May 2008 Archives

It looks like the reason Haas/CNC Racing was caught with an unapporved wing before the Coca-Cola 600 last weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway, and consequently penalized by NASCAR, was because another team snitched on them.
Mark Martin said that would have never happened when he started his Cup career. If anything, teams would try to figure out how others were cheating and try to duplicate it.
"Back in the old days, we didn't turn each other in. We got like them, you know," said Martin, driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc. "That is what we did; our ethics were not to be a tattletale. If someone was doing something and getting away with it, we just did it too."
No harm, no foul. Just as long as no one else cried foul.
"But his is a different day and age," Martin said before the Cup race at Dover International Speedway. "You kind of felt like a man back then. You didn't tell on anybody. If they were getting away with something, you just did it too."
But NASCAR is different nowadays. WIth its new stock car, NASCAR does not want any team getting too creative and taking too many liberties with it. NASCAR says it's all in the name of safety, but it does take a degree of secrecy out of the sport.
"Certainly want to follow that same course of action in this day and age with the COT, with the penalty history and everything that is going on here. Things do change," Martin said. "Back then if you were doing something and it wasn't being policed or it wasn't whatever, then you figured it was fair game. If they wanted to stop it, they would address it, but now, it is different. It is a different time and day and age."

Kyle Busch will start Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in third. The leader in the Cup standings was asked after qualifying where his confidence level is compared to last year. He said he had good stuff at Hendrick Motorsports this time last year. But he has great stuff this year with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Even with a great team and great cars, Busch said he can sense other teams catching his.
"It feels like we're still on the front side of the competition but they're slowly creeping up on us," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "We about maxed out our car we feel like and don't have much more room to grow and everybody else probably hasn't maxed out their cars yet and still are growing. I'm not saying that we can but we probably need to try to find something else that is going to make these cars go faster so we can stay ahead of the competition."
He specifically said Carl Edwards' team at Roush Fenway Racing and the teams at Gillett Evernham Motorsports have closed the gap in recent races. Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Dodge at Gillett Evernham Motorsports, won the Cup race and the All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the past two weeks.
"We've seen Roush Racing catch up over the offseason and with Carl's win last year here. Over the offseason they've really stepped it up and been fast," Busch said. "Now Evernham last week at Charlotte -- they definitely kicked our butts in both races so we've got some work that we need to get going on."

It could be said that Dover International Speedway is the track that gave Jeff Burton a second chance.
He won the Cup race at Dover in September of 2006, ending a 176-race winless streak. It was his first Cup win with Richard Childress Racing and put him among the elite drivers in Cup. In his two races at Dover last year, he was seventh and 12th.
"Dover is an exceptionally fast race track," said Burton, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "For a mile-long race track, it generates a lot of speed. You're in the throttle a lot of the time, there's a lot of banking and you really have to work hard to get your car to turn well."
The car his team is bringing to Dover is the same car he had at Texas Motor Speedway. He started 35th and finished sixth at Texas.
Burton has one win this year, coming at Bristol, and is coming off a sixth place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway last weekend.
"We've run well this year," Burton said. "We haven't run great this year, but we've run really well. One of the key components that we look at is the driver rating - it's a pretty smart statistic to look at. If you look at the number of laps that we've run in the top 10, the number of quality passes that we've had, obviously we have been a top-five, top-six, top-seven car. We've had less trouble than other people have. We are a team that deserves to be where we are but we haven't led a lot of laps and we haven't put some of the fast lap times that some other teams have. Our strength has been that we've been good on the track."

Still no wins this year for Dale Earnhardt Jr., but his race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600 might be his best in years.
With a wrecked race car and gambling on fuel, Earnhardt Jr. nursed his car to a fifth-place finish and maintained his position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.
"I don't know if I have ever been that happy finishing fifth," said Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. "I was still a little unhappy because we were strong and had an awesome car, but we did finish fifth with a wrecked race car."
Earnhardt Jr. was quick to credit Tony Eury Jr., his crew chief, and his crew for giving him a chance to finish as high as he did.
"I have to hand it to Tony Jr. and the guys on my team," Earnhardt Jr. said. "They got that car fixed up for me to race another 100 laps, and we gambled on the fuel and finished fifth. Those cars are so, so aero-sensitive and hard to drive. It's hard to win these days. You earn 'em when you do, though."
The car his team is bringing to Dover International Speedway for Sunday's Cup race is the same car he raced at Bristol and Martinsville. It was fifth at Bristol and sixth at Martinsville.
"Dover should be a good track for us this weekend," Eury Jr. said. "We are busy with the Pocono test, but the Dover car is all set back at the shop, and it's done good for us at Martinsville and Bristol."

Some strange things have been happening to Denny Hamlin's cars in races this year. He's had problems at Bristol, Fontana and Richmond. He can add Lowe's Motor Speedway to the list after getting a flat tire at the end of the race that he said cost him a top 10 finish.
"We know we left something on the table at Bristol where we had fuel pickup problems, at California where we hit water on the track and at Richmond where we had a tire go down," said Hamlin, driver of No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "It's just freak things that go wrong but it's a part of this sport so there is no use dwelling on it. The fact that we've had race-winning cars gives us a lot of confidence moving forward -- we are hoping to hit our stride with 10 races to go."
With all the problems, Hamlin is still in the top five in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.
"Given the fact that we feel we missed some opportunities to win races or finish better than we did, to still be sitting in fourth is a good place to be," said Hamlin. "It was great to get a win at Martinsville but more important is the fact that we've been strong at all of the races, on all of the different types of tracks. But we know with as competitive as this sport is, there is no time to rest on what we've done. You need to improve as much as the other teams or you get left behind."
This weekend's race at Dover International Speedway will give Hamlin a chance to make up for a disappointing finish last year at the track. He led 61 laps, but was collected in a crash on lap 308 and ended up with a 38th place finish.
The car his team is bringing to Dover doesn't have that great of a track record. It's best finish has been a fifth place at Texas Motor Speedway. It was 15th in its debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway and was 23rd in the All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

