No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry

The 24-year-old driving prodigy, who steamrolled his way to the 2009 Nationwide Series title – his first of any kind in NASCAR’s top-three divisions – will be back behind the wheel of the familiar, green No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) when he takes to the 2.5-mile superspeedway for Saturday’s season-opening DRIVE4COPD 300.

As he and his JGR teammates look to continue their recent mastery of the Nationwide Series circuit in 2010, Busch harkens another couple of words that can best describe last year’s drive to the championship, which also describe the key to returning to victory lane with regularity in 2010: “Outrageously Dependable.”

Those words just so happen to be the tagline for longtime sponsor Interstate Batteries, which this month kicks off its 19th season partnering with JGR. They certainly paint an accurate picture of how Busch & Company went about methodically picking apart their Nationwide Series competitors the past two seasons.

Consider that after collecting a series record-tying 10 wins, 18 top-fives and 20 top-10s in just 30 races in 2008, Busch took on the full 35-race Nationwide slate in 2009 and won a series-high nine times, finished second another 11 times – including placing first or second in an astounding 10 consecutive events – tied a series single-season record with 25 top-five finishes, crushed his own single-season record originally set in 2008 by leading 2,698 of a possible 6,715 laps (40.2 percent), and cruised to the championship by a 210-point margin over Carl Edwards.

If that’s not outrageously dependable, nothing is. Add the fact that, for the second season in a row, Busch led all Nationwide Series competitors in driver rating (a formula that combines wins, top finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest laps, most laps led, and lead-lap finishes with a maximum score each race of 150), and his on-track consistency is all the more apparent. Busch’s 2009 season-ending driver rating of 126.6 was the best since the inception of NASCAR’s loop data statistics, and his four perfect driver rating scores of 150 in 2009 upped his career total to an all-time Nationwide Series-leading seven “perfectos.”

Of Busch’s 30 career Nationwide Series wins – fourth on the all-time list behind Mark Martin (48), Kevin Harvick (34) and Jack Ingram (31) – one particularly memorable one came when the No. 18 Toyota was painted Interstate Batteries green in the April 2008 event at Phoenix International Raceway. And, one of his most memorable NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories came in the July 2008 right here at Daytona wearing, yes, Interstate Batteries green.

With that, Busch can’t think of a better way to open defense of his Nationwide Series championship than by demonstrating a heaping helping of that outrageous dependability, neatly outfitted in his Interstate Batteries green, once again, on Saturday afternoon.

Kyle Busch, Driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries NASCAR Nationwide Series Toyota Camry at Daytona International Speedway

What did it mean to you to win the Nationwide Series title and what long-term lessons did you take from that?

“It’s important because it shows that I do know how to win a championship. Even though, in the Nationwide Series, you’re racing against a few less competitors every week, it’s still the same 43 spots. The Nationwide Series has about 12 guys who can win on a given week and the Sprint Cup Series has about 15 to 20 guys who can win every week, so it’s tougher competition. But for me, I’ve shown I can win a championship. I’ve been determined enough to do that. Last year, being able to achieve that in the Nationwide Series, I’m looking to take that to this year and try to become a Sprint Cup champion. I think there were plenty of lessons to be learned from last year. As much as I was upset with second-place finishes and top-fives and not wins, once I sat back and looked at it, that’s what won our team a championship, so the consistency of last year is not lost on me.”

You know what it takes to win in the Nationwide Series at Daytona as you scored the victory there in July 2007. Where do you want to be during the final couple of laps to be in the best position to win?

“The best place to be is out front most of the time, but not always. If you’re on a restart, it’s not the best place to be, but if it’s a long, green-flag run to finish the race, then you try to get to the front and stay there. It all depends on the situation. When you have a car as strong as I had there in July of 2007, then it’s pretty easy to get out front and stay there. I’ve got a pretty good feel for what I need to run strong when I go to Daytona, and I’m hoping we can do it again with the Interstate Batteries Toyota. All we can do is get in the position to win and hope it all plays out. That’s all you can do at Daytona, and just hope for the best.”

Danica Patrick will be making her Nationwide Series debut Saturday at Daytona. What are your thoughts about that, and do you have any advice for her?

