Is Kyle Busch ruining the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series?

(Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)

He has 100 total NASCAR wins in the sanction's top three series, including 29 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In 14 races this year, he has five victories and an average finish of 2.2. Is Kyle Busch ruining the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series? Check out the latest at the NCWTS Examiner by clicking HERE.

Harvick Takes Truck Series Win at Pocono

(Kevin Harvick, winner of the final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the now-defunct Gateway International Raceway, drove his No. 2 KHI truck to the win Sunday morning at Pocono. The race was delayed due to inclement weather Saturday. Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR)

 
Thanks to fuel-saving technique and opportune late cautions, Kevin Harvick had enough gas to survive a green-white-checkered-flag finish in Sunday’s rain-delayed Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service 125 and win the Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway.

The victory was Harvick’s first in three starts in the series this year and the 10th of his career. Kyle Busch finished second, followed by James Buescher, points leader Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon.

When the race went three laps beyond its scheduled distance of 50 laps, the only question was whether Harvick had enough fuel in his tank to go the extra 7.5 miles. There was no question about the quality of his ride.

“I didn’t have anything for Kevin,” said Buescher, who lost second place to Busch on Lap 46. “He was in a league of his own.”

Harvick didn’t come to the pits on Sunday, having changed tires for the last time on Lap 15 under caution for rain the day before. The race was suspended two laps later. Harvick said his truck was so strong that he didn’t want to sacrifice track position for fresh rubber.

“I think you saw the 18 (Busch) drive back up through there with tires,” Harvick said. “Tires still meant something. Our truck was just so fast that there was really no reason to give up the track position to come and get tires, since we were good on fuel.

“That’s one of the shortest races I’ve raced in a long time, and the strategy changes a little bit. You’ve got to get out there quick and try to put yourself in position quick on strategy, and you don’t have a lot of chances to make things happen if you’re off the pace.

“They (the team) just did a great job of hitting it right off the truck, and that makes life easy.”

NASCAR called the fourth caution of the race on Lap 32, after a smoking chunk of Nelson Piquet Jr.’s flat right front tire sheared off in the middle of the racing surface on the Long Pond straight.

The caution laps provided cover for those who might have been short on fuel—notably Harvick.

Nevertheless, Harvick, wary of the possibility of a green-white-checkered-flag finish, began shutting off his engine entering Turn 1 to save fuel. But a caution on Lap 37 for a wreck involving David Starr, Brendan Gaughan and Peyton Sellers necessitated the fifth caution and gave Harvick the cushion he needed to make it to the finish of the race.

On Lap 42, Sellers stalled on the access to pit road to cause the sixth caution. Harvick pulled away on the restart on Lap 46, while Busch and Buescher battled for the second position. Harvick held a comfortable advantage, when contact from Dillon’s Chevrolet sent Todd Bodine’s Toyota spinning on Lap 49 to send the race to overtime.

Injured Keselowski Toughs Out Second Win Of 2011

(Brad Keselowski, the winner of the final NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Gateway International Raceway, took the checkered flag in Sunday's Sprint Cup Series event at Pocono. The reigning NNS champ earned the win despite having broken his ankle at a test earlier in the week. Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Brad Keselowski’s challenge to the rest of the Sprint Cup field: “I can beat you with a broken leg.”

And he did.

Staying out on the track on old tires under a caution with 21 laps left in Sunday’s rain-interrupted Good Sam RV 500 at Pocono Raceway, Keselowski pulled away from Kyle Busch after a restart on Lap 185 of 200 to secure his second victory of the season—despite driving with a broken left ankle.

Keselowski, who was injured in a hard crash during testing Wednesday at Road Atlanta, kept Busch at bay over the final 10 laps. With Sunday’s victory—the third of his career—Keselowski’s fortunes took a dramatic turn with respect to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Having cracked the top 20, Keselowski is in position to claim the first wild-card spot, being the only driver in positions 11-20 with more than one victory. Keselowski leaves Pocono 18th in the standings, having gained three positions Sunday.

Kyle Busch came home second, followed by Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman. Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Paul Menard completed the top 10.

Keselowski downplayed his gutsy effort.

“I'm no hero,” Keselowski said. “The heroes are the guys that died in Afghanistan this weekend. I want to spend time thinking about them. They’re my inspiration for this weekend, the things that those guys do.

“I’m glad that we could win today, but those are the heroes. I just drive racecars for a living.”

Kurt Busch, Keselowski’s teammate at Penske Racing, gave the driver of the No. 2 Dodge a little more credit than that.

