stats" entering Texas (courtesy of NASCAR PR):
· One top five, seven top 10s
· Average finish of 12.0
· Average Running Position of 13.1, eighth-best
· Driver Rating of 98.0, fifth-best
· 87 Fastest Laps Run, tied for eighth-most
· 343 Green Flag Passes, fifth-most
· 1,464 (72.9%) Laps in the Top 15, fourth-most
· 222 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), fourth-most
--Kurt successful in picking the Final Four in the NCAA basketball action: "NASCAR's PR guys asked us for our predictions just before March Madness began and I told them then that I thought I'd have to go with North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA and Memphis making up the Final Four," Kurt said on Monday night. "I'm proud that I predicted that and it came true, but I really hated to see Davidson lose to Kansas, or to anybody for that matter. That was such a great story and the Curry kid helped really put them on the map. I'm a big Pac-10 fan because of growing up in Vegas and going to Tucson (University of Arizona) for a year. I said a couple of weeks ago that I thought I'd be pulling for my Pac-10 UCLA Bruins, but that Memphis would win it all and I'm sticking by that prediction. North Carolina has looked like they are unbeatable so far in the tournament. My thinking is that they sooner or later have to have one off game. I think it'll be when they meet Memphis in the finals and Memphis will take advantage of the situation."
--After six races during the 2007 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, Kurt was 17th in the point standings. He trailed then-leader Jeff Gordon by 342 points, but was only 26 points behind 12th-place Jamie McMurray. He had non wins, no top-fives and one top-10 finish. His average start was 17.2 and average finish was 21.0. Currently, Kurt is 16th in points. He trails leader Kyle Busch by 246 points and is 71 points behind 12th-place Clint Bowyer. He has a 28.8 average start and a 18.2 average finish.
--Kurt scheduled to meet the fans and sign autographs this Thursday afternoon at the Wal-Mart location in Roanoke, Texas. The store is located just 3.5 miles east of Texas Motor Speedway on the north side of the intersection of Texas Rt. 114 and U.S. Highway 377. Kurt is scheduled to be signing autographs at the gigantic Miller Lite display in the store from 3:30 p.m. till 4:45 p.m. Wal-Mart store No. 5247's address is 1228 North Highway 377,Roanoke, TX 76262. The phone number for additional details is (682) 831-9338.
--Kurt's visit to his souvenir trailer at Texas Motor Speedway this Sunday will mark the 252nd time in the last 255 races that he has been out on race day mornings to meet the fans and sign autographs. His continuing tradition began during his first full year on the Cup circuit back in 2001. Kurt is tentatively scheduled to be at his souvenir trailer from 9:30 a.m. till 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. Please verify that time by visiting the trailer in advance and picking up the free tickets for the autograph line.
--No. 9 car again gets the odds nod from Vegas…Following a very trying race last week at Martinsville, the #2 Miller Lite Dodge heads to Fort Worth this weekend looking to continue its recent run of success at this fast 1.5 mile oval. The #9 Budweiser Dodge also had its share of struggles last Sunday, but now has a 5-1 lead head to head in "The Battle of the Beers" based upon the weekly line established by The Palms Casino Resort. If the race at the similarly configured Atlanta Motor Speedway is any indication however, this weekend's beer war should be quite a spirited battle. Sports book representative for The Palms Casino Resort, Fred Crespi, had this to say about setting the line for this race: "Both the Miller Lite Dodge and the Budweiser Dodge have always been known for loving to just go fast...put the pedal on the floor and hope it sticks. What better venue than Texas Motor Speedway to showcase that? The Blue Deuce came home 11th at Atlanta, while the #9 car finished 28th. Kurt Busch also has an impressive average finish of 12th at Texas, but based on current form and overall results, we had to make the 9 car the favorite for this race by 3.5 positions. We shouldn't be surprised if each car ends up finishing right between that number on Sunday."
--"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." –Will Rogers
BUSCH HOPING NEW CAR & KENTUCKY TEST SPELL SUCCESS AT TEXAS
-Miller Lite Dodge Team Hoping To Bounce Back In Sunday's Samsung 500 At Texas Motor Speedway-
JUSTIN, Tex. (April 1, 2008) – Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch and his Pat Tryson-led team are hoping that a new car coupled with a mid-week test at Kentucky Speedway will spell success in Sunday's Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
"A single test at Kentucky is certainly not going to totally get us up to speed working with this new breed of car we're racing this year, but hopefully we can learn some things that make us more competitive this weekend at Texas," said Busch, who fell to 16th in the Sprint Cup standings after last Sunday's 33rd-place finish at Martinsville, Va. "We finished 11th at Atlanta and that gives us a big boost in thinking we can be even more competitive at Texas.
"The additional track time at Kentucky with this new car may help to get us up to the next level as far as the competition goes," said Busch, who started 17th and finished 11th in last year's spring race at T.M.S. "I'll be the first to admit that our team as a whole appears to be behind several of the other teams so far this season, so we're all hustling just as hard as we can to catch up.
"Texas will certainly be interesting, especially since we are scheduled to be racing the same tire that Goodyear had at the track last fall," said Busch. "The only problems we saw with tires in that race were caused by guys running over debris. The tire wear was great and it was pretty smooth sailing for everyone.
"This new car puts a different demand on tires," continued Busch. "We saw what happened at Atlanta when the tires were really rock-hard. I guess that the big question to be answered this weekend is how these cars will race on the softer Goodyears. Hopefully it'll play out well and we have no problems there on Sunday."
Crew chief Tryson is quick to label the Kentucky test as "timely and important."
"It's timely because we're coming off the disappointing day we had last Sunday at Martinsville and important because we need all the track time that we can get in our effort to get a handle on this new Dodge Charger," said Tryson. "The time at the track will give us an opportunity to regroup and get everything clicking again before we head out to Texas.
"The new car we're rolling out at Texas is pretty much a carbon-copy of the car we debuted at Atlanta," Tryson explained. "Rather than chance anything happening, we're actually testing the Atlanta car at Kentucky and saving the new piece for this weekend.
"We think we can get out to Texas and be really respectable," said Tryson. "I'm sure there'll be a lot of talk about tires this weekend, especially in light of what happened at Atlanta. We have faith in Goodyear to do what's best. Regardless of how the situation turns out, we'll maintain the attitude of it's all the same deal for everybody."
In 10 career starts on the 1.5-mile Texas track, Busch has recorded one top-five finish and seven top-10s. He has a 14.9 average start and a 12.0 average finish.
Friday's practice from 12:00 Noon till 1:30 p.m. kicks off this weekend's action at Texas Motor Speedway. Qualifying to establish the starting grid for Sunday's battle is set for Friday at 3:40 p.m. local (live on SPEED-TV and PRN Radio). Saturday's morning practice is scheduled from 11:00 a.m. till 11:45 a.m. and the final "happy hour" practice session is scheduled from 12:20 p.m. till 1:20 p.m. Sunday's Samsung 500 (334 laps, 501 miles) has a scheduled 1:00 p.m. CDT starting time here on this 1.5-mile Dallas/Fort Worth Area speed plant. FOX-TV and PRN Radio will provide live coverage of all the action.
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