“I think it’s going to be interesting to see what happens with Danica (Patrick). I think she’s serious about her racing, what she’s done. She’s done a great job in the IndyCar Series in the years she’s been there. She’s won a race. She’s had multiple top-five and top-10 finishes. She’s been in contention for a lot more than that to win races. But I feel like, with the testing that they’ve done, finding racetracks to get her at, finding racetracks to get her experience at with herself and Kelly Bires, too, he’s familiar with the car she’s getting into.

You shouldn’t judge her just from the Nationwide race at Daytona, though. I think she’ll do fine, long-term. She’s got plenty of resources behind her. She’s got plenty of help to go to. She is kind of in the same organization with Hendrick Motorsports, so she has all those drivers to feed off of. The best advice I could give to her is just listen to your peers. Take advice from anywhere you can get it. Don’t try to do this on your own. You’ve got to be able to us the help of anybody and everybody.”

The Daytona Nationwide Series race will be the first of the year for Interstate Batteries. What does the relationship with Interstate Batteries mean to you?

“It means a lot, actually. I got to spend some time with Norm (Miller, Chairman of Interstate Batteries), fishing earlier this week and we just had a blast. I’m fortunate that I have great partners like Interstate, M&M’s, Z-Line Designs, NOS, all who know me and just let me be myself. Trust me, I appreciate it a ton.”

The Car

Chassis No. 1878: Saturday’s DRIVE4COPD 300 will be the fifth Nationwide Series race for Chassis No. 1878. It made its Nationwide Series debut in February 2008 at Daytona, when Busch started fifth and finished second to Tony Stewart after leading 47 of 120 laps. It returned to Daytona a year later, when Busch started 13th and finished fourth after leading 18 laps. It then raced at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last April, when Busch started ninth and finished 10th after leading 31 laps. Its most recent start was last July at Daytona, where Busch started 19th and finished second to Clint Bowyer after leading 14 laps.

- True Speed Communication Press Release

Date: Nov. 21, 2009

Event: Homestead-Miami Speedway (Round 35 of 35)

Series: NASCAR Nationwide Series

Location: Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Start/Finish: 5th /1st (Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)

Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Series Champion: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

No. 18 Z-Line Design Toyota Camry

Leading second-place Carl Edwards by a 190-point margin to start the day, Busch was simply required to start Saturday’s Ford 300 Nationwide Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in order to capture his first title in any of NASCAR’s top-three divisions. Once that order of business was taken care of, it was time to have a little fun to close out the season as Busch, who started fifth, went on to lead seven times for a race-high 73 laps en route to his ninth victory and 30th top-10 finish in 35 Nationwide Series starts in 2009. It was also his first victory and third top-10 finish in four Nationwide Series starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The nine wins rank Busch third on the all-time single-season victory list for Nationwide Series competitors.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series and the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, his 30th win in 173 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. (Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

The victory gave Busch a 210-point lead over Edwards in the season-ending standings. His total of 5,682 points scored this season is the most ever by a Nationwide Series competitor, and his 73 laps led upped his season-ending total to 2,698 laps led on the season, another single-season record. Busch’s 25th top-five finish of the season was the most since Jeff Green scored 25 top-fives in a 32-race season in 2000.

Fittingly enough, it was Edwards who pushed Busch all the way to the finish, having pitted late in the race for a fresh set of tires and a final charge to the checkered flag. Busch was able to hold off the series runner-up by .482 of a second at the finish line.

“It was a tough race, for sure,” Busch said. “We weren’t the best car here for a long time. All the guys made some great race calls, Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and everybody else. That’s why we’re a championship team and that’s why we made it here tonight, because these guys can fight through stuff and we made some adjustments to the car that really brought it to life. I was able to pass those guys on that restart and get up toward the front and lead those laps. When that last caution came out, I knew Carl (Edwards) was going to try to do the same thing that I just did. I was worried that he was going to get back to us.”

“Incredible,” Ratcliff added about the race win and accompanying championship. “When you stop and think about it, it becomes a little bit emotional. To think about what we’re able to do – the blessings that we’ve been blessed with all season long – Kyle and this whole team, what we’ve been able to accomplish as a group. I don’t know. I don’t have the words for it right now. It’s just awesome to be able to put those goals up there in front of us and go out there and achieve them.