“It’s amazing what the body can do,” Busch said. “For him to go through that wreck this week and get back on his horse right away and find success, that’s only going to make Brad Keselowski a better racer.”

Just past the halfway point of the race, rain began to fall, lightly at first and then in torrents. After the cars crossed the stripe on pit road to complete Lap 124, NASCAR stopped the race with polesitter Joey Logano in the lead, hoping the deluge would continue.

That didn’t happen. The rain abated, and the race resumed after a stoppage of 1 hour, 40 minutes, 46 seconds, dashing Logano’s hopes of claiming a second career victory the same way he got his first one (New Hampshire in June 2009)—with an assist from the elements.

Keselowski and Kurt Busch got to the front of the field with a contrarian strategy that brought them to the pits for fuel and tires right before the stoppage. When the cars ahead of them came to the pits under caution after the resumption, Keselowski and Busch were elevated to positions 1 and 2, respectively, for the restart on Lap 132. That turned the race around.

“Everybody’s getting more aggressive with their calls,” said Paul Wolfe, Keselowski’s crew chief. “My engineers seemed pretty confident that we were going to go back green. We know it’s going to take calls like that to get us in the Chase. I knew it was going to take a call like today to get another win to get us closer to that opportunity.”

“Just tell ’em, Paul, you’ve got balls this big,” Keselowski chimed in.

Before the lengthy red-flag period, Joe Gibbs Racing cars had dominated the race. Logano had set the pace for 39 laps. Denny Hamlin, a wizard at Pocono from the day he set eyes on the track as a rookie in 2006, had led a race-high 65 laps to that point, and Kyle Busch chipped in with six laps led for a team total of 110 of the first 124.

Immediately before the rain delay, Logano had withstood the persistent efforts of Johnson to pass him for the lead. But for the vagaries of nature, that could have been a battle for the win, and both drivers raced as if it were.

“We knew the rain was coming, and I was trying to hold off the 48 (Johnson),” Logano said. “I saw him coming—and coming pretty hard. My spotter said it was raining pretty hard in (Turn) 3, so I tried to hold him off through the Tunnel (Turn) there.

“It was pretty exciting there coming to the end, when my crew chief, Zippy (Greg Zipadelli), told me about five laps (before) the caution came out that the 48 was catching me, and the rain was coming. I just kept on digging, and finally it just started downpouring in (Turn 3).”

Neither Logano nor Hamlin was a factor at the end. Logano had to make an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 189 and finished 26th. Hamlin’s No. 11 crew had trouble with lug nuts on his right rear tire on his last pit stop, and Hamlin was buried in the pack on the restart and finished 15th.--Reid Spencer

TRANSCRIPT: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Talks to the Media at Pocono

(Dale Earnhardt Jr. Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)

DO YOU THINK YOU WILL RUN WELL HERE THIS WEEKEND? “I hope so. We’ll see. We’ve got a tricky little race track here and some new shifting rules. So we’ll be learning all day long hoping we’ll be able to get up to speed and be competitive.”

HOW ABOUT THIS TRACK AND HOW YOU’VE RUN HERE IN THE PAST, DO YOU THINK THIS IS A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN END THE STREAK? “I don’t know. We’ve not been real successful here in the last several years. We’ve had a really good start when we first started coming here. We’ve had a lot of good runs but the last couple of years haven’t been that awesome. We’re taking it one week at a time and see how it goes.”

WHERE IS THE CONFIDENCE LEVEL RIGHT NOW? “It’s good. I’m still good. Just trying to be productive, show up on time, be ready to work, try to work hard. See how that works out for me. It’s been going so good so far. Wanna keep trying to get better too.”

HAVE YOU BEEN TRYING ANYTHING DIFFERENT THAT HAS LED TO THESE GOOD RESULTS? “Basically we changed everything. I’m in a new shop, new team, new crew chief. Everything has been changed. I don’t know what else different I can do. That’s a lot. We’ve made a lot of changes.”

AFTER THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS DO YOU TAKE THAT AS FRUSTRATION KIND OF FUELED THE FIRE FOR POCONO? “It’s great, it’s not frustrating. I’m running good.”

SO CLOSE TO FIRST LACE THOUGH? “Yeah, that’s great. That’s where you want to be. Close. If not winning, that’s better than running damn 25th and 30th every week I’ll tell you that.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT SHIFTING HERE AND IF YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE SHIFTING? “I don’t know. I’m going to try to find out. I haven’t shift here in a while. I think it’s unnecessary but they think the brakes are going to be better but it ain’t going to be no better.”

