KURT BUSCH KNOWS WHAT WIN WOULD MEAN IN DAYTONA 500
-Two-Time Runner-Up Intensely Wants Win For The “Captain,” Car Owner Roger Penske-

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 16, 2006) – Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch came down to “Speed Weeks 2006” at Daytona International Speedway with only one goal in mind – directing his complete attention on winning Sunday’s 48th Annual Daytona 500.

            “We weren’t in the “Shootout,” we’re not in IROC this year, we’re not running in anything else and the 500 has our total focus,” said Busch, the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Champion who has runner-up finishes in the 2003 and last year’s editions of the “Great American Race.”  “I’ve had quite a bit of time to think about just how big of win we could have here on Sunday.

            “I think that it really hit me during qualifying last Sunday when we were rolling down pit road to make our qualifying run,” said Busch, who took over the driver’s seat of the No. 2 Penske Racing South entry when racing legend Rusty Wallace retired at the end of the 2005 season.  “I looked around and thought to myself, ‘Wow, here I am at Daytona driving a car for Roger Penske.

            “That really got me to thinking about it a lot.  Roger’s teams have won at Indy 13 times and we’re still looking for a first win in the Daytona 500.  I don’t have to tell you how much it would mean if we can get that first win here on Sunday.

“It would be an incredible achievement and a monumental win, that’s for sure,” said Busch. “There would be no better way to officially open up this exciting new era of my career than to bring home a win in our biggest race to Roger, our Penske Team, Miller Lite and all our other great sponsors.”

            Entering the 2006 season, 31 Penske-backed entries have competed in 21 editions of the Daytona 500 dating back to 1972 (Rusty Wallace in 15 races, Ryan Newman in four races, Jeremy Mayfield in four races, Bobby Allison in two races, Dave Marcis in two races – and one race each for Gary Bettenhausen, Mark Donohue, Brendan Gaughan and Travis Kvapil). Allison’s runner-up finish in the 1975 edition rates as the best finish to date.  In that race, held on Feb. 16, 1975, Allison drove the Penske-owned and Coca-Cola-sponsored No. 16 AMC Matador from a third-place start to the runner-up finish behind Benny Parsons, who was behind the wheel of the L.G. DeWitt-owned Chevrolet.

            Since the “Captain” returned to NASCAR racing in 1991 after a decade break from the sport, Wallace’s third-place finish in the 2001 edition of the Daytona 500 rates as the team’s best mark.

            Interesting enough, it was Allison who presented Miller Brewing Company with its lone Daytona 500 winning sponsor’s trophy, when he took the checkered flag in the race on Feb. 14, 1988.  Allison started his Miller High Life-sponsored and Stavola Brothers-owned Buick in the third spot and led 70 laps en route to his third career Daytona 500 win.  In one of the most dramatic finishes in the sport’s history, Allison was able to hold off his 26-year-old son, Davey, on the final lap to emerge with a two-car-length victory.

            “We finished second to Michael Waltrip back in 2003 and we were right there on winner Jeff Gordon’s rear bumper last February at Daytona,” offered Busch.  “We’ve been so close before and just hope to be back up there in a position to win again this time around in our Miller Lite Dodge.”

            Busch started the No. 97 Roush Racing Ford in the 13th spot in last year’s Daytona 500.  Although he was not credited with officially leading a lap, he was a frontrunner all race long in what turned into the first-ever green-white-checkered finish at the famed 2.5-mile superspeedway.  Defending NEXTEL Cup Champion Tony Stewart had led the most laps going into the final stages of the 2005 race.  Gordon got between lead duo Stewart and Dale Earnahardt Jr. to take the lead on the 198th lap (of scheduled 200 lap), as the 11th caution of the race came out the following lap, due to debris on the track. 

            The caution period allowed the field to bunch back up for a final single-file green-white-checkered finish with Gordon on the point.  In a last-lap dash to the flag, Busch cleared Earnhardt to challenge, but came up 0.158 seconds shy of overtaking Gordon for the win.

            “Jeff and I raced each other clean all day long and we had a pretty good read that both of us had really strong cars,” recalled Busch of last year’s 500.  “We were able to run up front and were able to be in a great position to win the race. 

            “On the restart for the green-white-checkered, I got a rearview mirror full of the 10 car (Scott Riggs) and he pushed me,” Busch continued.  “He was going to go by me if I didn't block him, so I blocked him and he pushed me by the 48 (Johnson) and the 8 (Earnhardt).  I remember him catching me again coming off of turn two.  He gave me another bump, but that momentum, when I broke away from him, wasn't enough to get me past Gordon.  I wouldn't have cleared him coming off of turn four.  It would have probably been three-wide, four-wide, there probably would have been a six-car pileup at the start-finish line and I wouldn't have ended up in the position that we were in.  I just didn't have that 10 car behind me to help me clear Jeff.  Then the 8 car got in there on the low side and I knew I had to hold the bottom groove so that we could finish second. 

“It was a great run, but we’re here now, still looking for our first Daytona 500 win,” Busch offered.  “I’m young and we still have several years ahead for us to try to win this thing.  I’m really excited about our chances this time around.”

            Busch started the 2003 Daytona from far back in the field, but he rallied to finish second to Waltrip in the rained-shortened event.  Busch’s climb toward the front was gradual, but once he got there, he was a challenger till the end.   Busch started 36th, but was 17th by lap 10 and 11th by lap 20. He fell back to 17th on lap 50, but he jumped into the top-five by lap 70 – running fourth behind then defending Cup champion Tony Stewart.   Reaching the front and taking the lead, however, was nearly impossible, especially with the favored Dale Earnhardt Inc. duo of Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. up front.

“Things were a lot different then than they are now in the (restrictor-) plate racing,” Busch offered.  The DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) cars had such a threshold on the front of the competition back then.  They were able to do things to help one another maintain the lead, and the other to maintain second, and we were all racing for third.  That day, I ended up in second place just due to the fact that there was a mechanical issue on that 8 car.” (Earnhardt’s threat to win ended on the 89th lap when he experienced electrical problems.)

Busch’s overall Daytona career record boasts four top-five finishes in 10 races.  He started 34th and finished second in his only Daytona NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.  He also has runner-up finishes in two of his three Daytona career IROC races.  Busch’s overall career restrictor-plate race record sports eight top-five finishes and 11 top-10 finishes in 20 races.  He finished third in only his second career plate race, on April 22, 2001, at Talladega Superspeedway, his first career Cup start on that mammoth 2.66-mile Alabama track.

“The immediate goal is to win the 500 and that’s easily understood,” added Busch.  “But, from the big picture side of things, the most important thing is to get off to a good start here at Daytona for the 2006 season.  We are really confident that we can get that accomplished.”

The 48th Annual Daytona 500 (500 miles/200 laps) has a scheduled 2:30 p.m. EST starting time on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.  The 2006 NASCAR season-opening race will feature live coverage by NBC-TV and MRN Radio.

KURT BUSCH CAREER TRACK RECORDS
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
(2.5 miles)

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