In four career Cup races at Dover International Speedway, Clint Bowyer has finished as high as eighth and as low as 17th. Those are pretty consistent numbers. Additionally, Bowyer won a NASCAR Busch Series race at Dover last year.
"Dover is one of those tracks where you want to win," said Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "At some of these mile-and-a-half tracks, you're only as good as the equipment and you really don't have much of a say so. At places like Bristol, Dover, Daytona and Talladega, you have to make things happen. If the car isn't handing, you can pick up your end of the deal and make something happen."
The car his team is taking to Dover has some miles on it. It has been in 10 Cup races over the past two years. He had it at Darlington, where he finished 15th, and at Bristol, where he finished third this year.
In eight races last year in the car, Bowyer had one pole, one top five and four top 10s. His best finish in the car last year was a third place at Bristol. He raced it in both Dover races last year, finishing eighth and 12th.
"I won the Nationwide race at Dover the last time I ran it and I want to get a Sprint Cup win as well," Bowyer said.

Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Dodge for Gillett Evernham Motorsports, signed a multiyear contract extension with the team. The length of the contract was not disclosed.
"This is the place where I want to race," Sadler said. "I think what we are building here is special and something other drivers and crew members envy."
The 33-year-old Sadler joined Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2006 and has not won a race with the team since then. He has won three Cup races in his carrer, the most recent coming in 2004 at what was then California Speedway for Robert Yates Racing. He was also in the Chase that year.
His teammate, Kasey Kahne, won the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday and the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race the previous weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
"Elliott is a well respected driver who has the skills, both on and off the track, to succeed in NASCAR," said CEO Tom Reddin. "In addition to being a great Sprint Cup driver, Elliott has a wonderful personality that attracts fans and sponsors who love working with him. We have enjoyed working with Elliott over the last year and a half and look forward to continuing our relationship."

NASCAR came down hard on Haas/CNC Racing, penalizing its two teams with fines, points deductions and suspensions.
The cars for the No. 66 team, driven by Scott Riggs, and the No. 70 team, driven by Johnny Sauter, were confiscated by NASCAR before the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Both cars were found to have altered rear wing mounts that would give them aerodynamic advantages.
Riggs and No. 66 car owner Joe Custer were penalized 150 points in the driver and owner standings. The same penalty was issued to Sauter and the owner of the No. 70 car, Margaret Haas.
Crew chiefs and car chiefs for both teams are suspended for the next six Cup races and are on probation until Dec. 31. They can return to their teams after July 9. Bootie Barker and Derick Jennings are the chiefs for the No. 66 car and Dave Skog and Thomas Harris are the chiefs for the No. 70 car.
Barker and Skog, the crew chiefs for their teams, have been fined $100,000 apiece.
The penalty knocks the No. 66 car from 26th to 34th place in the owner standings. The top 35 cars in the owner standings earn automatic starting spots in races. The No. 70 car drops from 40th to 43rd in the owner standings.
The Sporting News is reporting that Jason Leffler, a driver from Long Beach, will attempt to qualify the No. 70 car for the Cup race at Dover International Speedway.

Kyle Busch said he didn't think his car was pole material before qualifying for the Coca-Cola 600.
Turns out it was. He will start Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 from the pole, as if the top driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings needs any more help these days.
Then again, he started from the pole in last weekend's All-Star race at Lowe's, and that didn't end so well for Busch. He blew an engine, same as his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, and did not finish the All-Star race.
It's been one of the few races Busch has not seen to the end this year, not in Cup, the Nationwide Series or the Craftsman Truck Series.
Still, Busch said his team was planning on using the engine that blew in the All-Star race in the Coca-Cola 600.
"That's what the plan was," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "Every time they put that thing on the Spin Tron or the Dyno (Dynamometer) or anything back at the shop, they always run about 1,200 to 1,500 miles on it. So if it made the All-Star race then it was going in for the 600. Unfortunately it didn't make it and we found some problems in what it was. The guys are back at the shop trying to fix those and come up with some solutions and try to keep the horsepower that we gained with that engine. We didn't bring it here this weekend. We're going back to what we've had all year and we'll hopefully have a good enough car that we can overcome what the motor value was last weekend."
Hamlin's team said something a little different than that, so it looks like Joe Gibbs Racing's drivers might want to get their stories straight before talking to reporters.

Old man Jeff Burton is still hanging tough. He is still second in points, is driving the top car for arguably the best team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and is going to a track where he was two career Cup wins.
And both of his wins at Lowe's came during the 600-mile Memorial Day weekend races.
His most recent was in 2001, and both came when he was racing Fords for Jack Roush.
After 11 races, Burton's worst finish came in the Daytona 500 where he was 13th. He has a pair of 12th place finishes and a win at Bristol Motor Speedway.
His team is bringing a new car for Sunday's Cup race and it will be the first time for every Cup team to use NASCAR's new stock car at the track.
"The tire and asphalt combination has not resulted in a lot of grip," said Burton, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "It doesn't seem like the same Charlotte track. It's required different driving styles and set-ups so it will be interesting to see if how the new tire will impact the new car. When you think of new asphalt, you think of huge amounts of grip. It hasn't been like that. There's been low grip."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been the most consistent driver at Hendrick Motorsports all year.
And he still hasn't won a race in more than two years.
At some point, the question will come up whether it's more important to win races or make the Chase. It's hard to believe an Earnhardt would ever have to answer that sort of question in the first place.
Earnhardt Jr. was asked about being the top driver at Hendrick so far this year and even he said he was surprised.
"I should be. We're to the point now where we're trying to capitalize on it, trying to improve on it but I can't complain one bit about the equipment I've got, the motors I've got, the team I've got and how great of an opportunity I've been given," said Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 for Hendrick Motorsports. "It's been pretty overwhelming really."
Being the top driver on a team with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, six Cup championships between them, might be a little overwhelming.
Earnhardt Jr.'s team is bringing a brand new car to Lowe's Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. It's only track time came during a test at Lowe's earlier in the month.
"It's going to be a 600-mile race at Charlotte. You know, the best handling car is important but I think you're gonna have to have a little bit of luck, be smart," Earnhardt Jr. said. "The cars got real slick and hard to drive in the All-Star race, but just a 25-lap run. I can't imagine what a full fuel run is going to be like in the Coca-Cola 600."