DO YOU THINK ANYBODY WILL HAVE A REMEMBERING ISSUE WITH IT? “Shifting is no big deal. Just hopefully you’ve got the gears all right and everything feels pretty comfortable. It should be fine.”

AS FAR AS THE RACING, WHAT DO YOU THINK WE ARE GOING TO SEE AS AN IMPACT OF THE SHIFTING? “It will be the same as it was last year. Take last year’s race and replay it and just imagine all the drivers are shifting.”

THERE IS RAIN IN THE FORECAST, HOW MUCH DOES THAT IMPACT HOW YOU APPROACH PRACTICE? “What are the rules if it rains out tomorrow?”

FASTEST IN FINAL PRACTICE I THINK. “If none of us know, I don’t know if we can answer that question. Steve will do all that, I just get in there and he’ll say man we’ve got to put a lap down lets go and I’ll go try to do it. If we do we do, if we don’t, we don’t. Mainly today we’re just going to focus on how the car gets through the corners, whether we’re comfortable, how we’re shifting. We’ve got a little bit of time today and just try to really get those things down and get that stuff comfortable so we can run a whole race on Sunday.”

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT MICHIGAN? “I don’t know. I feel like we’ve run pretty good there the last several times we’ve raced there. I really like the race track. It’s a real fun place to race. You’ve got to have a lot of motor and you can’t use a lot of gasoline. When we put a lot of gas in these cars to go fast you end up running short on the fuel mileage. A lot of times that is a fuel-mileage race. You do need a lot of motor though and we’re pretty good in that department.”

SPEAKING OF MOTOR, IF YOU COULD PICK BETWEEN POWER AND AERODYNAMICS WHICH ONE WOULD YOU PICK? “Aerodynamics probably. Matt Kenseth won a championship without any motor. Jack Roush will tell you they ain’t got any motor, they’ve got a pretty good one these days but back then they haven’t too much. Sometimes when you actually get down on power you go through the corner faster. Aerodynamics is always important.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE QUALIFYING CHANGES THIS WEEKEND? “I really don’t know what the changes are. I haven’t really paid much attention to it. I think first practice determines how we will qualify. I thought if it rained out we would start by points but I guess it could be the last practice speed. I don’t know. It will take me a couple of weeks to get this all sorted out. It sounds kind of confusing.”

YOU SEEMED REALLY HAPPY AFTER LAST WEEKS RACE. “Yeah, I feel like it’s a good relationship and going pretty good. Just trying to protect it and keep it going that way. Hopefully everybody on the team is enjoying what we’re doing. We’re not satisfied, we want to win races and I know that those guys are itching to win and get in victory lane and if we work hard we’ll get rewarded with that. I hope everybody on the team is enjoying what’s going on this year. I certainly am. I’m certainly having a good time.”

HOW MUCH HAS BORIS SAID HELPED ELEVATE ROAD RACING IN THIS ENTIRE SERIES WITH THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE HE HAS WORKED WITH? “Well he’s definitely very helpful. He’s helped me with setup ideas, knowledge about road course set up, how to set a car up for road courses and obviously helped me with driving, helped a lot of drivers with driving. Him and Ron Fellows both, any time any of those guys come in and are fast they elevate the standard of competition and elevate the level of speed and what you need to change to be good always gets tougher. They definitely made us all faster whether it be by tutoring us or by raising the stakes by showing up.”

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR YOUR NATIONWIDE CARS WITH DANICA AND SOMEONE ELSE NEXT YEAR? “We haven’t really talked about it. We’re waiting on Danica to make her decision and we can start to plan what we want to do. It would be a lot of fun to try to go full time. We definitely would like to be part of that opportunity. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”

WHAT IMPACT DOES FUEL STRATEGY HAVE ON THIS PARTICULAR TRACK? SOMETIMES CIRCUMSTANCES LIKE CAUTIONS PLAY A ROLE AS WELL? “Yeah, that’s what really causes it from the get go. If the caution comes out, if you’re car is going to go sixty laps on fuel and the caution comes out with 65 laps to go then you’re in a little bit of a pickle. That’s just the way it happens sometimes.”

WITH ALL THE CHANGES COMING INTO THIS RACE, THE SHIFTING AND QUALIFYING, EVERY WEEK IT’S A WIDE OPEN RACE FOR EVERYBODY, DOES THAT MAKE IT ANY DIFFERENT COMING INTO THE WEEKEND? “Not really. I think it will be pretty similar to how it was last year. Racing here has always kind of been the same.”

