TRACK:
Michigan International Speedway (2 miles, D-Shaped oval)PRIMARY SPONSOR: Traxxas
ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: Dollar General, DuPont, Flexco, M&M’s
MANUFACTURER: Toyota
PRIMARY CHASSIS: KBM-8
BACKUP CHASSIS: KBM-4
MOTORS: Triad Racing Technologies
BROADCAST: Saturday, Aug. 20 – 12:30 p.m. ET SPEED/MRN/Sirius XM NASCAR 90
KYLE BUSCH AND TRAXXAS “STRIVE FOR FIVE” AT MIS
Traxxas, the leading manufacturer of hobby-class radio-controlled (R/C) vehicles, returns as the primary sponsor of Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Tundra for the VFW 200 Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, the second of three races the Plano, Texas-based company will sponsor in 2011. Busch, an R/C enthusiast, will be looking to make it a perfect five-for-five in races which Traxxas’ logo adorns the hood of his Tundra. In 2010, the Las Vegas native collected wins behind the wheel of the No. 18 Traxxas Tundra at Chicagoland Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway and this May he kept perfection intact by winning the Lucas Oil 200 at Dover International Speedway. Fans can purchase an officially licensed and ready-to-race 1/16th scale brushless R/C replica of Busch’s No. 18 Traxxas Tundra online at www.traxxas.com.
KYLE BUSCH FINISHES IN THE TOP TWO IN 50% OF THE NCWTS RACES HE ENTERS
Kyle Busch has finished first or second in exactly half of his 94 career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) starts. Busch’s runner-up finish last weekend at Pocono Raceway was the 18th of his career to go along with 29 victories. The 26-year-old has helped the defending NCWTS owners’ champions take their place back atop this year’s standings by registering five wins (Phoenix, Nashville, Dover, Charlotte and Kentucky) and two runner-up finishes (Martinsville and Pocono) in nine starts. He has finished in the top 10 in each of his last 21 NCWTS starts, collecting 12 wins and five runner-up finishes while registering an average finish of 2.05 during the streak.
KYLE BUSCH NCWTS @ MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
*NCWTS career leader in laps led (142) and tied with Mike Skinner for most career top-five finishes (4)
*Ranks first in fastest laps run (62) over the last six NCWTS races and second in average running position (4.76)
*Captured the pole for the 2005 NCWTS Paramount Health Insurance 200
* Won the 2004 NASCAR Nationwide Series Cabela’s 250
KYLE BUSCH 2011 NCWTS
*In just nine starts, has won a series-leading five races (Phoenix, Nashville, Dover, Charlotte, Kentucky) and registered a series-leading eight top-five finishes
*Ranks first among NCWTS drivers in driver rating (127.2), average finish (2.2), laps led (507), miles led (557.2), fastest laps run (225), fastest early in a run (3.66), fastest late in a run (3.33) and green flag speed (2.66)
*Has recorded top-10 finishes in each of the last 21 NCWTS races he has entered, collecting 12 wins, five runner-up finishes and an average finish of 2.05 during the streak
KYLE BUSCH MOTORSPORTS NO. 18 TOYOTA TUNDRA
*Leads the 2011 NCWTS Owner Point Standings by 27 points over KHI’s No. 2
*Aiming to become the first team to win back-to-back owners’ titles since 2003 (No. 16 Steve Coulter 2002 and 2003)
*Ranks first in the NCWTS in wins (6), top 5s (10), laps led (541) and fastest laps run (286)
*Crew chief Eric Phillips ranks first among active crew chiefs with 24 career NCWTS wins and General Manager Rick Ren’s 27 wins as a crew chief are the most in the history of the NCWTS
*In 2010 became the first team since the NCWTS originated in 1995 to win the owners’ championship in its inaugural season
KYLE BUSCH NCWTS CAREER
*Has won 30.9% of the NCWTS races he has entered and finished first or second in 50%
*100 All-Time Combined NASCAR National Series rank third all-time (Petty 200, Pearson 106)
*Ranks second in NCWTS history with 29 wins (Hornaday Jr. 48)
*Ranks fourth in NCWTS history in laps led (4,014), tied for sixth in poles (11) and 10th in top 5s (56)
*One of 10 drivers in NASCAR history to lead over 20,000 laps among the top-three series
*Reached 25th win in NCWTS faster than any driver in the history of NASCAR’s top three divisions, attaining the milestone in just his 87th career start
*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)
*Has at least one NCWTS victory in each of the last seven seasons and multiple victories in each of the last five
*119.6 career driver rating entering the 2011 season is the highest accumulated by a NCWTS driver since the stat was introduced in 2005
*Average career finish of 6.9 ranks first among active drivers with 10 or more career starts in the NCWTS
“We’ve been to Victory Lane all four times that Traxxas has been onboard our Tundra — not many sponsors in this sport can say that they’re undefeated. Hopefully, we can make it a perfect five-for-five this weekend at Michigan. I grew up an R/C vehicle enthusiast and even worked in a hobby store as a teenager, so Traxxas is a sponsor I can really relate to. When I’m not involved in something related to my NASCAR racing, you can usually find me working on or racing my R/C vehicles. It has been a great partnership on and off the track. To have the leading manufacturer of hobby-class R/C cars produce a Kyle Busch edition of their award-winning slash model last year was quite an honor. And when they came out with an officially licensed replica of our No. 18 Tundra this year, I thought that was pretty cool.”
KYLE BUSCH ON MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
“It’s a fun place to race. It’s a wide racetrack and you can run from top to bottom, which makes it exciting for both the drivers and the fans. I’ve had good runs throughout my career in the truck series at Michigan, but haven’t been able to get a win. I think I’ve finished twice two or three times and we’ve led a bunch of laps, but for whatever reason didn’t get to Victory Lane. We’re looking to change that this weekend and keep our perfect record with Traxxas as the primary sponsor on our Tundra intact.”
ERIC PHILLIPS ON PRIMARY CHASSIS SELECTION
“We are bringing our newest Tundra, KBM-8, to Michigan. It was a brand new truck when Kyle won with it at Charlotte in May and it’s raced twice since then — Kyle ran it at Kansas and Josh Richards ran it at Nashville. Since the Nashville race, we’ve put a lot of time and effort into finding ways to improve this piece. We’ve been to the seven-post rig and the wind tunnel and feel like we’ve found a few things that have allowed us to be bringing a better Tundra to the track this weekend.”
ERIC PHILLIPS ON MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
“One of the biggest wins of my career was at Michigan when Travis Kvapil gave Toyota their first National Series win, so it’s a place that brings back good memories. It has long straightaways and which makes most crew chiefs worry about horsepower but to me, the corners are the key. The corners are also long, so the better your truck turns and the longer your driver can stay in the gas, the faster you’ll be. We’ve put a lot of effort in preparing for this race and we’re excited to get to the track and see our hard work pay off.”
- Kyle Busch Motorsports Press Release