We did everything we set out to do, and then even more than we expected. I don’t know if we can ever have another season like this, but we’re going to try. He (Busch) is incredible. He deserves every record he broke and his name deserves to be by it. We’re just glad that we could be a part of it. This group of guys, I’ve been working with this group for more than four years now and they just never quit. They just keep on, keep on, keep on. We kind of challenge each other. Kyle challenges us when we finish second and then we challenge him in situations like tonight where we make a decent call and get him out front and then he’s got to step up on the wheel and show what he’s all about.”

It was after coming up short in his Nationwide Series championship effort while running just a part-time schedule in 2008 that Busch and the No. 18 team at JGR made a joint commitment to run a full Nationwide Series campaign this season with their collective eye on the title. The result, said Busch, most certainly paid off with the most prized accomplishment of his career to date.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota, celebrates by waving the championship flag after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

As for being the first champion to bring home a race win at the season finale in 26 years – and to have Ard, whose many Nationwide Series records have been surpassed by Busch – brings an added sense of pride.

“That brings a smile to my face, just the relationship that I’ve had with Sam and what I’ve been able to talk to him about,” Busch said. “That’s the history of this sport – that’s what those guys are all about. Sam and I have some records together and I’ve broken some of his and I’ve broken other people’s records, but none of them mean as much as being able to win a race at the season finale and really solidify your championship and put icing on the cake.”

“This is such a big deal for us and these are so hard to come by,” said J.D. Gibbs, JGR president. “I think Nationwide, Cup – it’s just a blessing for us. To watch Kyle and the way he worked through the season and worked with Jason (Ratcliff) and all the guys coming together – that’s a big deal. For us, we’ll celebrate this, and this one is going to last quite a while.”

Finishing behind Busch and Edwards was Jeff Burton, while Busch’s JGR teammates, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, rounded out the top-five. David Reutimann, Ryan Newman, Steve Wallace, Scott Speed and Matt Kenseth comprised the remainder of the top-10.

The race featured seven caution periods for 27 laps, with nine drivers failing to finish the 200-lap event.

The 2010 Nationwide Series season kicks off with the Feb. 13 Camping World 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway with live coverage provided by ESPN2.

- True Speed Communication Press Release

Toyota Motorsports Logo

Homestead-Miami Speedway – November 21, 2009

- Camry driver Kyle Busch earned the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) championship when he took the green flag on
Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The championship marks the first NNS driver’s title for Toyota and the first
NASCAR championship for the 24-year old Las Vegas-native.

- Busch won his ninth NNS race of 2009 and 15th for Toyota this season when he took the checkered flag at Homestead-Miami
Speedway. Busch also become the first driver since 1983 (Sam Ard) to win both the season-finale and the championship in the
series.

- Camry drivers Joey Logano (fourth), Denny Hamlin (fifth), David Reutimann (sixth) and Scott Speed (ninth) also earned top-10
finishes.

- Jason Leffler (18th), Michael Annett (21st), Justin Marks (32nd) and Chase Miller (37th) were also in the field.

- This season, Camry drivers had 15 victories, 68 top-fives, 127 top-10 finishes, and have led 3,854 laps.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series and the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, his 30th win in 173 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. (Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Finishing Position: 1st

What are you thinking after winning the race and the championship?

“It’s been a while since that’s been done. I don’t mean to be selfish, but that’s the way for these guys to go out. They deserve it. This whole team and all these guys that work so hard on this Z-Line Designs Camry. I can’t thank Toyota enough, I can’t thank Z-Line, NOS Energy Drink, the Nationwide Series, thank all the fans – not just here in Homestead, but across NASCAR’s nation here. Of course Jim (Sexton, president and CEO of Z-Line Designs) and Monica (Sexton) are here to help us celebrate tonight and Marquis
Jets, Gillette and everybody that’s been on board and a part of our program this year. This is huge. My mom and dad are here tonight, my brother came up to me before the race knowing that all we had to do was take the green flag – this is cool. I wish I could have been with Kurt (Busch) in 2004 winning the championship. This one here means a whole lot for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and
everybody at JGR – all the guys that work so hard at building these things, not just in the Nationwide shop, but in the Cup shop, the
fab shop, everybody. Joe and J.D. Gibbs and everybody is here – Norm Miller from Interstate Batteries, it’s just great.”

What were your thoughts with Carl Edwards coming on fresh tires on the last lap?