ARE YOU CONFIDENT AT THIS RACE TRACK? “I like this place. It’s real tough to get around. It’s a pretty tough race track with all three corners being really different. The car wants to drive different through all three corners. Hopefully you kind of got a good balance across the board. But I feel good. Feel like we just are going to try to come here and do a good job, put together a good weekend just like we’ve been doing every week.”

DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE A RULE IN PLACE FOR A DRIVER, IF YOU DO DAMAGE TO ANOTHER CAR AFTER THE CHECKERED FLAG YOU SHOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR THE DAMAGES? “I don’t know if that would have made a difference. I don’t know. The way it was handled and I was reading some of Brian’s comments about Darlington and he was saying and I may be wrong but as far as I remember he was saying where he had a problem was the extracurricular stuff that went on outside of the flag. Everything in between the green flag and the checkered flag was fine but what happened after the checkered flag they felt was a problem. And then in Kansas it wasn’t a problem. So that was the only thing that stuck out to me, when is it okay to hit a guy after the race and when is it not okay. What Kyle did in Kansas we do all the time. I didn’t really think that was too big of a deal. Obviously it upset Richard but we run into each other all the time after a race but really a lot of it never gets caught on television or seen by anybody. Sometimes it’s because you’re happy for somebody and sometimes it’s because you’re mad at somebody. We end up sorting those things out ourselves someway and somehow. I guess there is a certain level of contact that doesn’t need to happen after the race. I can totally understand. I’m not calling Brian out or anything I’m just saying I wish I knew everything and I don’t.”

KYLE SAID HE DIDN’T REALIZE HE CAUSED THAT MUCH DAMAGE, YOU SAID YOU GUYS DO IT ALL THE TIME, AT WHAT LEVEL DO YOU DO IT ALL THE TIME? “If you’re mad at somebody you’re not thinking about nothing but what you’re mad about. You’re not worried about nothing but what pissed you off. Sometimes you make mistakes, sometimes you handle it just right and sometimes you don’t do nothing. It just depends, it’s all circumstantial. I don’t have much concern in it and I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. It was a big deal. What Richard did obviously drew tons of attention but what Kyle did wasn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. When you just see it on TV you go oh man that happens all the time. I’ve seen that a million times before.”

IF SOMEONE HAD DONE LIKE $10,000 DOLLARS DAMAGE TO YOUR NATIONWIDE CAR? “I’d get mad. Heck yeah. When Denny and Brad were being idiots at Charlotte that one race and banging into each other’s fenders and stuff it really upset me. I was in another car and I went up there and ran into Denny.”

AFTER THE RACE OR DURING? “During. We were all like hey don’t hit that car. It was just really stupid all of us and then there was that big fight afterwards between the two teams. Not my team but the other two teams. It was just silly. That happens all the time and yeah you get mad. That damn Beuscher kid wrecked Danica in California for no freaking reason at all so he’s on the list. He’s got his coming one day.”

TRANSCRIPT: Kyle Busch Talks to Media at Pocono

(Kyle Busch, seen here at Eldora Speedway earlier this week drawing his qualifying number for the Prelude to the Dream, addressed the media Friday. Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)

What is your strategy coming into Pocono?

"This week always a little bit challenging for us.  Not the typical Bristol or Richmond or Charlotte or something where we know how to run there or expect to run there.  This kind of place throws us a little bit for a loop every time we get here --whether we run up front or whether we struggle a little bit.  Last spring was really good for us -- we sat on the pole and led alot of laps and ran real well.  Then towards the end we finished second to Denny (Hamlin) I believe.  Then the fall race, just kind of meandered back about 12th or 15th all day.  Didn't quite get everything we wanted.  We'll see if we can't turn the tables again this time and try to run up front and get a good finish this weekend for all our M&M's guys."

Do you look forward to getting in the race car during difficult situations?

"It's different for every driver, but it my particular case I feel like once you get out onto the race track or once you get in the car and put your helmet on and then out on the race track -- that's where your priorities lie and that's where your focus is. To me, it doesn't seem that challenging."

Do you feel you have a respect issue in the garage and do you need respect in the garage to be successful?

"Can't answer the first part for you -- you would have to ask everybody else.  As far as needing respect in the garage area -- certainly.  It makes your day a little bit easier.  Makes your job a little bit easier.  I've been able to have good conversations and talk to people outside the race car or at driver intros or stuff  like that.  Whether it's the case that they're not being true to my face -- I don't know, I can't read that.  I'm not in people's minds.  If you're mad at me, you'll have to tell me."

What are your thoughts on the new qualifying procedure at Pocono?

