but first, these notes of interest:

--Congratulations to Miller Lite Dodge crew chief Pat Tryson for winning the Victory Lane, but the crew chief that made the biggest difference to his team. In addition to the $1,000 check, the winning crew chief will receive signage to announce the win on their pit box the following week. The crew chief with the most weekly top wins will be honored as the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Year and will be presented a $20,000 check at the season finale in Homestead, Fla.

--Daytona leftovers…a look back over Kurt’s Daytona Speed Weeks ’08 experiences makes one wonder when the screenwriters might come calling.  From the first day at Daytona (2/7) when he could be found on the hospital gurney in the infield medical center, being administered intravenous fluids, until providing Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman 'the push from heaven' on the final lap of the final day (2/17), his was certainly a fascinating story.  “It was enough drama and excitement there for an entire season for most,” Pat said as he looked back on the last few weeks.  “What’s absolutely amazing to me is that I know for a fact just how sick Kurt was for so many of those days.  For him to be so sick and go through all he did was amazing.  He survived all that mess during the first weekend.  He went straight home after qualifying was over on Sunday and spent the next two days straight in bed.  He came back down there on Wednesday and said he was physically running at about 85 percent.  Like I said the first day at Daytona after seeing him laying there in the infield medical center with the IV in his arm, Kurt may be a little guy, but he’s as tough as they come.”

…and in the Daytona 500 itself.  Starting 43rd on the field, Kurt came from the back to the front practically every 50 laps, overcoming handling issues and bouncing back from a speeding penalty.  Perhaps overlooked was his overshooting his pit area on Lap 35, a near spin and crash on Lap 108 when he made an evasive maneuver to avoid an erratic move by Dale Earnhardt Jr., getting blocked out of his pits by Greg Biffle on Lap 152 and an overheating condition that was destined to take its toll without the fourth caution of the race falling with 23 laps remaining.  “We passed more cars in that race than anybody – it was absolutely amazing,” Pat said.  “It was from back to front, from back to front and from back to front.  Like I told Kurt, it was a dazzling run out there.”

--Kurt’s Quick stats entering California (courtesy of NASCAR PR):

 Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Light Dodge)

2008 Rundown

California Speedway Outlook:

Daytona 500 Loop Data Highlight

--Kurt, Pat and crew will be racing their PSC-528 Miller Lite Dodge Charger at California Speedway this weekend.  It is a brand new car, used only in the 1/31-2/1 “Preseason Thunder” testing on the 2.0-mile Fontana, Calif., track.

--Kurt is scheduled for his NASCAR Winners’ Circle media appearance for Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Thursday (2/21).  He has a full slate of media activities scheduled in his hometown.  For additional information, please contact LVMS Senior Director of Public Relations at (702) 632-8266 or jmotley@LVMS.com

--Kurt is set for a Miller Lite Southern California “Pub Crawl” this Friday night.  Included in his stops are Hooters at 725 Milliken Ave. in Ontario (8:30 p.m.) and Buffalo Wild Wings at 8188 Day Creek Blvd. in Rancho Cucamonga at 9:15 p.m., where he will be serving as a celebrity bartender.

--Kurt will introduce headlining act “George Thorogood and The Destroyers” at Saturday’s Miller “Rock n’ Racing California” on the grounds of California Speedway.  The headlining act is set to take the stage at approximately 7:45 p.m. PST.

--Kurt is scheduled for his “top-12 points” media interview opportunity/Q & A session on Friday at 10:50 a.m. in the California Speedway garage area interview room.  Kurt continues his effort in reaching out to the media rather than making them come to him at the team transporter.

--“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” –Sir Winston Churchill

ULTIMATE TEAM PLAYER BUSCH WANTS HIS OWN WIN AT CALIFORNIA
-Miller Lite Dodge Driver Says Sunday’s Auto Club 500 Is Race Of “So Many Unknowns”-

FONTANA, Calif. (Feb. 20, 2008) – Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch proved to be the ultimate team player in last Sunday’s Daytona 500, helping push Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman to an exciting win in the 50th edition of “The Great American Race.”  He comes to California Speedway for Sunday’s Auto Club 500 still proud of his selfless Daytona performance, but now focused on scoring a win of his own.