Denny Hamlin said there's no reason to worry about blowing another engine.
He and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch blew engines during the All-Star race last weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It was revealed later that both teams were trying an experimental engine package. The teams also said the experimental engine package was for the All-Star race only.
Hamlin's team has a brand new car for him for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. It's most recent track time came during testing earlier in the month at Lowe's.
"This is a fast track that has been made faster over the past couple of years so there are no laps off -- no taking it easy," said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "You can get into trouble in a hurry if you lose concentration here so in that sense 600 miles can be pretty grueling. In the same way that 600 miles takes a lot out of you physically. I noticed a huge change last year in this race when I came into it in much better shape. I feel even better this year so I don't expect it to be an issue. The biggest challenge of going 600 miles is on the crew to prepare a car that can last the duration while dealing with the change in conditions over the course of the race. You have to build a lot of adjustability into the car or you'll end up chasing the track and that can make a long day even that much longer. This FedEx team has always been really good at making sure we have room to work on the car and that's the way you need to approach this race maybe more so than any other race during the season."

Clint Bowyer hasn't been starting all that great in his past five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, but he has been finishing great.
Since the Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway on April 6, Bowyer has started no better than 24th. But he has finihsed no worse than 15th. Four of those races were in the top 10, two in the top five and he won the race at Richmond International Raceway.
All that adds up to a fifth-place spot in the Cup standings.
He has to like his chances to move up from fifth place after the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
He was second in the Cup race at Lowe's in the fall.
"I still feel like we still need to learn a little bit, especially after the way we ran last Saturday night," said Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "It felt like the groove moved up in the fall race last year and I never thought in a million years I'd be running around up against the wall at Charlotte. We made it work and were one of the fastest cars all night long. It's going to be interesting to see how the new style car is going to race for 600 miles."
This will be the first points race with NASCAR's new stock car at Lowe's. And this will be the first 600-mile race for the new stock car. His team is bringing a brand new car for him to race on Sunday night.
"It's a long race," Bowyer said. "Last year we crashed. Everybody kind of crashed in the beginning and it was a nightmare. We just rode around. We still had to endure the heat and fatigue but, for the most part, we were out of the race. It was still hot and we were out there for a long time. It still took a toll but there was no reward to race for, other than just finishing."

Starting Friday with coverage of Carb Day, the Pit Stop Challenge and the Indy Lights Firestone Freedom 100, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic will have more coverage from Indianapolis Motor Speedway than is probably healthy.
Carb Day coverage begins at 8 a.m. on Friday on ESPN2, followed by the Pit Stop Challenge and Firestone Freedom 100, a developmental series race in the Indy Racing League.
ESPN Classic will have a marathon of Indy 500 specials and past races throughout the day on Saturday. It starts with a "SportsCentury" feature on Al Unser at 10 a.m. Indy 500s from 1987, 1991 and 2005 follow. The 1987 race was won by Unser, the fourth of his career, and one of many heartbreakers for Mario Andretti, who won the pole.
Rick Mears won the 1991 Indy 500, joining Unser as a four-time winner, and adding to the Andretti curse at Indianapolis. Michael Andretti finished a disappointing and frustrating second.
The 2005 race was the first for Danica Patrick and also the first time a woman led the Indy 500. The race was eventually won by Dan Wheldon.
ESPN2 will have coverage of the festival parade from Indianapolis at 2 p.m.
Pre-race coverage of the Indy 500 begins at 8 a.m. on Sunday on ESPN2 and continues at 9 a.m. on ABC. The race coverage begins at 10 a.m. on ABC. And for those who miss any action, the race will be replayed on ESPN Classic on Monday at 6 a.m.
Happy viewing.

Kyle Busch wants to race Formula One. There hasn't been a successful American Formula One driver for decades. Could Busch be that driver?
He would definitely attract attention. His anctics would be unrivaled in a series that prides itself on keeping its drivers anonymous.
His curiousity, and it is no more than an experiment at this point, does make some sense in a number of ways.
He drives for Toyota and could bring the car manufacturer a level of respectability in Formula One.
He is polarizing, meaning there would probably be as many American race fans rooting for him to succeed and against him to make a fool of himself.
And he might be talented enough, certainly aggressive enough, to give some of the top F1 drivers a run for their money.
Would his equipment give him a chance... That might take some time to develop.
Busch is already racing everything he can. He's in every NASCAR series that will pay him to race. He owns a team in the Camping World Series. There's no doubt he has a passion for racing that few have.
But will race fans have a passion to wake up at 4 in the morning to watch him race in Turkey? Will racing in Monaco have the same appeal as racing in North Carolina on Memorial Day weekend?
Probably not. But it sure would be fun to see if he can ruffle some F1 feathers like he does in NASCAR.

