NCWTS: Busch Hopes to Keep the Winning Streak Alive at Bristol

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 17, 2015) – Kyle “Rowdy” Busch is on a roll since his return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series earlier this month. He is two-for-two in wins so far, and is looking to keep that streak going when he makes his third start of the season Wednesday night in the UNOH 200 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in the No. 54 JEGS Tundra.

Last weekend at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Busch’s win crossed another track off the list of places where a Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) team had never won. He started the month off by checking Pocono (Pa.) Raceway off the list as well. Now only two tracks on the NCWTS schedule remain where a KBM team has yet to record a victory – Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario. There is still a chance to narrow the list down to one track since the three KBM teams will head to Canada next weekend to vie for a win on the road course, but first they must take on the half-mile bullring of Bristol.

The odds are definitely in the Las Vegas native’s favor at “Thunder Valley” this week. Busch has won four of his last six NCWTS races at the track and his 431carreer laps led are more than any other driver in the series. He is the first and only driver to sweep the weekend at Bristol, winning all three NASCAR events (Sprint Cup, XFINITY and NCWTS) in the same weekend in 2010, which is a record he would like to repeat this weekend since he will be competing in all three races.

Wednesday night will be Busch’s first start in the No. 54 JEGS Tundra this season. The team is bringing chassis KBM-017 to Bristol, the same truck which finished second in last year’s event with Darrell Wallace Jr., at the wheel. It will also be the first time Busch has worked with crew chief Shannon Rursch, who joined the KBM team during the off-season last winter. Rursch claimed his first win as a crew chief in July at Eldora Speedway in Ohio with rookie driver Christopher Bell. Busch and Rursch hope to end the night in victory lane in what would be the 45^th time for Busch, and the second time for Rursch in the Truck Series.

Kyle Busch, Driver of the No. 54 NCWTS JEGS Tundra:

Are you looking forward to driving the No. 54 JEGS Tundra at Bristol?

“It’s been a fun couple of races running with Jerry (Baxter) and the 51 team — getting a couple wins for Dollar General and everyone at KBM. Now, I’ll move over for a race with Shannon (Rursch) and the 54 guys and see if we can keep it going. Bristol is a fun place to race the trucks at and we always bring fast Tundras there. This will be the only time this year that I’m running all three series in the same weekend, so it’s my only shot at bringing home another triple. It was really cool to sweep the weekend in 2010 and with the way we’ve been running in all three series the last month or so, I think we should have a good shot at doing it again this week. I’m looking forward to continuing the relationship we have with JEGS — they’ve been on my Late Model for some races the last couple of years and we were able to get them to victory lane in those cars, hopefully we can do it again this time in the Truck Series.”

Is it easier for you to give your teammates advice when you are also running the trucks, or is it harder because your time is more occupied?

“It’s definitely easier to give advice when you are also running in the same equipment because you are able to feel the same things, or at least have a good sense of what they are feeling — that’s one of the reasons I like running some Truck Series races every year. It allows me to give them a more precise answer of what is going on when they come to me with questions instead of just basing it off of what I’ve experienced from past Truck Series races, or what I might be experiencing in the Cup and XFINITY cars at the same track.”

Shannon Rursch, Crew Chief of the No. 54 NCWTS JEGS Tundra:

This will be your first race as Kyle’s crew chief. Do you prepare any differently for this race?

“The 54 team won’t prepare for Bristol any differently than we prepare for any other week. We try to bring the best possible Tundra to each and every race, regardless of who is driving. I’m really looking forward to working with Kyle at Bristol. KBM has won the last three truck races, and four of the last five, so we are looking to continue that trend with him at Bristol.”

Kyle Busch’s No. 54 JEGS Tundra:

KBM-017: The No. 54 JEGS team will race KBM-017, for Wednesday’s UNOH 200. This Tundra was last raced at Iowa in June. Its best finish of second came at Bristol in 2014 with Darrell Wallace Jr., at the wheel.

KBM-017 Performance Profile

Date	Site	Driver	Start	Finish	Laps	Laps Led	Status
6/19/2015	Iowa	Boston	11	11	200/200	0	Running
8/20/2014	Bristol	Wallace Jr.	8	2	200/200	0	Running
8/2/2014	Pocono	Wallace Jr.	15	8	64/64	0	Running
5/16/2014	Charlotte	Wallace Jr.	11	26	166/167	0	Accident
6/7/2013	Texas	Coulter	11	25	78/167	0	Running
9/13/2013	Chicago	Coulter	6	23	148/150	0	Running
9/28/2013	Las Vegas	Coulter	14	13	146/146	0	Running
Totals	7 starts, 0 Wins		10.8	15.4		0

Notes of Interest:

Kyle Busch @ Bristol

Has produced four wins, five top-five and six top-10 finishes across nine NCWTS starts for an average finish of 9.3
Over the last nine point-paying NCWTS races leads all drivers in Laps Led (431), Fastest Laps Run (270), Laps in Top 15 (1561), Quality Passes (167) and Fastest Late in Run (115.448 mph)
In August of 2010, made history when he won the NCWTS, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway, becoming the only driver to sweep all three of NASCAR’s top three series at one track on the same weekend

Series	Races	Win	T5	T10	Pole	Laps	Led	Earnings	AvSt	AvFn	RAF	Miles	LLF
NCWTS	9	4	5	6	2	1703	431	$219,695	5.9	9.3	8	907.7	7
NXS	21	7	14	17	4	5339	1679	$765,285	8.2	8.2	19	2845.7	17
NSCS	20	5	8	12	1	9748	1512	$3,398,804	18.2	12.2	16	5195.6	12

