Catchfence

No. 18 Dollar General Toyota Tundra

TRACK: Phoenix International Raceway

PRIMARY SPONSOR: Dollar General

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: Flexco, Combos

MANUFACTURER: Toyota

PRIMARY CHASSIS: KBM-7 BACKUP CHASSIS: KBM-6

MOTORS: Triad Racing Technologies

RACE BROADCAST: Friday, February 25- 8:00 p.m. ET on SPEED
MRN/Sirius NASCAR 128

KYLE BUSCH LOOKS TO STAY HOT IN THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN

Kyle Busch has finished first or second in each of the last four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Phoenix International Raceway, including a victory in the Casino Arizona 150 in 2007. Busch enters Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 having finished in the in the top 10 in 13 consecutive NCWTS starts, including finishing in the top five in each of the last seven events he has entered. The Las Vegas native got the 2011 season off to a solid start, driving the No. 18 Dollar General Toyota Tundra to a fifth-place finish in last Friday’s NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

KYLE BUSCH NCWTS @ PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

· Has registered three straight runner-up finishes in the NCWTS race at PIR

· Won the 2007 Casino Arizona 150 NCWTS race at PIR (11/9/07)

· All-time leader in laps led in NCWTS races at PIR (212)

· Ranks first among NCWTS drivers over the last six races at PIR in quality passes (94), fastest laps (105) and laps led (212)

· Has led thirty or more laps in each of the last four NCWTS races at PIR and led at least 25 laps in five of his six career starts

KYLE BUSCH 2010 NCWTS

· Drove into victory lane in half the NCWTS races he entered, registering a series-leading eight victories in 16 starts

· Despite making just 16 starts, ranked first among NCWTS drivers in laps led (1,076), miles led (1,307.61) and fast laps run (541)

· Won six of the last 10 races he entered and finished first or second in nine of his last 10

· Finished in the top 10 in each of the last 12 races he entered

· 0.002 margin of victory in the Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 30, 2010 was the closest in NCWTS history

KYLE BUSCH MOTORSPORTS NO. 18 TOYOTA TUNDRA 2010

· Became the first team since the NCWTS originated in 1995 to win the owners’ championship in its inaugural season

· Aiming to become the first NCWTS team to win back-to-back NCWTS owners’ championships since 2003 (No. 16 Steve Coulter 2002 and 2003 )

· All four drivers (Benson Jr., K. Busch, Ickler, Kahne) who piloted the No. 18 Toyota Tundra registered at least one top-10 finish

· Led the NCWTS in wins (8), laps led (1,099) and top-10s (20)

KYLE BUSCH NCWTS CAREER

· 119.6 career driver rating entering the 2011 season is the highest accumulated by a NCWTS driver since the stat was introduced in 1995

· Youngest driver (20 years, 18 days) in NCWTS history to win a race (Quaker Steak & Lube 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on 5/20/05)

· Ranks fourth in NCWTS history in wins (24), tied for eighth in poles (10), 12th in top-fives (49) and 15th in top-10s (66)

· Entering 2011, had at least one NCWTS victory in each of the last six seasons and multiple victories in each of the last four seasons

· Has won 27.9% of the NCWTS races he has entered and finished first or second in 46.5%

· Average career finish of 7.4 ranks first among active drivers with ten or more career starts

Kyle Busch

“Phoenix’s unique layout and old asphalt make racing there a lot of fun. Turns 1 and 2 are different from Turns 3 and 4 and the back stretch has a dogleg. For most of the race, the trucks are side-by-side and that really makes for a good race. The Truck Series doesn’t come back in the fall, so unfortunately this will be the last race for this series before they repave the track.”

KYLE BUSCH ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT PIR

“To be successful at Phoenix, you need to have a good handling truck for the long green flag runs. When you get late into a run, you realize how important conserving your tires is. The entry into the corner of Turn 1 is really hard on the tires, so you have to make sure that you don’t burn them up too early. It’s important to be able to get your truck to turn through the center of Turns 1 and 2.

I’ve had good results in the trucks at Phoenix. We finished second to Clint Bowyer last fall and I won the 2007 race. I expect that the No. 18 Dollar General Toyota Tundra will be very fast again Friday night!”

KYLE BUSCH ON HAVING A BUSY SCHEDULE THIS WEEKEND

“Running all three series this weekend is going to make for a pretty treacherous schedule. In the Truck Series we practice, qualify and race all on Friday. I also have Nationwide and Cup practice on Friday, so it will be tricky hopping in and out of all three vehicles and trying to get a feel for each. Having practice in the morning and then racing at night is going to throw Eric (Phillips) and the guys a little bit of a curve ball. It will be more difficult getting the truck setup the way we need it. Especially with how cool the temperature gets in the desert at night time.”

CREW CHIEF ERIC PHILLIPS ON PRIMARY TRUCK SELECTION

“We are bringing a brand new No. 18 Dollar General Toyota Tundra to Phoenix. We started out last season running trucks that we purchased from other teams. Once we got settled, we began building all of our trucks in-house. This is the seventh new Toyota Tundra we’ve built and I feel really good about the improvements we’ve made. The guys in the shop did a fantastic job of paying close attention to detail. We were able to lose some weight and get the center of gravity down. The truck hasn’t been on a track yet, so we’ll be flying by the seat of our pants a little bit in practice. I think when all is said and done, we’ll have a very competitive truck.”

- Kyle Busch Motorsports Press Release