Kyle Busch was asked by reporters at Lowe's Motor Speedway about his plans to race in the Nationwide Series event at Watkins Glen International in New York. He said he would be there, added a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race to his schedule and perhaps has Formula One in his future.
Busch, the leader in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series standings, is second in the Nationwide Series standings and sixth in the Truck Series standings.
Busch said he is racing in the Watkins Glen and Nashville Speedway races in the Nationwide Series.
"We're already going to be there for the weekend in Watkins Glen with the Cup stuff so we figured we might as well do something with the Nationwide side and didn't have anything going with Gibbs yet," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series. "We're going to have David Stremme as the engineer and we're going to go out there and take it to them guys, hopefully."
Apparently the Nashville race deal was already on his schedule.
"That's a Braun race with the No. 32 Dollar General Camry," Busch said. "To be honest with you, I guess I'll announce it here now. We're going to try to run the Truck race Friday night, too. So, we're going to run the Truck race Friday night in Texas, and then practice and do everything in Pocono then go to the Truck race. We'll come back and practice Saturday and go to Nashville for the Nationwide race and then come back and race Sunday in Pocono. It'll be a fun weekend."
As for Formula One, Busch said he is working on a test session for November or December, perhaps in Japan.
"We're actually working on that right now as a matter of fact," Busch said. "We're working on a test session right now at the end of November or beginning of December sometime going to Japan and doing a little exhibition sort of deal and see what it's like. We'll take the Cup car over there, too I think. Just kind of run around there at either Twin Ring (Motegi) or something like that and show them what the Cup cars are like and try to get in the Formula One car, too."
Formula One might be a pipe dream, but Busch said he is curious to see how his body reacts to the Formula One cars.
"We'll see how good I test, first," Busch said. "We'll see if my neck can withstand the G-Forces of the breaking and everything. I wouldn't mind it. If I can do it and I'm good at it then I'll give it a shot and try it. It seems as though their racing isn't all that great -- they kind of get stuck in line and the aero takes over everything. Toyota is not necessarily one of those companies at the moment that is like Ferrari or McLaren or Renault was a couple years ago. It would take -- I don't think it is just a driver to put in the seat to make it go. You need a little bit more of a car."

Max Papis had a fast lap of 219.920 mph during Thursday's practice session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The top three drivers not qualified for the race -- Will Power, John Andretti and Bruno Junqueira -- had speeds over 222 mph.
Papis, driving the No. 44 car for Rubicon Race Team, owned in part by actor Jason Priestely and working with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, turned 81 laps on the track on Thursday.
"It was a good day to run and we took our time, and made a lot of changes," Papis said Thursday. "Most of them were for race day. We tried to take off a little downforce, and we didn't get that extra speed we wanted."
Papis said he wants to get a little more speed out of the car before qualifying begins on Saturday.
"It is what it is. We have a solid race car but we need to see if we can get that extra mile per hour," Papis said. "That will make a really, really big difference in qualifying."

Roger Yasukawa said he wasn't happy about the speeds his car posted during Thursday's practice for the Indianapolis 500.
He had the slowest time of the 35 cars on the track. Only 33 cars will start the race. Yasukawa, driving the No. 98 car for Beck Motorsports, has not qualified for the race and will get his chance Saturday.
"I'm not very happy about not being up the (speed) chart but then again, you need to do the basics right in order to go fast," said Yasukawa, a driver from Los Angeles. "It's going to take us another day, really throughout the day (today), to get up to where we need to be. But I'm very confident we can get the job done."
Yasukawa has been with Beck Motorsports for only three days. He agreed to a deal to drive the team's car on Wednesday. Rain washed out most of the practice session on Wednesday.
"We got more laps in (Thursday)," Yasukawa said. "We're still going through some fundamental stuff to make the car go faster. So we're not quite there yet before we start trimming the car out."
Yasukawa's best lap on Thursday was at 217.490 mph.
"Again, we're making sure we have the right platform because you have to have a good platform in order to trim the car down," Yasukawa said. "Without that you're pretty much wasting time. We're spending a lot of time looking through the data and making sure we have what we need."

Kyle Busch has the bad guy label for the moment after tangling with Dale Earnhardt Jr. during the NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Richmond International Raceway.
He's just the latest. Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards have all had to endure being the bad guy for a time.
Edwards earned the distinction after almost coming to blows with teammate Matt Kenseth after a race last year.
Edwards was asked what it's like being the bad guy, deserved or not.
"First of all, in this sport, I'm sure it's the same in any sport or any public position, people are always gonna have their opinions and people like to hate someone," said Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. "Fans like to cheer against someone. I know I've had times where there were some fans that definitely did not like me, and I think everybody goes through that. That's just part of it. The one thing, looking back on some of my adventures, it's funny in a way because everybody goes through that and it's just part of it. It's good for the sport and, in some ways, it's good for the individual that is getting booed and cheered against because people are paying attention to you."
But is Edwards more of a bad guy for getting into a fight with his teammate or for cheating after winning a race, like he did at Las Vegas?
Fans seemed a little more outraged after the incident with Kenseth. Getting penalized and fined for cheating was all but ignored.
Either way, Edwards said the fans let him know when they think he's the bad guy.
"Oh yeah, everybody is aware of it," Edwards said. "You sit there in driver's intros and you listen, and you can hear a lot of boos for certain guys and a lot of cheers for other guys. Sometimes the guys who are running the best get the most boos and that just goes with the territory. A lot of people think, and sometimes I've felt this way, that if you're getting booed, that means you're doing something right. You're making somebody mad and usually that's by winning."
As for Busch, Edwards said he's been fast and winning races and he hopes that it doesn't last very long.
"All I can do, along with everybody else, is hope that he's peaking right now and that he won't be this fast in the Chase because he's gonna be hard to beat if he is," Edwards said. "But this thing goes in cycles though and we've still got a lot of races before the chase starts but that's all you can hope for when a guy is that fast."

The rain cleared and the drivers who have not qualified for the Indianapolis 500 were able to get some valuable track time on Thursday.
Mario Dominguez, driving the No. 96 car for the Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports, turned 75 laps, his best at 219.929 mph. He was more than 3 mph off Will Power's top speed. Power was the fastest driver among those not qualified for the race.
"We had the opportunity to really work with the car," Dominguez said. "Almost like a test in that we tried so many different combinations. Now that we have some knowledge about the car under our belts, we will develop our qualifying set-up. It's tough to get the car stable, but I've got great engineers who are doing a very good job."
Conditions today are expected to be warm and sunny as teams prepare for qualifying on Saturday. The top-11 spots have already been determined with Scott Dixon on the pole. Drivers will begin qualifying for the remaining 22 starting spots on Saturday.
"There are so many factors here, it is really quite challenging, but I am excited about our progress," Dominguez said.
Michael Harvey, team manager for Pacific Coast Motorsports, said while his team did not gain any speed during Thursday's practice session, other teams lost speed.
"We are concerned about qualifying and obviously concerned about having enough speed to get in (the race)," Harvey said. "This wasn't a day for speed. It is a fine balance to work on qualifying and the race. We (also) did work on a stint with tires."

