| | | | | | HIGH ROLLER | Kyle Busch returns to Las Vegas on a roll | |
|  | | CIA Stock Photo | In addition to leading the Cup standings, Kyle Busch also leads the Craftsman Truck Series standings -- the first driver in history to lead the Cup and truck standings at the same time -- and is second in the Nationwide Series standings. | | By Charles Krall / Sporting News The final six months of Kyle Busch’s 2007 Sprint Cup easily could be compared to the television program “Survivor.”
Busch is young and brash, never seemed to mesh with his tribe and ultimately was voted off the island.
In NASCAR terms, Busch, 22, didn’t fit into the Hendrick Motorsports mold, at times struggling to fit in with superstar teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. So when Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he was leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. for Hendrick, it was Busch who had his flame put out.
Two weeks into the new season, however, Busch is the ratings winner, not Earnhardt. Busch, now driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, leads the series standings for the first time in his career as he heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s UAW-Dodge 400. It’s a big weekend for Busch, a native of Las Vegas.
“This is probably one of the top five Sprint Cup races of the year for me,” Busch said. “It’s a fun place to race. The fans get to watch a great show at Las Vegas, and I am sure we’ll have a good time again.”
Busch has had a great time everywhere he has raced so far in 2008. In addition to leading the Cup standings, he also leads the Craftsman Truck Series standings -- the first driver in history to lead the Cup and truck standings at the same time -- and is second in the Nationwide Series standings. Busch has finished in the top five in every NASCAR start he has made in 2008 with his worst finish being two fourth-place runs in the Cup car.
“The biggest thing we try to do is get results and wins,” Busch said.
“We weren’t able to capitalize on that in either the Cup race or the Nationwide race at California, but in the truck we did. It just means we have a little bit of work to do. But you can’t really complain about starting six races and ending up in the top five in all of them.”
Meanwhile, Earnhardt is 23rd in the Cup standings after an early accident in California left him 47 laps off the pace. Earnhardt tangled with teammate Casey Mears, who, incidentally, moved into Busch’s No. 5 Chevy when Earnhardt joined Hendrick. Back-to-back finishes of 35th and 42nd have Mears 42nd in the standings.
There is reason to believe Busch will continue his streak of strong performances at his home track. He has three consecutive top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, including a runner-up finish in 2005. His
108.7 driver rating is third best over the past three years behind Johnson and Gordon.
Busch will have to dethrone three-time defending race winner Johnson if he is to pick up his first Cup win since last March. Johnson will try to become the first driver to win four consecutive Cup races at one track since he swept both races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 2004 and 2005.
“It would be great to get that fourth win, but we won’t approach this weekend any differently than we would at a track where we’ve never won,”
Johnson said. “We go into every weekend hoping to win, but so does every other team out there.
"I have every confidence in the equipment and the crew to get the job done. But anyone who’s ever been to Vegas will tell you you’ve got to have some luck on your side, too. If you’ve ever watched a poker tournament on TV you know even the most experienced players can get beat. We won’t take anything for granted.”
| | Posted February 28, 2008 , 10:23 pm EST
Last Updated February 28, 2008 , 10:26 pm EST | | | | | | | | | | |