"To me, the whole schedule is a little weird.  You come in today and you get the first practice and the first practice is going to base your time for qualifying.  Then you go into the second practice, which is later in the day -- about when the race is going to end.  Then there's going to be a lot of grip probably when the track starts cooling off just a little bit around the 4:30 or 5:00 time frame.  We'll see how it pans out.  You come in on Saturday and you run one lap and then you have nothing else to do and then you wait until the race on Sunday.  That to me is a little weird.  I like the old schedule a lot better – just personal preference, if I had an opinion I would say that you come in and you run some race laps to get yourself acclimated to the track, you switch over, you go to qualifying trim, you make some laps, you qualifying that afternoon or evening or whatever it may be.  Then the next day you have two practice sessions solely devoted to your race car and what you might need to work on for Sunday.  To me, that's a more productive schedule."

Do you feel like you are wearing the black hat rather than the white hat lately?

"I'm not sure that there's really any hats to be worn here.  The black hat deal -- the villain type thing, I'm not sure that I really did a whole lot to bring that back upon myself.  I feel like I've acted in the utmost respect to every case that's come up my way and has been thrown in front of me.  I've tried to do it with dignity and class and I feel like that comes from people wearing white hats -- not black."

Do you understand why Richard Childress was mad last week?

"Me giving a congratulatory bump to Joey Coulter is what tipped him (Richard Childress) over the edge there.  I don't recall anytime -- face-to-face conversation where Richard did tell me that, 'If you touch another one of my cars I'm going to come find you.'  I don't know if it was ever said in the media, but it was never relayed to me."

Would it be good if drivers paid for damage they cause to other cars?

"If he came to me and was so upset about it, I would have offered him money to fix it.  I'm an owner in this sport -- I know there's going to be torn up equipment here and there sometimes, whatever.  I will say that if I didn't roll out of the throttle, we both would have crashed off of turn four.  The kid did what he was supposed to do on the last lap there.  We raced each other for 18 laps and I was having fun with him trying to keep him back and I thought I had it done and then he got on my inside down the backstretch there and pulled a slide job through three and four and kind of squeezed me up there.  I had two options -- lift and let him beat me, which is fine, no problem.  We're racing for fifth in the Truck Series -- wasn't for a win. Or crash the both of us.  It wasn't necessary for any of that."

Have you received any secret fines in the last seven days?

"No."

How should NASCAR handle penalties if someone is threatening a lawsuit?

"I don't know.  That's not to my discretion to be honest with you.  It's further to NASCAR to depose.  That's a great question for the, but for myself, I need an instance of what you're explaining.  Besides all the information you've just given me and the question you've asked, I can't really comment further."

Did you know how much damage there was on Joey Coulter's truck at Kansas?

"No, I didn't feel like I hit him all that hard.  I just thought I rubbed him a little bit.  Typically when you rub a guy, you don't see much damage from it.  The trucks are so different too.  I forgot about how the left-front fender on a truck – the nose is so much wider than the tire is so it kind of sticks out a little further so maybe there was more damage than I thought I would have caused.  That's entirely my fault -- I'm the one that instigated it there or initiated it.  As far as him having to fly out body hangers and all that stuff -- if it's something they didn't feel that they could hammer and dolly out, sorry it came to that."

Did the media interpret malicious intent toward Joey Coulter?

"There can be an easy way to interpret things sometimes and it seems like maybe I might be on the wrong end of interpretation a lot of those times.  There was no malicious intent to be involved in hurting or damaging a RCR (Richard Childress Racing) vehicle."

Was anything said to you by Richard Childress prior to last week's incident?

"No.  We were in that NASCAR hauler from Darlington after the race and he (Richard Childress) never said a word in there."

How are M&M's handling the recent situations?

"M&M's is handling things the best that they can handle it and going through things day by day.  There's a lot of support there.  We just had a NASCAR day at Hackettstown, New Jersey yesterday and people were awesome.  They had a lot of great questions about racing, about the sponsorship, about the partnership that we have and how things have really been working well for them over the past few seasons and how we can continue to grow the brand.  They're doing everything they can in their power to make sure that we continue to carry on the presence of M&M's in NASCAR and with Kyle Busch."

How much have you talked with your brother in recent weeks?

