KURT BUSCH PUTS MILLER LITE DODGE ON POLE FOR AUTO CLUB 500

-In Just Second Race For Penske Racing South, 2004 Champ Claims First Pole Since 2004 Finale-

FONTANA, Calif. (Feb. 24, 2006) – In just his second race behind the wheel of the Miller Lite Dodge, Kurt Busch claimed the pole position today for Sunday’s Auto Club 500 here at California Speedway.  He was quick to credit his team, led by first-year crew chief, Roy McCauley, along with a chassis setup left behind by Rusty Wallace, who retired as the Miller Lite Dodge driver last year.

            “It was a great lap for us in our Miller Lite Dodge and it was due to a total team effort,” said Busch of his fast lap of 187.086 mph (38.485 seconds), which helped him claim his fourth career pole overall and his first since November 2004 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  “These guys are wonderful. Rusty gave us a good setup to start with and we used it to our advantage. Rusty left us the setup and Roy took it from there. I’ve never gotten many poles, so this is a great way to start with a great bunch of guys. We came out of the box really strong last week in Daytona, but didn’t get the finish we wanted.  It’s great to come here and win this pole for our team, Miller Lite and all of our great sponsors.

            “We’re smart enough to know that, as great as we performed here today, we still have a long way to go for making this a big weekend overall,” Busch continued.  “We’ll celebrate our accomplishment here today and enjoy it as much as possible, but tomorrow we’ll be back in here with our dedication to making sure we have a car that can win on Sunday.”

            Busch had clocked in with the sixth-fastest lap in the practice session leading up to qualifying, turning in a lap of 183.454 mph (39.297 seconds).  He said that getting a chance to qualify later on in the session (37th of the 50 competitors who made attempts) was beneficial.

            “We were fortunate to have gotten a draw to go later on in the session,” said Busch, whose best career qualifying effort here until today was the outside pole he earned for the April 2002 race.  “We let our team engineer, Derek Stamets, go down to the NASCAR trailer and draw for us.  That was good enough that he’ll be our man down there every week until the luck changes.”

            After Busch clocked in with his lap, he nervously waited on pit road with McCauley and the rest of his crew as several other pole threats, including Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle and his brother, Kyle, made their attempts to knock the No. 2 car from the top of the charts.  When the last car out, driven by Dale Jarrett, turned in the final qualifying lap, the California sun was setting on Busch and his ecstatic Miller Lite crew.

            “I’m very happy,” Busch said after taking a congratulatory cell phone call from Wallace and as his feat was beginning to settle in.  “I’ve had that in me for so long. I tried to keep things in, but I’m so happy to drive for Roger Penske and this group. Now I get to let everything shine and hang out. We’re having fun now.

           “This is Friday, and I’m fast,” Busch added.  “Normally this is Ryan Newman’s day today. As a matter of fact, I was joking with him after practice that I wondered if he could go out there and turn in a 50 (38.50-second lap speed).  Somebody asked me going out to the line if we could run a 75 (39.75) and I just looked at them with a pretty puzzled look.  I’m really surprised we were able to run that fast.  I’m happy we got a pole. Rusty calling to congratulate us made it extra special.  That puts us in the Shootout. We’re learning. We’re new together. We’ll see what we’ve got on Sunday for all the rest of the boys.”

           Biffle wound up taking the outside-front-row spot with a lap of 186.671 mph (38.671 seconds), with Johnson third (185.735 mph), J.J. Yeley fourth (185.180 mph) and Denny Hamlin fifth (184.919 mph).  Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Joe Nemechek, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin rounded out today’s top 10 qualifiers.  Newman will start 11th on the field here on Sunday.

           Saturday’s California Speedway schedule features a practice session from 9:00 a.m. till 10:00 a.m. and the final “Happy Hour” practice session from 10:35 a.m. till 11:20 a.m. (FX tape delayed broadcast at 2:00 p.m. local).  Sunday’s Auto Club 500 (500 miles, 250 laps) has a 1:05 p.m. PST starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio.  The FOX-TV pre-race show, with hosts Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond, begins at 12:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. EST).

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