            “Last weekend was certainly a big one for the record books and a race that Penske Racing will be proud of forever, that’s for sure,” said Busch, whose push of Newman resulted in the team’s first Daytona 500 victory and Busch’s third runner-up finish in only eight starts in NASCAR’s “Super Bowl.”  “I’m so satisfied about our accomplishments at Daytona and to be instrumental in helping ‘The Captain’ (team owner Roger Penske) add to his incredible racing portfolio like we did is something I’ll treasure for the rest of my life.

            “But you can’t get so wrapped up in what happened last weekend that you lose sight of the fact that we’re racing the second of 36 points-paying races this weekend in California,” said Busch, whose record sports one win, three top-five finishes and five top-10s in 11 races on the track that team owner Penske started building on Nov. 22, 1995.  “Starting out the season with no points and in what could be looked at as a challenging situation, we’ve pretty much been in a big-picture mode from all the way back at the beginning of Daytona Speed Weeks. 

            “It’s okay to bask in the glow of a good run at Daytona and we did that Sunday night, but (crew chief) Pat Tryson and all our guys were back in the shop on Monday going at it full steam ahead in their preparation for California this weekend, Las Vegas next week and the races on down the line,” said Busch, the leading pole-winner at California Speedway with three first-place starts to his credit.  “California is our next opportunity to accumulate all the points we can and that’s what we’re focused on.

            “It’d be great to come back and get a win of our own out at California this weekend, but that’s certainly going to be a major undertaking to accomplish,” Busch offered.  “I think we had a great test out there a few weeks back and looked to have a solid top-10 car when you consider the numbers and compare how we stacked up against all the other teams.

            “But you have to look at it as a race with still so many unknowns,” Busch continued.  “We all tested this new car there, but the fact is that we’ve never raced it at California Speedway before.  It could be said that we’re all rookie competitors when it comes to racing this car on a two-mile track like California.”

            “Kurt’s right when he says that our team is in the big-picture mode,” said Tryson, named “WYPALL Crew Chief of the Race” for his performance in leading the No. 2 Dodge Team in last weekend’s Daytona race.  “Our team talked about practicing patience and being there at the end all during the Daytona 500 race week.

            “We looked at what happened the last two years in the season-opening races – leading the most laps and having such strong cars – only to crash out with just a few laps remaining,” Tryson explained.  “Our goal this time around was to be there running as strong as possible at the end and we certainly accomplished that.

            “The bottom line is that the record book showed Kurt leaving Daytona in 2006 with 54 points and only 50 points last year,” said Tryson.  “We’re coming into California this time around with 175 points – three times more than Kurt has had the last two years in a row – and that’s a great way to start off the 2008 season.

            “Since we began the year with no points, it’s our big goal to be solidly in the top 10 after the fifth race when everything reverts to the 2008 standings,” said Tryson.  “As for California, I thought we had a really good test there.  We were a solid top-10 car and Kurt was very comfortable with our setup.  We’ll be using the same Goodyear Tires that we have in the past there – the tires we normally race at California and Michigan – so that should be no issue.

            “Being one of the ‘go-or-go-home’ teams may actually play out in our favor this weekend,” Tryson added, alluding to the pre-season points trade between the No. 2 and No. 77 Penske Racing teams.  “Kurt’s won three of the last four poles at California and we should have a good shot to maybe win another.  Because of the points situation, we’ll be among the last teams making their qualifying runs.  Hopefully, the track will be cooler and faster when we get out there.  After starting dead last at Daytona, it’d sure be nice to start up front this weekend at California.”

            Practice at California Speedway on Friday at 12:00 noon kicks off this weekend’s action.  Qualifying to establish the starting grid for Sunday’s 250-lap battle is set for Friday at 3:40 p.m. local (live on SPEED-TV and MRN Radio).  Saturday’s final “happy hour” practice session is scheduled from 2:00 p.m. till 3:55 p.m. Sunday’s Auto Club 500 has a scheduled 1:00 p.m. local (4:00 p.m. EST) starting time here at the 2.0-mile Southern California facility.  FOX-TV and MRN Radio will provide live coverage of all the action beginning at 12:30 p.m. PST (3:30 p.m. EST.

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