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Kyle Busch Dominates at Infineon for Fifth Victory of Season
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SONOMA, CA (June 22, 2008) – Kyle Busch has a new nickname – “road racing ace.” Right in the middle of wine country at the Infineon Raceway, Busch added a helping of chocolate to the mix as he drove his No. 18 M&M’s® Toyota Camry to victory in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. It was the season’s first of two road races, and the Sprint Cup Series points leader continued to prove why he is NASCAR’s hottest driver. With the victory, Busch extended his points lead to 103 points.
“We unloaded here this weekend and we were absolutely horrible,” Busch said in his post-race press conference. “We were so bad we didn’t know what was going on. These guys worked their tails off and never gave up. We worked on it and worked on it – made changes to everything – and finally figured it out. I have to thank AP Brakes, MAC Tools, M&M’s, Snickers, Interstate Batteries, NOS Energy Drink and everybody that’s helped us here. For Toyota to win here at their home race, that’s pretty special, too.”
The team unloaded on Friday and admittedly struggled with the car’s setup. After a qualifying mishap and a 30th-place effort, Sunday was shaping up to be a day of just surviving and hoping for a top-10. But it took only 33 laps for Busch to grab the lead. From there, the domination began. He led for 36 laps until his next pit stop. Two laps later he grabbed the lead again and would never relinquish it again. Busch led twice for a race-high 78 of 112 laps.
Busch’s road-racing efforts prior to 2008 had been steadily improving, but he had only cracked the top 10 once. He then discovered his hidden new talent when he brought home the checkered flag in the Nationwide Series race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. That win almost four months go undoubtedly helped to propel Busch to victory at Infineon.
Pit strategy, a cool-headed driver and a little luck always play a factor in road racing. Busch and his crew used it all in their efforts to reach victory lane. The team made only two pit stops all day long. And both times they were just what Busch needed to go faster and stay out front.
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Fuel mileage was a small concern when the team made their last stop on lap 68. With a late caution flag, the race went into overtime for two extra laps, extending the 110-lap race to 112. It turned out Busch had more than enough fuel to make another crowd-pleasing celebratory burnout before reaching victory lane.
Kyle Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s Team have almost single-handedly carried the Toyota nameplate in the 2008 season. With Sunday’s victory, they captured their fifth victory of the season and Toyota’s sixth. Busch’s teammate Denny Hamlin brought home the other victory of the season for Toyota at Martinsville.
“To put it in victory lane five times this year, that’s something that is pretty special,” Busch said as he tried to put his special season in words. “Thanks to Steve Addington (crew chief) and all these guys. Thank you to my fans and of course all the other fans that are out there, too. This has been a phenomenal year here. It’s been special.”
Hamlin was the highest-starting Joe Gibbs Racing driver at Infineon, starting from 13th. Unfortunately he would slip back a bit to finish 27th. Tony Stewart had a strong top-five run late in the race before getting spun. He recovered to finish 10th.
Behind Busch’s victory was former M&M’s alumn, David Gilliland, finishing in second, his best result of his Sprint Cup career. Jeff Gordon finished in third place, while Clint Bowyer (fourth) and Casey Mears (fifith) rounded out the top five.
The No. 18 Team will travel to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway next week for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 on Sunday, June 29th at 2:00pm EDT. TNT will crank up their broadcast at 12:30pm to provide live television coverage, while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will provide simultaneous radio coverage.