The Pacific Coast Motorsports Web site is adding features to let fans have better access to the race team.
The Oxnard-based race team has driver Mario Dominguez entered in the Indianapolis 500 and drivers Frankie Muniz and Carl Skerlong in the Atlantic Series.
The new site will offer contests, insider interviews, pod casts and prizes through Club PCM.
The site also contains team news and history, driver bios and photo galleries.
On the track, Dominguez turned some valuable laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday. His best lap was at 219.319 mph and should be good enough to land in the middle of the field for the start of the Indianapolis 500.
"We did 22 laps and from our point of view, any laps we can do here are very valuable," said Michael Harvey, team manager for Pacific Coast Motorsports. "I believe that we closed the gap."
Track time for the team has been limited. Rain and a crash on Friday have prevented the team from getting on the track the past couple of weeks. Additionally, the car did not pass tech inspection on the first day of practice and Dominguez had to delay the beginning of his rookie orientation program.
"We still need a full day of practice but we were close to the speed we did last week with the 219.319 lap we did," Harvery said. "But we're starting to get there."

Max Papis, driver of the No. 44 car for the Rubicon Race Team, owned in part by actor Jason Priestley and working with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, had an encouraging, but short practice session on Wednesday.
His best lap was at 219.654 mph, the 13th fastest of the day and the eighth fastest among the drivers who have not qualified for the race.
If he can turn four consistent laps at the speed during qualifying, he would be 19th on the starting grid, inside the seventh row.
Qualifying continues Saturday for the final 22 spots in the Indy 500.
"We had a very short but very productive day," Papis said. "That was the best the car has felt so far. I think we were 13th fastest overall. We have a very good race car in our hands. We made a couple of small adjustments to see where the car was going and it responded exactly the way we wanted it to."

Plans for NASCAR Day in Los Angeles are set, with drivers, prizes and a Make-A-Wish Foundation presentation.
Lindsey King and Uli Perez, who are part of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity Program and drivers at drivers at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, will be part of NASCAR Day on Friday at The Quad at Century Park Towers from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Gillian Zucker, president of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, will also be in attendance to make a presentation to a 7-year-old boy who has leukemia and went to Darlington Raceway last weekend to meet Tony Stewart, part of the Make-A-Wish Foundaton.
NASCAR Day is in its fifth year and a fund-raising drive that has generated nearly $5 million in contribtions for NASCAR charities.
Those who attend NASCAR Day in Los Angeles can make a $5 donation to receive a NASCAR Day lapel pin and a chance to win an Auto Club Speedway Labor Day weekend VIP prize package.
They will also have the opportunity to win one of five Richard Petty Driving Experience ride-along prizes.

After reaching a deal to drive the No. 98 car for Beck Motorsports, Roger Yasukawa turned his first laps for his new team on a rainy day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday.
His top speed was 212.349 mph on a day when he only got an hour of track time.
"For a shakedown I think it was pretty good," Yasukawa said of his No. 98 Curb/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports entry. "We got a couple of runs out of it, but we still need to short out the arrow balance for (Thursday). It's good to get the shakedown out of the way. I'd certainly love to have more track time, but it is what it is.
Yasukawa, a driver from Los Angeles, has started five Indianapolis 500s. He was in the No. 77 car for Wellman Racing for the Indy Racing League race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan and finished 14th in a 18-car field.
"It's great to be back here again," Yasukawa said. "Every lap you get to go around here (is worth it). You don't get to do this every day. You have to really appreciate it and I'm just smiling in the car every turn that I go through."
Rain has washed out two days of practice, part of Wednesday's practice and the second day of qualifying. Yasukawa will be one of the drivers trying to secure one of the final 22 spots in the Indy 500 field.
"We're probably going to focus more on the race setup from here on," Yasukawa said. "It's very important to have a good platform that you can work with and there's no need to keep trimming the car out without having that platform. You're probably risking a lot at that point. We're just going to have to play it by ear with the weather and do the best we can."

Roger Yasukawa and Phil Geibler have found rides for the Indianapolis 500.
Yasukawa, a driver from Los Angeles who has started five Indy 500s and has two top-10 finishes, will be driving the famed No. 98 car for Beck Motorsports.
Geibler, a graduate of Oxnard High School and the rookie of the year in last year's Indy 500, will be in the No. 88 car for American Dream Motorsports.
The teams announced both drivers Wednesday during a rainy day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Both cars were already entered in the race. There are 36 cars with drivers competing for 33 starting spots. Qualifying continues Saturday. The first 11 spots have already been secured. Rain washed out the second day of qualifying, when the next 11 spots would have been determined. Drivers will begin qualifying for the remaining 22 spots in the race on Saturday, weather permitting.

Mario Dominguez, driver of the No. 96 entry for Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports, turned 40 laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and had some of his best speeds since arriving a week ago, but he did not make a qualifying attempt.
The top 11 cars in qualifying Saturday for the Indianapolis 500 earned starting spots in the race. Weather permitting, the next 11 cars will qualify Sunday. Dominguez expects to be one of them.
"We had some valuable time on the track and we made a lot of progress," Dominguez said. "We are still learning the car, but today, I'd say we learned a lot about it. We made adjustments in several areas, some worked, some didn't. We need to find more speed, but we are on the right track."
The best lap Dominguez made at the track was 220.597 mph, by far his best and 2.7 mph better than his previous fastest lap.
"We haven't been able to practice much because of the rain, but I'd say today was very positive," Dominguez said. "We are keeping our fingers crossed that the weather holds out tomorrow and we get another productive day of running in. We will give it a shot in qualifying tomorrow if Mother Nature cooperates."
Scott Dixon won the pole on Saturday. His teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing, Dan Wheldon, was second and Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe was third, making up the three-car front row.

