BLOWN ENGINE SIDELINES KURT BUSCH EARLY IN ALL-STAR RACE
-Miller Lite Dodge Driver Relegated To Garage In First Segment, But Maintains Positive Attitude-

CONCORD, N.C. (May 20, 2006) – Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch was the first driver to retire from tonight’s NEXTEL Challenge All-Star race here at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, but he maintained a positive attitude as his crew analyzed the situation back in the garage area.

            “At least the car is completely unscathed – don’t think we put a single dent on her here tonight,” Busch said after speaking to a barrage of media representative gathered outside his garage stall.  “I guess having the engine let go is better than getting crashed out of it.  This is the car that we were hoping to bring back here next week for the (Coca-Cola) 600 and it’s a no-brainer that we can do that now.”

            Little did he know it at the time, but Busch’s words would later prove prophetic.  This version of NASCAR’s “All-Star” battle turned into a battle for survival, or as defending series champ Tony Stewart put it, a “Saturday night crash fest.”  Only 10 of the 20 starters were running at the finish after several crashes took their toll on the field.

           “We just had something go wrong in the valve train, the motor itself,” Busch said of the engine problem.  “There’s oil coming out somewhere because it was landing on the exhaust and made the smoke. We’ll learn from it. I’m sure the engine department knew this was an all-star race and they were trying something out of the ordinary. It’s a shame we couldn’t go the whole distance, but we feel like we made gains on our setup as far as the way the car handles. We’re making strides. We’ll stick together. The Miller Lite team is very strong. The two previous laps to when it did finally poke a hole in something it started vibrating a little bit. I was checking the gauges and cars were going by us. I was just trying to yield and get out of the way.

           “It’s very beneficial to get out there and make some laps, and we feel like we gained on our setup a little bit (for next week),” Busch said.  “I’m not sure (about the tires). We had oil on ours. We’ll definitely come back next Thursday and try some more things. I think we made some gains on our setup and got the Miller Lite Dodge closer. We just missed it with the motor. I’m sure the motor guys will let me know what happened Monday morning and we’ll come back Thursday. This car is really good. It’s better than the other car we tested here, so we’ll think about it (running same Dodge Charger in 600) and go from there.”

            Jimmie Johnson, who has won the last four consecutive points-paying races here at L.M.S., overcame an early pit road violation to emerge as the winner tonight over runner-up Kevin Harvick.  Jeff Gordon was third, with Carl Edwards fourth and Ryan Newman fifth.  Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Kyle Petty and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the nine drivers left running on the lead lap at the finish of the race.

            Action continues here next Thursday with practice and qualifying for Saturday’s NBS event and Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.  Busch will be racing in both events.  Next Saturday’s race begins at 8:00 p.m., while Sunday’s 600-miler has a 5:30 p.m. EDT starting time.  FOX-TV and PRN Radio will feature live broadcasts of the events.

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