 |
||
|
Engine Failure Strikes M&M's® Team in All-Star Event
|
||
 |
CONCORD, NC (May 17, 2008) – Kyle Busch proved this weekend why he is currently NASCAR’s most dominating driver. After easily clinching the pole for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Busch cruised to a win in the first segment of the Sprint All-Star Race, leaving the field squarely in his rearview mirror. In the second segment though, Busch found his toughest competitor of the weekend – an engine failure – relegating the M&M’S® Team to a 24th-place finish in Saturday’s exhibition event.
“We broke something in the motor unfortunately,” Busch said after an early exit in Saturday’s race. “It was a great race car and a pretty much dominate race car and just had something break within the valve train. A rocker arm first and then a couple of valves so we ended up just finishing for the night. It was a great race car but just nothing you can do with engine woes. TRD, Mark (Cronquist, JGR engine builder) and everyone back at the shop did such an awesome job for us. This was a new piece and it was pretty stout and it was pretty right, but just didn’t make the whole longevity here.”
Busch entered Saturday night’s race as the overwhelming favorite. The Las Vegas native has been on a tear thus far in the 2008 season, posting three victories for the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Team, including the first Sprint Cup win for manufacturer Toyota. In practice on Friday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (LMS), Busch proved once again the M&M’S Toyota was the car to beat and continued this trend with the drop of the green flag on Saturday night.
 |
Pulling out to over a two-second lead during the first 25-lap segment, Busch easily crossed the stripe first to take the caution and end the segment as the winner. With his dominant display, fellow competitors and NASCAR fans thought that perhaps the Sprint All-Star Race, usually known for its on-track excitement, could possibly be a one-car show. But just five laps into the second segment Busch radioed he may have an engine problem.
With a 1.5-second lead over second place Carl Edwards, Busch told crew chief Steve Addington he believed the engine was losing power, possibly as a result of a broken rocker arm. Busch managed to finish the segment, which was followed by a 10-minute break where teams could work on their race machines. The JGR contingency went to work under the hood of the M&M’S Toyota, discovering the damage to the power plant was terminal, forcing the No. 18 to retire from race competition.
Kasey Kahne posted the victory on Saturday night at LMS. Voted into the All-Star Race after he failed to make the field in the Sprint Showdown, Kahne and his No. 9 crew gambled with late race pit strategy to restart the final segment from the second spot. Kahne took the lead with 17 laps remaining in the race, holding on to take the checkered flag and a $1 million payday. Greg Biffle finished in the second position. Rounding out the top-five finishers were Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and JGR teammate Tony Stewart.
Next week Busch and his fellow Sprint Cup competitors return to championship points racing in the Coca-Cola 600 at LMS. Live coverage of the 600-mile event is scheduled to be broadcast live on the FOX television network beginning at 5:00pm EDT. Radio coverage will be provided by the Performance Racing Network (PRN).