Lindsey Adams, a driver from Texas, almost lost her mother to breast cancer twice. She raises awareness about breast cancer survivors, including her mother, on her race car. Her story will be part of DIRECTV's "Hometown Heroes," on Sunday night for Mothers Day.
Joan Lunden hosts an episode about Adams' program, called Survivors Circle, which started in 2007 and consists of placing the names of cancer survivors on her race car.
"When I was 17, I almost lost my mother, for the second time, to breast cancer," Adams said. "At that point I knew I wanted to dedicate my career to fighting for the cause. We started Survivors’ Circle, a program where at every race we honor a breast cancer survivor or a family that has fought the breast cancer fight by putting their names on my car and dedicating that particular race to them.”"
Adams has a the names and stories of those who have been on her race car on her Web site: http://www.lindseyadamsracing.com/cause/
The "Hometown Heroes" segment and Adams' next race, at Road America in the Skip Barber Championship Series will be on DIRECTV channel 101 on Sunday night at 6 p.m. PDT.

Mario Dominguez, driver of the No. 96 entry for Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports and one of 13 rookies entered in the Indianapolis 500, made contact with the pit exit wall during practice Friday and was only able to complete 16 laps around the track.
Rain has washed out the past two days of practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and shortened Friday's session.
Dominguez was not injured in the crash. But his team has only one operational car. The team does not have a rolling spare car and will have to make repairs on the car that crashed. Pole day, when the top 11 starting spots in the Indy 500 will be determined, is Saturday.
"I am really disappointed," Dominguez said. "I was returning to the track for our second full run and I exited too fast coming out of the pits. I lost the rear of the car and crashed into the inside wall."
He had the 31st fastest time at 217.918 mph in practice Friday.
"I got a few laps at speed and this is so unfortunate because we were on the way to making our car better," Dominguez said. "Everyone is telling me to keep my patience. We are already behind and I guess I was trying to rush it back out there. We are working hard and we have a lot of work to do."

The pole position and the top-11 starting spots for the Indianapolis 500 will be determined in qualifying Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Mario Dominguez, driver for the Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports, was asked what his expectations are for the first day of qualifying.
The pole position is most likely out of the question. He said his team, making its first appearance in the Indy 500, is focusing on qualifying somewhere in the field and being in the top 22 when qualfying ends Sunday.
"Well, I have to be honest with you, I don't think at this point in time we have a shot at pole position Saturday," said Dominguez, driver of the No. 96 entry for Pacific Coast Motorsports. "We are years behind in development of cars. We just got the car a week and a half ago, and we will be competing against teams that have been developing this car for the past five years."
Dominguez is part of a 13-driver rookie contingent that is entered in the Indy 500. He had to begin a rookie orientation program earlier this week and completed three of the four phases. Pacific Coast Motorsports is one of the team's making the transition from Champ Car to the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series and it will be making its first IRL start of the year at Indianapolis.
While Dominguez said his chances of winning the pole are slim, he expects be one of the 22 drivers who qualify on Saturday and Sunday. Eleven drivers will qualify for the Indy 500 on Saturday. The next 11 drivers in the field will be determined on Sunday.
"But I think qualifying on Sunday, on the first week of qualifying, we have a very good shot of doing that," Dominguez said. "It's not going to be easy, but I think we can do it."
His time in the team's Indy car has been limited and coming from Champ Car will no doubt present some challenges. But Dominguez is learning quickly how his new car reacts to the track.
"I think what it takes to be fast around here, you need a car that doesn't have much grip," Dominguez said. "So you need to take a lot of aero out of it, and at the same time, it has to be steady. It has to be stable in the corners, because this place is tough. It can bite you pretty hard. And it's certainly a completely different oval to anything I've ever driven."

Kyle Busch is the new leader in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, but he is heading to track that has not been kind to him in the past.
Darlington has produced only one top-10 finish in three races for Busch. He came in seventh in the race there in 2006. His other two races have produced finishes of 37th and 23rd. All three of his previous starts at Darlington were with Hendrick Motorsports.
After finishing second in a wild race at Richmond International Raceway, Busch took over the lead in the Cup Series standings.
"It's great to be back on top of the point standings," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "We were there earlier this year and kind of fell back a little bit. We've had some great runs. We've had some strong runs. We've had some good cars. And so, fortunately we were able to capitalize on those most of this year and hopefully we can keep doing that throughout the year. With the new facility, the new race track and the new paving job (at Darlington), hopefully we can have a great run out there to keep our momentum going. It's been good and hopefully it keeps going that way."

Jeff Burton's 11th-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway, coupled with Kyle Busch's second-place finish means there's a new No. 1 in the Cup standings.
Burton falls to No. 2, 18 points behind Busch, as the Cup Series heads to Darlington Raceway in South Carolina this weekend.
Burton has won two Cup races at Darlington, both coming in 1999, and both coming when he was driving for Jack Roush.
His past two races at Darlington, both with Richard Childress Racing, have produced top-10 finishes. He was 10th last year and ninth in 2006.
"The one thing about Darlington is that if you have a fast car, it's easy to pass another car," said Burton, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "If you have a car that's the same as somebody else's car, it's incredibly hard to pass. A fast car rewards you a great deal. It will be interesting to see if passing will be the same with the new asphalt. We struggled there the last couple of years and haven't run as well as we needed to. I'm looking forward to Darlington. We've learned a lot about the Impala SS and I think we can be very competitive."
The car his team is bringing to Darlington is the same car Burton raced at Martinsville Speedway, where it finished third, and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, where it finished 12th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. hopefully won't still be licking his wounds when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series arrives at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.
Even though Earnhardt Jr. went from fighting for the lead at Richmond International Raceway to finishing 15th, he can find some comfort in knowing he didn't lose much ground in the Cup standings.
He is still third in points, still has been the most consistent driver for Hendrick Motorsports, and still looking for his first win in more than two years.
The car his team is bringing to Darlington is the same one it raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway where it finished third.
The car will also feature a retro Mountain Dew paint scheme.
"I think the Mountain Dew retro paint scheme is very fitting for the history at Darlington," said Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports. "The car itself is an old paint scheme on a new car, and we've got an old racetrack with a new surface. It's going to be very interesting. It's going to be fun to see how to get around that track and where the fast grooves are -- where to find the grip and speed. It's a real good-looking race car so I can't wait to get some good photos -- old school type photos -- when I get out there."

