Richmond Runaway: Busch Dominates for First Win

RICHMOND, Va. (May 14, 2004) – Kyle Busch earned his first career NASCAR Busch Series win with an eye-opening performance at Richmond International Raceway on Friday night. Driving his No. 5 Lowe’s/Pella Chevrolet, the 19-year-old rookie started from the pole position and went on to lead 236 of 250 laps en route to Victory Lane. “It was an awesome one,” Busch said. “I had a phenomenal car out there and Lance (McGrew, crew chief) and all the team did an awesome job in preparing that. “We came out here and tested and kind of put this place on the map as something that we needed to work on, not something that we could win at. We came here and tested and had a car that wasn’t really capable of what we needed and we worked on it all day long and got exactly what we needed. “We were able to come back here and be quickest in the practice sessions and qualified on the pole and led the most laps and won the race. That’s a weekend that you dream of.” It was the first triumph of Busch’s 18-race Busch Series career and the first victory by a rookie since Johnny Sauter won at Chicagoland Speedway in 2002. A Las Vegas native, Busch is now the youngest driver to ever win an event at Richmond International Raceway. He turned 19 on May 2. Said McGrew: “I keep telling everybody that keeps asking me, ‘Why do they keep sticking young drivers with you?’ I just keep telling them it’s (because of) the whole team. I feel super privileged to be involved with Hendrick Motorsports and everything that it has to offer. “The whole weekend was just awesome. From the time we unloaded the car and went straight through tech, no problems. We didn’t have a single problem with practice, qualifying, happy hour, and it just doesn’t get any better than that.” Busch also became the first-ever Raybestos Rookie to win from the pole position since the program was established back in 1989 and the first one to ever win the spring Busch Series race at Richmond. “I think it says a lot about Team Lowe’s and says a lot about the Busch guys and says a lot about Lance,” said team owner Ricky Hendrick of the victory. “We had a program that was proven last year and pulled the key element out of it (2003 Busch Series champion Brian Vickers) and put the new key element in and it goes to show that we’re right back where we were. “I just hope this is our same turning point like we had at (Indianapolis Raceway Park) last year. After (winning at IRP), it just seemed like the guys had so much more confidence and we were just dominant week in and week out. “From the very beginning this year, Kyle has already shown second place, top-fives, top-10s -- just about week in and week out. He hasn’t torn anything up in a race and the guys are doing a phenomenal job. I’m really looking forward to the future with him and really looking forward to the future with Team Lowe’s and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports.” With the victory, Busch is now leading the Busch Series championship standings with five top-fives and eight top-10 finishes in 11 starts. He is 15 points ahead of second-place Martin Truex Jr.