"I've talked to my brother (Kurt Busch) a little bit.  He's had some good things to say and some good advice to give as well. You mentioned that he had been through something like this before -- little bit different case.  We discussed some things. As far as there being support on my end -- sure, there's been a lot of support.  I've got a lot of friends that I talk to in the garage area.  Whether they're crew chiefs or team members from other teams -- even team members from the RCR (Richard Childress Racing) camp that are my friends.  I've had an outreach of support as well as after the incident in Darlington, it's not something new for race fans, for as passionate and devoted as they are to this sport or to a particular driver that the outcry of a penalty -- they want to pitch in and help.  I didn't boast about it, but I had the same amount of fans that wanted to help pay my fine from Darlington in which we just put the money toward the Kyle Busch Foundation.  It's cool to have that support when times get tough and it is cool that you can have something better come out of a situation like that."

How many cars can win each week and how many are championship contenders?

"Good question.  It is early.  To be honest with you, it changes every single lap or every single fuel stop or pit stop.  For instance, last weekend I thought Carl (Edwards) was going to win the race.  He drove up through green flag conditions, took the lead and didn't take it off pit road and then two runs later I'm passing Carl and I'm running sixth and he's eighth or ninth or something like that and I'm like, 'I just thought this guy was going to win the race.'  Now you've got somebody else out there and Jeff Gordon started coming.  Then at the end of the race there was the fuel strategy playing out and all of the sudden Brad Keselowski is leading.  It changes every lap.  Somebody asked me last week or the week before -- do you feel like you're a safe bet going into the Chase riding on two wins?  Brad Keselowski just won a race -- if he wins one more, he's got two wins and he's going to be, if I fall out, I'm going to be a guy and he's going to be a guy and Jeff Gordon with one win is going to be out.   Things can change awfully quick."

Is tire management or fuel management more difficult?

"If you had to just go into fuel management mode -- that's the hardest thing for me to do -- I can't understand how to do that.  I've done it in the past and I feel like I'm doing a really good job at it.  Then I end up being a half-a-lap short or maybe a lap short or something like that.  Carl (Edwards), for instance, I feel like he's probably one of the best – Brad (Keselowski) might be pretty good at it too, obviously from last weekend.  Tony (Stewart) won here last year on a fuel mileage race or the year before.  Those guys do a great job at being able to maximize the amount of fuel in their cell and I've tried doing the same techniques they have -- I just haven't been as successful as they are.  You have a crew chief tell you, 'Hey man, we're eight laps short to the end of the race, we are going to have to save some.'  And they make it.  It's like, where do you find all that?  I remember Carl at Homestead, I think it was 2008 and he was like eight laps short and were are like, 'There is no way these guys are going to make it.'  They ended up making it.  To me, tire management is a lot easier.  Richmond, for instance there, the last run of the race, we went 100 laps there at the end.  You were in a little bit of a tire saving mode and a little bit of a fuel saving mode so with both of those together, it actually helped me.  I feel like that was probably the best fuel savings that I have been able to accomplish."

Diabetes Won't Sideline Ryan Reed

(Ryan Reed and NASCAR star Kyle Busch. Photo Courtesy of Ryan Reed Racing)

The yellow flag came out recently for Ryan Reed, the 2010 NASCAR Super Late Model Rookie of the Year and the youngest winner in Irwindale Speedway history: type 1 diabetes. Reed, a 17 year old from Bakersfield, California, was diagnosed in February just as his career was picking up impressive speed. He has no intention of allowing the disease to set him back.

Ryan, halfway through his senior year of high school, had just reached a developmental agreement with Kyle Busch Motorsports and was getting ready to relocate to North Carolina, the NASCAR capital, when he fell ill February 7. He was returning home from a trip to North Carolina, where he was organizing the race shop and preparing for his big move, when he first felt symptoms of the disease. He had mentioned to his parents that he was not feeling well and had lost a substantial amount of weight.

“When I picked up Ryan from the airport my heart sank as I knew something was seriously wrong,” said his father, Mark Reed. “I know Ryan better than anyone and he had lost so much weight in just 10 days.”

Ryan immediately went to see his doctor, where he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The news was devastating; here he was, on the brink of a career breakthrough, and his dreams of a NASCAR career were suddenly in jeopardy. Ryan’s parents pulled out all the stops to get him healthy. After weeks of testing, Ryan found his medical savior in Dr. Anne Peters, Director of Clinical Diabetes Programs at the USC Keck School of Medicine.

In initial consultations with other doctors, Ryan was told that if treated properly he could live a healthy and normal life -- but a future in racing was questionable. That all changed when Ryan walked into Dr. Peters’ office. Peters, who also treats the type 1 diabetes of Indy car driver Charlie Kimball, told Ryan, “You will race and you will be fine.”

As far as Ryan is concerned, the green flag is back out. “This has been the craziest ride ever, and I can’t thank my parents and Anne enough for helping me,” he said. “I was just going through life like any teenager and overnight everything changed. I had to trust that God had a plan for me and it would all be OK.”