Clint Bowyer was the unlikely winner in the wild NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway. Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were fighting for the lead when they wrecked each other. Earnhardt Jr. had to pit for repairs and finished 15th. Busch ended up second.
Bowyer was the beneficiary of the collision and won the second race of his Cup career.
"They were putting on a show for a while; I thought so, anyway," said Bowyer, driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, after the race at Richmond. "They were racing hard. That's what racing at Richmond is all about in my opinion. It just didn't work out. I told the cops, I don't know why they were escorting me in here. I told them, they better get on and escort Kyle Busch out of here. It was meant to be, I guess."
The win vaulted Bowyer into the top five in the Cup standings. The car his team is taking to Darlington Raceway is the same one he raced at Bristol in March. He finished third in that race.
The car raced eight times in 2007, its best results coming at Bristol. In its only race at Darlington, the car won the pole and finished ninth.
"It was cool to get our first pole in the Cup Series at Darlington," Bowyer said. "We were fast all day in practice and we knew we were capable of it. When you know you're capable and have that confidence and can go out there and back that all up, it's pretty satisfying. Darlington is a special place and to be able to win a pole there is something to be proud of."

Kevin Harvick had four straight top-10 finishes in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Then followed that with four straight outside the top 10.
His worst finish came at Talladega a couple weeks ago when he finished 24th. He bounced back last week, finisihing eighth at Richmond International Raceway, his first top 10 in more than a month.
Next is Darlington, a track that has yet to produce a win for Harvick, and a track that has produced only four top 10s in 11 career Cup races.
"When we avoid trouble, we always run in the top 10," said Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "However, if we get into the wall or struggle mechanically, then we never seem to be able to fight our way back. The one thing I have seen this year is that my team is willing to fight back and get the best finish we can. Hopefully, we can stay out of trouble and run up front all night long. That's what championship teams do week-in and week-out."
For the Cup race at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, Harvick's team is bringing the car that finished second at Bristol Motor Speedway in March. It also finished seventh at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

By winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway, Clint Bowyer moved into fourth place in the standings.
All three drivers for Richard Childress Racing are in the top five. Jeff Burton is second and Kevin Harvick is fifth. Burton was in first for more than a month and fell out when Kyle Busch took the top spot after the Richmond race.
The only other Cup team with all its drivers in the top 12 in the standings is Joe Gibbs Racing. The top 12 drivers in the Sprint Cup Series standings after the 26th race of the season will qualify for the Chase, the 10-race playoff to determine the Cup champion.
"I just think it shows the consistency and teamwork we're working with at RCR right now," said team owner Richard Childress. "Everyone is trying to be the most competitive they can and, hopefully, have a run at the Chase and the championship. All three teams and all three drivers still have areas to improve on. We're not resting on what we've accomplished at all but it is good knowing we have things headed in the right direction at this point in the season."

Mario Dominguez, driver of the No. 96 entry for Pacific Coast Motorsports in the Indianapolis 500, met presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday.
"It was an honor to meet Senator Clinton," said Dominguez, a driver from Mexico. "I wished her luck in (Tuesday's) primary and she wished me luck in my efforts at the Indy 500. I also told her I know how much she likes Mexico and that is why she has such a strong following in the U.S. Hispanic community, so I invited her to visit Mexico City. She mentioned she has been there three times before, she commented how beautiful it is and said she looks forward to visiting our great city again soon."

On day two of rookie orientation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pacific Coast Motorsports was finally able to get on the track and driver Mario Dominguez completed three of the four phases of the program on Monday.
"I can't believe that I ran my first laps around this amazing track," said Dominguez, driver of the No. 96 entry for the Oxnard-based Pacific Coast Motorsports. "This is an absolute dream come true for me. I have to give credit to my crew for getting this together in such a short period of time."
Pacific Coast Motorsports could not participate in the rookie orientation program on Sunday because its car did not pass the technical inspection before the program began.
Team owner Tyler Tadevic said he was impressed how quickly his crew prepared the car.
"The PCM crew has done an unbelievable job," Tadevic said. "They accomplished in 12 days what the other teams have had four weeks to get done. And in two hours (Monday), they accomplished what everyone else had two days to get done and I am so proud of them. It hasn't been easy and the pressure was on, but in two hours we ran the car for our first time, we did our systems checks, we ran our first laps and passed the first three phases of the rookie tests."
Dominguez turned 48 laps on the track and had a top speed of 214.358 mph. Fellow rookie Enrique Bernoldi completed his fourth phase of the rookie orientation program on Monday.
Mario Moraes, who completed three phases of the rookie orientation program on Monday with Dominguez, can complete the fourth phase later in the month.
"Despite some issues we still made it out there and we were able to pass three phases of the rookie test," Dominguez said. "We had a small issue with the rear wing and we were very loose, but we did it. We only managed to run two hours and it was our first two hours ever running this car but we accomplished a lot and I am relieved. Now we can turn our focus to making the car better and I look forward to that."