“It was a little nerving, I knew Carl (Edwards) would be coming with fresh tires – he was really fast. I was hoping Jeff Burton could
hold him up long enough to help burn his tires off a little bit before he got free and chased me down. I was just trying to hit my marks every single time. I finally found something, I couldn’t find it all race long and in the broadcast I said I couldn’t find anything.
Finally, with about 40 (laps) to go I found something there and kept running in that lane.

It prevailed and it paid off for us. I was able to keep my momentum going and keep those guys behind me. He bonsaied me there and I wasn’t quite sure if we were going to connect there. What a close race that might have been for the fans to watch and everybody – I’m sure it was exciting on TV knowing Carl (Edwards) and what he did at Kansas last year. Glad he missed us and we were able to come out on top.”

After receiving the checkered flag for winning Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Ford 300, Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota, celebrates by waving the championship flag in the car around Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. (Photo Credit: Jason Smith / Getty Images for NASCAR)

“It was a tough race for sure. We weren’t the best car here for a long time. All the guys made some great race calls, Jason (Ratcliff,
crew chief) and everybody else. That’s why we’re a championship team and that’s why we made it here tonight is because these guys can fight through stuff and we made some adjustments to the car that really brought it to life and I was able to pass those guys on that restart and get up towards the front and lead those laps. When that last caution came out, I knew Carl (Edwards) was going to try to do the same thing that I just did. I was worried that he was going to get back to us.”

Does this championship make running races in all three series worth it?

“It is, it’s definitely worth it. I love being able to race as many vehicles as I can and this championship right here defines all that and
being able to race as many vehicles as I can race and still be able to produce – I feel like a lot of these tracks I’m good at. About every track I’m good at. There’s not really a track that I’m super at and then a track that I’m not that good at. I’m just good at all of them. Being able to do that and work with these guys and make our cars better.”

Where does this rank in your career accomplishments?

“This is the biggest one – this is it. It hasn’t sunk in yet and it probably won’t for a couple of days. Carl (Edwards) told me before the race, ‘When I won the championship it didn’t mean that much to me the day of, but once it got to the following season and you were called champ or reigning champ or whatever, it really means a lot and really hits home.’ Thank Nationwide for the series and for
helping support the series and all they’ve done for us. It’s a great year and it’s a tribute to all these guys. Everybody at JGR (Joe
Gibbs Racing) and all these guys on this team – everybody at the fab shop, the engine shop, chassis shop. These cars are phenomenal and it takes a lot of work in order to get these done. We’ve had a really strong season and those guys behind us had a really strong season as well – it wasn’t that we just barely lucked into this thing. We won it and we won it in good style.”

What does it mean that the last series champion to win the final race was Sam Ard?

“That brings a smile to my face, just the relationship that I’ve had with Sam (Ard) and what I’ve been able to talk to him so far.

That’s the history of this sport – that’s what those guys are all about. Sam (Ard) and I have some records together and I’ve broken some of his and I’ve broken other people’s records, but none of them mean as much as being able to win a race at the season finale and really solidify your championship and put icing on the cake.”

JASON RATCLIFF, crew chief, No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

How does it feel to be a championship crew chief?

“Incredible. When you stop and think about it, it becomes a little bit emotional. To think about what we’re able to do – the blessings
that we’ve been blessed with all season long. Kyle (Busch) and this whole team, what we’ve been able to accomplish as a group. I
don’t know, I don’t have the words for it right now. It’s just awesome to be able to put those goals up there in front of us and go out there and achieve them. We did everything we set out to do and then even more than we expected. I don’t know if we can ever have another season like this, but we’re going to try.”

What can you say about the records that Kyle Busch has broken this season?

“He’s (Kyle Busch) incredible. He deserves every record he broke and his name deserves to by it. We’re just glad that we could be a
part of it. This group of guys, I’ve been working with this group for more than four years now and they just never quit. They just keep on, keep on, keep on. We kind of challenge each other. Kyle (Busch) challenges us when we finish second and then we challenge him in situations like tonight where we make a decent call and get him out front and then he’s got to step up on the wheel and show what he’s all about.”

JOE GIBBS, team owner, Joe Gibbs Racing

What does it mean to win the Nationwide championship?

