Busch Fast in Daytona 'Happy Hour'

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 1, 2004) – Team Lowe’s Racing driver Kyle Busch had a strong showing in Thursday’s final practice session before Friday night’s Winn-Dixie 250 presented by Pepsi Co. Busch was clocked at 184.680 mph (48.733 seconds) on the superspeedway in Busch Series “Happy Hour,” making the No. 5 Lowe’s/Gladiator Chevrolet the sixth-fastest machine in practice. Team Lowe’s Racing hopes to repeat the restrictor plate success they found earlier this year in Talladega (Ala.), where they finished fourth after starting from the 13th spot. “It is pretty difficult being a single-car team without a teammate to draft with, but when we race we look at Jason Leffler as being our teammate,” says Busch. “He’s got Hendrick chassis and Hendrick engines, and he really sticks together well with us.” Time trials for tomorrow’s Busch Series event will take place later today at 5:30 p.m. ET. NASCAR will then impound the cars after qualifying. “I think it’s great that NASCAR has decided to impound the cars. Some of the teams do stuff during qualifying, like using ‘trick’ oils and stuff like that, and hopefully impounding the cars will put an end to that,” says crew chief Lance McGrew. “The garage will open later on Friday afternoon, so that’ll also make for a shorter day for the team, which is also good.” Friday night’s race will air on FX (7:30 p.m. ET) and MRN Radio (7:45 p.m.)