On the first day of rookie orientation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pacific Coast Motorsports couldn't get out of first gear.
The team couldn't even get on the track. Driver Mario Dominguez, considered a rookie at Indianapolis even though he is a veteran of the Champ Car World Series, did not participate in the first day of rookie orientation and will have to wait until Monday to begin the four-step program.
"Once we rolled through tech, three of the four wishbones on the car were deemed unusable by the series," said Tyler Tadevic, owner of the Oxnard-based team. "These are suspension pieces that we received with our car and we were not aware these parts are no longer being used."
As a result, the team's car was not allowed on the track. There are 13 rookies entered in the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500. Ten of them completed the rookie orientation program on Sunday.
Enrique Bernoldi completed three of the four phases and can complete the program at any point during the month.
Mario Moraes completed only three laps and Dominguez was the only rookie driver not to get on the track on Sunday.
Both drivers must complete the first three phases of the rookie orientation program Monday to remain eligible to compete in the Indy 500.
"The guys have been working hard, we're back to being rookies again," Tadevic said. "We disseminating tons of information trying to catch up and we'll make sure Mario gets through his orientation (Monday)."

Kyle Busch was asked after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway if he saw how the fans in the stands reacted to the way the race unfolded.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Busch were fighting for the lead when Busch and Earnhardt Jr. collided. Earnhardt Jr. took the worst of the crash and had to pit for repairs. Busch was able to stay out on the track and finish second.
"They were going crazy and you see it, but you don't pay attention to it," said Busch about the fans in the stands. "I don't know why they were telling me I was number one, I was in second place. Clint Bowyer got the lead from me -- they were all confused I guess, too many old (Dale Earnhardt) Jr. Budweisers."
Busch said he doesn't expect much support or sympathy from Earnhardt Jr. fans after what happened at Richmond.
"Oh, yeah. I feel it's like that," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "I mean, everybody probably is racing around the race track scared to death of wrecking Dale Earnhardt, Jr., so why wouldn't I be any different? You know that was just a product of good, hard racing. I apologize that's that happened, and I hated that it did. Fortunately he didn't get hurt and nothing like that happened, so he was able to continue."
By the way, Busch took over the lead in the Sprint Cup Series standings and Earnhardt Jr. remained in third.
"He'll see another day of racing," Busch said. "You know, to say that I took away a win away from him, you know, it's hard to say. And if I wanted to do it deliberately, I would have waited for the last lap where I probably could have still won the race. You know, there's a way that it happened and I hated that it did. We just didn't give each other enough room getting into turn three and, you know, I didn't -- I didn't feel like I slipped, but I mean, we just kind of banged simultaneously, and then that's when I got loose and got corrected and he was gone."

Kevin Harvick Inc.'s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team had a good weekend at Kansas Speedway.
Ron Hornaday Jr., driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc., won the Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway, the 34th of his career, and added to his career win total, the most of any Truck Series driver.
Hornaday also took over the lead in the Truck Series standings. Kyle Busch had the lead before the race at Kansas Speedway, but he was at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide series races. He won the Cup race, crashed out of the Nationwide race.
After winning the race in Kansas, Hornaday built a 61-point lead over Rick Crawford. Busch dropped to sixth place.
Jack Sprague, Hornaday's teammate at KHI, finished second at Kansas and moved up six spots in the Truck Series standings to ninth place.
"It was a lot of fun and I was going to try and make a race out of it and Sprague almost caught me and I was like, wow," said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ from Palmdale. "So this is what it's all about because I believe in these guys in hanging these bodies and the first time I saw this truck is the first day that I got down here and sat in it. I just have a lot of faith in these guys and when you get the truck off the trailer you can hold it wide open. I really appreciate it because I hadn't won here in Kansas so this is cool."
Hornaday became the first Truck Series driver to win a race from the pole at Kansas. He also credits his crew chief, Rick Ren, for coming up with a fuel strategy to win the race.
They were cutting it close and when Dennis Setzer wrecked late in the race, it gave Hornaday a chance to conserve enough fuel to finish the race. It restarted with 34 laps remaining and Hornaday won by 0.149 seconds ahead of Sprague.
"I'm glad that was on Rick Ren's head because everyone is just as cool as they can be on this Camping World Chevrolet," Hornaday said. "I also have to thank VFW to come on board with us. I am sure the hair on Rick's head turned grayer (Friday) but that's what it's all about."

Jeff Burton finished 12th at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, his first Cup finish outside the top 10 in his past seven races. It was a good enough finish to stay in first in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings, but it did bunch up the leaders.
"I feel good about where we are," said Burton, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "I feel good about the work we're putting in to our race cars. I feel good that we're working hard to answer the challenge of being better as the year gets on. I can't ask for a whole lot more from my team and I can't ask for a whole lot more from myself."
The car his team is bringing to Richmond International Raceway is the same car that won the Cup race at Bristol. It was Burton's only win of the season. The car also raced three times last year, its best finish a ninth-place at Phoenix.
"We have to make sure we're efficient and we have to make sure we continue to improve," Burton said. "If we do those things and have some fortune, then it can be our year. We can't control what our competition is doing. Maybe they learn more than we do, I don't know. We can only control what we do and hopefully we're responding to the areas that we need to be stronger in. If we continue to do that then we'll be alright."

Kyle Busch is closing in on Jeff Burton. After winning the race in Talladega last weekend, Busch is 22 points out of first in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.
Busch now has two wins and his record at Richmond would indicate he is primed for another.
In six career Cup races at Richmond International Raceway, Busch has five top fives, including two second-place finishes. But he has never won a Cup race at Richmond.
"We've definitely had some good times here at Richmond. We've been able to lead some laps and have some really good finishes. Haven't quite pulled out a win yet, but it would be fun to do this weekend," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "We've got some new colors with the Pedigree car this weekend, so that would be awesome to bring home a win for another one of our sponsors."
Busch qualified seventh for the Richmond race in the same car he raced at Martinsville earlier this year. He finished the Martinsville race in 38th.
He was second and led 27 laps in last year's fall race at Richmond. But that was when he was driving for Hendrick Motorsports. This will be his first time at Richmond in a Toyota from Joe Gibbs Racing.
"We'll just have to wait and see what we've got when we unload the car," Busch said. "We're bringing the same car from Martinsville, with a few changes of course."

Maybe Richmond will be the race Dale Earnhardt Jr. snaps his winless streak. Richmond Int