Ryan’s 2011 plans have been delayed but he is slowly getting back on track. Since February, Ryan has had to change almost everything about his daily routine: diet, exercise, blood glucose readings, on track data, and reporting all of this information weekly to his medical / nutritional team in California. But he has now received NASCAR medical clearance to return to the track.

With one of the best medical team’s available and sophisticated wireless monitoring systems in place, Ryan will head back to the track. The 2011 season will see Ryan racing all over the southeast in select Super Late Models, NASCAR K&N East Series, and possibly a few NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events. Most of the early races will be fielded out of Ryan’s own shop in Mooresville, North Carolina, as the final details are worked out with KBM and his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Program. “We’re happy to hear that Ryan’s doctors have his diabetes under control and he’s cleared to race again,” said Busch. “He definitely hit a little bump in the road, but this challenge has made him a stronger person and even more determined to have a successful career in racing. We look forward to helping Ryan continue to develop as a driver and also help in his effort to spread awareness about diabetes.”

It appears that Ryan will be the first known driver to try and break into the top 3 divisions of NASCAR battling this disease, an accomplishment that comes from the hard work and dedication Ryan had from the day of the news.

Ryan has decided to take a very aggressive role in spreading diabetes awareness, and has asked his fans and sponsors to help support this effort. “The support has been overwhelming,” Ryan said. “Kyle Busch was one the first people to let me know that he will do anything he can to help me adjust to my condition.

Diabetes is an epidemic, both in the United States and throughout the world. In the United States approximately 26 million individuals have diabetes; most have type 2 diabetes and nearly 1 million have type 1. In the United States 79 million have prediabetes and many don’t know it. The important health messages are that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed in many cases, if people are aware of the risk factors for the disease. While there is no cure, both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are treatable, if proper healthcare is obtained. Diabetes is the leading cause of adult blindness, kidney failure and nontraumatic amputation in the United States. So raising awareness both of the prevention of type 2 diabetes as well as the need for the proper treatment of diabetes is something that Ryan, as a NASCAR driver, will have an amazing opportunity to do. By example he will be able to show what is possible for all people with diabetes.

To learn more about Ryan and his quest to manage his diabetes while competing in the intense world of racing, visit www.RyanReedRacing.com. You will find an updated schedule and major sponsorship announcements. The site will also feature interactive functions, more information about diabetes and links to support American Diabetes Association & “Ryan’s Mission,” a program dedicated to the support and awareness of those with diabetes.

Ryan and team will be making their first NASCAR K&N East Series start this weekend at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, GA. Fresh off high school graduation in Bakersfield, California, the event will mark a major accomplishment in the teenager’s early career.

TRANSCRIPT: Kyle Busch Talks About His Speeding Ticket

(Photo by Bill Barrett)

The following is a transcript of Kyle Busch's press conference Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

What is your outlook for this weekend’s races?

“Given our past successes here from last week with the NOS Energy truck and having Zahra Baker (A 10-year-old disabled North Carolina girl who was found slain last year) on the side and winning that race in remembrance of her. Then being able to carry on a good, strong run into Saturday night with the All-Star race for my best finish in that event. Things were good. We’ve got nothing but excited guys coming in here for this weekend’s race, the Coca-Cola 600, and being the longest race of the year, we’ve definitely been ready for it and looking forward to being able to get out on the race track, have some good results and maybe win this thing and bring home my first Cup win at Charlotte.”

What is your reaction to the speeding ticket?

“I’m certainly sorry for my actions and for my lack of judgment. This is something that I can take and learn from and hopefully move forward and not let happen again.”

What did you think of Kimi Raikkonen moving forward in NASCAR?

“I thought Kimi (Raikkonen) did a nice job last week. Certainly, he gave the truck a good ride. It was really loose and he did a nice job with car control and everything else. What’s to be expected of him this weekend is certainly to just again try to run all the laps, try to make 300 miles in a Nationwide Series race, get a feel for what the car is like and we appreciate the guys from Kyle Busch Motorsports doing the building of the car and then for NEMCO Motorsports and them working on it here this week -- along with us just trying to help them out in case there’s any bugs. As far as the Sonoma race, we’ve had no discussions about Cup stuff at all. As far as I know, just this weekend is the last hoorah with Kimi unless he comes back and wants to do further races in NASCAR.”

How do you look back on the speeding incident?

“I’m certainly sorry that it happened and my actions led me to speed. It was a lack of judgment and all I can do is apologize to the public, my friends, my fans, my sponsors and everybody, look at this experience as a learning experience, and to move forward.”