Kyle Busch’s Bristol NCWTS Performance Profile:

Date	Start	Finish	Laps	Status	Laps Led
8/20/2014	1	24	194/200	Running	81
8/21/2013	10	1	200/200	Running	7
8/24/2011	7	30	100/200	Accident	0
8/18/2010	1	1	206/206	Running	116
8/19/2009	6	1	200/200	Running	82
8/20/2008	3	1	203/203	Running	145
8/22/2007	9	15	200/200	Running	0
8/23/2006	7	6	200/200	Running	0
8/24/2005	9	5	200/200	Running	0

Kyle Busch 2015 Camping World Truck Series Highlights

Has won both of his NCWTS starts this season, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (8/1/15) and Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (8/15/15), leading a combined 97 laps

Kyle Busch 2014 Camping World Truck Series Highlights

Was victorious in seven of his 10 NCWTS starts in 2014 and despite starting just 10 of 22 races, led all NCWTS drivers in Fastest Laps Run (447), Laps Led (747) and Miles Led (999.17)

Kyle Busch Camping World Truck Series Career

Has won 34.6% (434/127) of the NCWTS races he has entered and finished first or second in 51.9% (66/127)
Entered the season ranked first all-time among NCWTS drivers with a career Driver Rating of 120.9 and Average finish of 7.1
Ranks second in NCWTS history in wins (44) and fourth in laps led (5,530)
149 all-time combined NASCAR National Series wins rank him second all-time to Richard Petty (200)
As an owner-driver in 2010, his series-leading eight wins helped Kyle Busch Motorsports become the first team since the NCWTS originated in 1995 to capture an Owner’s Championship in its inaugural season
In 2014, his series-leading seven wins helped KBM capture its second consecutive and third-overall NCWTS Owner’s Championship in its five-year existence
Led the NCWTS in wins five of the last six seasons; 2009 (six), 2010 (eight), 2011 (six), 2013 (five) and 2014 (seven)

Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 54 Tundra

Is currently 14^th in the Owner’s Championship standings with one win, one top-five and six top-10 finishes in 13 starts
Earned six wins, three poles, 1,070 laps led, 15 top-five and 32 top-10 finishes across 57 starts since 2013

KBM NCWTS Program

Has collected three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Owner’s Championships, 43 Truck Series victories and 22 poles across 240 starts since originating in 2010
Has been victorious in three consecutive Truck Series events this season and four of the last five dating back to the Iowa Speedway event in June
43 career Truck Series victories as an organization ranks second all-time behind Roush (50) and tied with Kevin Harvick Inc. (43)
14 victories as an organization during the 2014 season broke the Truck Series record of 12 set by Ultra Motorsports in 2001
Seven different drivers have won a race for KBM, led by owner-driver Kyle Busch with 28. Darrell Wallace Jr., and Erik Jones have each collected five victories, Denny Hamlin produced two victories and Christopher Bell, Kasey Kahne and Brian Scott all collected one triumph
Has collected victories at 19 of the 21 tracks on the 2015 schedule, excluding Atlanta Motor Speedway and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

KBM NCWTS @ Bristol

KBM drivers have collected two wins, two poles, three top-five and three top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 14.2 across eight starts at Bristol
Owner-driver Kyle Busch collected victories for his team in 2010 and 2013 and captured poles in 2010 and 2014

The Rursch Report

Shannon Rursch will call the shots for the No. 54 Tundra in the Truck Series in 2015. The Iowa native may be new to KBM, but is no stranger to sitting atop the pit box. Rursch comes to KBM from Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM), where he most recently served as crew chief for the No. 31 team in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. In addition to leading the XFINITY Series team in 2014, he collected three top-10 finishes in four starts as crew chief for TSM in select Truck Series events last season.

Rursch has one prior race as a crew chief at Bristol in 2014 with Dylan Kwasniewski in the XFINITY Series. His driver finished 25^th after an accident. Rursch scored his first career win as a NASCAR crew chief last month when Christopher Bell won at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 54 Toyota Tundra 2015 NCWTS Box Score:

Date	Site	Driver	Start	Finish	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Owner Pts./Pos.	Money Won
2/20	Daytona	Boston	25	29	18/100	0	Accident	15/28^th	$14,550
2/28	Atlanta	Boston	6	16	129/130	0	Running	43/22^nd	$15,168
3/28	Martinsville	Boston	21	10	258/258	0	Running	77/16^th	$17,191
5/8	Kansas	Boston	9	7	166/167	0	Running	114/13^th	$19,064
5/15	Charlotte	Boston	22	9	139/139	0	Running	149/13^th	$16,342
5/29	Dover	Boston	8	25	65/200	0	Accident	168/16^th	$16,273
6/5	Texas	Boston	11	8	167/167	1	Running	205/14^th	$16,841
6/13	Gateway	Boston	19	27	51/160	0	Accident	222/16^th	$11,786
6/19	Iowa	Boston	11	11	200/200	0	Running	255/16^th	$15,591
7/9	Kentucky	Bell	16	17	144/145	0	Running	282/16^th	$15,188
7/22	Eldora	Bell	4	1	154/154	106	Running	330/14^th	$37,273
8/1	Pocono	Tifft	14	8	69/69	0	Running	366/13^th	$15,475
8/15	Michigan	Coughlin	18	20	96/100	0	Running	390/14^th	$15,988