Kyle Busch Wins Again at Lowe’s Motor Speedway

CONCORD, N.C. (May 28, 2005) – Kyle Busch picked up right where he left off a year ago, while Jimmie Johnson didn’t have nearly as much fun as he would have liked on Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. When we saw then-19-year-old Busch at the Concord-based track last May, he was standing atop his No. 5 Lowe’s Chevrolet after a celebratory burnout following his CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 victory. Twelve months later he repeated the scene, minutes after holding off Sterling Marlin by .503 seconds for his sixth career Busch Series win and his second in the CARQUEST-backed event. “That was awesome,” said Busch, who joins Tim Richmond, Mark Martin and Jeff Green as the only back-to-back winners of the May LMS Busch race. “I wasn’t happy with the car at the beginning of the race, but the boys pulled through with some changes and I really wanted to give them a trip to Victory Lane.” As Busch said, Saturday night’s race didn’t begin too well. He started 19th and didn’t move forward as fast as he had hoped. Then it got worse. On the first caution at Lap 16, NASCAR penalized the team for speeding on pit road and sent Busch to the end of the line. Then things got better. Much better. The No. 5 Chevy started climbing through the field before eventually taking the lead, which was surrendered only when coming in for new tires. Busch led 62 of the 200 laps on his way to his first Busch Series victory of the 2005 season. He kept the lead despite four of the race’s 11 cautions falling in the last 30 laps. Busch is on a roll, as the youngster also won the Craftsman Truck Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last weekend. Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Kobalt Chevrolet, didn’t have as much fun as Busch on Saturday night. Johnson started 26th and struggled at the beginning of the race. He pitted on the first caution and made some major changes to improve the handling. Things didn’t improve and he fell a lap down to the leaders. Kasey Kahne’s accident a few laps later brought out the yellow and Johnson earned the “lucky dog” pass back on to the lead lap, but the night didn’t get any better. Johnson stayed near the back of the field battling a car that wouldn’t turn, so he returned to pit road under caution and the Lowe’s crew lifted the hood. During the stop the crew made major chassis changes, adding rounds of wedge, spring rubbers and camber. A few laps later, Johnson spun out in oil that had been left on the track by another competitor, and lost another lap. He soldiered on, eventually making up the lap, but was only able to manage a 30th-place finish. Both Johnson and Busch will see action in the Busch Series next weekend, when the series travels to Dover (Del.) International Speedway. At “The Monster Mile” it will be Johnson behind the wheel of a No. 5 Lowe’s/Shop-Vac Chevrolet, while Busch will pilot a No. 57 Shop-Vac Chevrolet.