“I think these are things that — the great things in life are the memories that you have and that you don’t forget, and I remember
standing out one time after a Super Bowl, and I turned to Charles Manning, and he said to me, the thrill was getting here, everything
that you had to do to get here, all the times you’ve fought, and you have a wreck, you have this, you have that, things that happen. The thing I told Kyle before we started, to me what impresses me is this car ran great all year. I mean, super all year, and we went all the way to the last race before we could win the championship. So it shows you how hard this is.”

J.D. GIBBS, president, Joe Gibbs Racing

What does this championship mean for your team?

“This is such a big deal for us and these are so hard to come by. I think Nationwide, Cup – it’s just a blessing for us. To watch Kyle
(Busch) and the way he worked through the season and worked with Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and all the guys coming together -
that’s a big deal. For us, we’ll celebrate this and this one is going to last quite a while.”

What has Kyle Busch learned about winning championships?

“What he’s kind of learned over here, we’ve taken a lot of seconds, a lot of thirds – they’re not fun to take. On the Cup side, that’s
taking your fifths, your 10ths, and you just learn that when you’re running for a championship there’s certain things that are required
there.”

No. 20 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Toyota Camry

Finishing Position: 4th

How was tonight’s race for you?

“It was a rough one. We weren’t good enough to win by no means. We got out in the lead for a little bit, but I knew we weren’t good enough to be up there. We finished fourth and that’s where we ran. I think that’s where we should have run. I felt like there at the end when the leaders pitted and we stayed out, I said, ‘We ain’t going to win the way we are so let’s go for the gold and try something different.’ That didn’t work for us so then we got the last caution and we tried to go for the gold again and get some new tires. My race car just wasn’t fast enough, we were digging hard. Everyone did a great job, just missed it by a little bit. Carl (Edwards) and Kyle (Busch) were really the best cars, 29 (Jeff Burton) was really good too. We’ll take it. We ran fourth, we finished fourth so it is what it is.”

Denny Hamlin

Finishing Position: 5th

How good was your race car tonight?

“We just had a crack in the header right there when we were trying to get our lap back and it just wore through and killed our
horsepower. All in all it is still a great day for us. I felt like we had something for those guys but that horsepower loss that we had
through the exhaust it really hurt us there towards the end.”

What happened when you got into the back of Brad Keselowski?

“Yeah, the sun was real bad at that point and I really couldn’t see a whole lot. I think the fans right there, they got their money’s worth today.”

What was your plan at the beginning of the race?

“I was just trying to worry him (Brad Keselowski) to death and force him into a mistake and that’s what he did. As soon as I got
behind him he drove in really, really deep and I said, ‘He’ll never make the corner.’ And he ended up getting into the wall. To me it’s
a victory for all of the guys who he’s taken out over the last 10 weeks. There’s a lot of guys — I was out there and a lot of guys took swipes at him and missed today so to be honest with you I’m surprised he was even able to drive it in.”

Are you disappointed with the penalty that NASCAR gave you?

“No, not at all. That’s the thing, if you do something obvious and blatant which I did you would expect a penalty and I’ll be honest
with you I thought it was going to be two laps. So one lap I wasn’t feeling too bad about. I knew we could come back from it and our car was still in one piece. That’s the thing, I wouldn’t try to cause harm to anyone and I knew spinning him (Brad Keselowski) at the point that I was that he wasn’t going to get hurt and his car wasn’t going to get hurt. I just wanted to make his day a little bit tougher.”

How did your car handle during the race?

“It was a long day. We fought and we fought to try to get it and those long green-flag runs just really hurt us to getting the track
position that we needed. Luckily we had a caution at the end that helped with that and we just had too many issues. That mechanical failure with the headers that cracked just killed our horsepower. So when we needed all of the horsepower that we needed at the end it just couldn’t keep up with those guys.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 32 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Braun Racing

Finishing Position: 6th

SCOTT SPEED, No. 99 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing

Finishing Position: 9th

JASON LEFFLER, No. 38 Great Clips Toyota Camry, Braun Racing

Finishing Position: 18th

MICHAEL ANNETT, No. 15 Germain.com Toyota Camry, Germain Racing

Finishing Position: 21st

JUSTIN MARKS, No. 10 Borrell Electric Company Toyota Camry, Braun Racing

Finishing Position: 32nd

CHASE MILLER, No. 47 ConstructionJobs.com Toyota Camry, JTG Daugherty Racing

Finishing Position: 37th

- Toyota Motorsports Press Release