Is it difficult to have a learning experience in the public eye?

“It’s certainly challenging sometimes with things you have to think about and of course actions that you may cause yourself. Thankfully, I’ve got some good people around me that can help me through these experiences and help me learn from them. Take the good from it and take the bad from it and just be able to apply that for later on down the road.”

Can you make a case for yourself?

“I’m sorry I’m not the jurisdiction to make a case. I leave that to the court systems and everything else like that. This matter will be handled through that as best as we can handle it and as best as the authorities decide to handle it. I have the utmost respect for the authorities across the United States of America that try to keep all of us safe every day. Of course, being Memorial Day weekend with all the men and women serving our country to keep us safe as well too. It’s not in my place to decide what does or does not happen.”

Has Joe Gibbs Racing given you any penalties?

“We have certainly discussed some things. We’re working through the process of that now and looking at what might be done later on down the road.”

What are your thoughts on the Truck Series?

“I love the Truck Series. I think it’s one of the best forms of racing we have in NASCAR. It’s definitely brought some excitement to the series over time with ESPN2 back in the 90s and of course with Speed Channel being the broadcast partner that we’ve had for the last few seasons. They’ve done a wonderful job for us. It’s definitely been a great series to run in, to be involved in, to win some races in and to now be owning a race team in the series is definitely great for myself and for all the people at Kyle Busch Motorsports that are employed there and that we can give jobs to and put food on the table for their families. Without the sponsorships and without the strong partnerships that we have there, we wouldn’t be here and be doing what we do. We have to thank all those people with Dollar General, NOS Energy Drink, Traxxas, Toyota and I’m sure there are some that I am forgetting -- forgive me. It takes all of those people to stand behind you that can makeyour program successful and that you can build it.”

Do you enjoy going the extra 100 miles at the 600?

“I definitely love the 600-mile race. It may be a little bit long and drawn out for some fans and you know maybe the short attention span sometimes will get you. For what the sport was built on and for how long this race has been in existence -- the 600 miles, it shows determination, it shows will, it shows how well you’re prepared, how well your cars are prepared -- it’s hard on engines, its hard on the drivers for that extra 100 miles as well. I said last week, sometimes they fly by and you feel like it was a two hour race and other times it goes so slow you feel like you’ve been in the car for six hours. Depends on how your car is driving really. I’m looking forward to it.”

Have you personally spoken with your team owner, your sponsors and your neighbors about the speeding incident?

“I have certainly had discussions with Mr. Coach Gibbs (team owner) as well as Joe Gibbs Racing and my sponsors as well too. It’s just a matter of showing your utmost respect for them and what they do for you. That they believe in you to do what you can in order to represent them well and obviously I had a lack in judgment and just made a mistake. I’m sorry for making that mistake, but as far as any of the people that have made comments or anything like that, I don’t have a relationship with any of those people. Unfortunately, I don’t go door-to-door knocking on the door and commenting to them. All I can do is say my piece here and let it be.”

Has something changed with your deal with Kimi Raikkonen?

“Yes.”

What has changed in your deal with Kimi Raikkonen?

“What’s changed is the payment schedule. The contract states that we’re supposed to receive so much and we have not. We’ve only received enough for these two races. It’s either up to Kimi (Raikkonen) or up to the financial people that run Kimi’s business side of things and decide that they need to find the sponsorship funds in order to carry the experience for him further.”

Is it difficult to have two teams working together on Kimi Raikkonen’s Nationwide car?

“I’m going to tell you -- Rick Ren (general manager, Kyle Busch Motorsports) -- we’ve given him a few grey hairs this year. He’s already had some, but he definitely has a lot more, that’s for sure. He’s bit the bullet an awful lot in these past few weeks in putting this deal together. We’ve done this before for some of our various technical alliances that we have such as VAR (Vision Aviation Racing) -- we build turn-key trucks. All they have to do is put a motor, transmission and driveshaft in it and go to the race track. Kyle Busch Motorsports chassis’ has the availability to do that -- we don’t like to, but we can. Certainly we feel like we build a top quality piece and we’ll see how it runs here this afternoon in the Nationwide Series for our first outing in building a car for NEMCO Motorsports.”

How much have you thought about the potential of what could have happened on Tuesday?

“There’s if, ands or buts to a lot of different things in life. Fortunately, there was no one hurt, but that doesn’t make any kind of excuse for what happened and for my lack in judgment and for what I did. Like I said, there’s a lot of processes to be thought about here. There’s some learning experiences to be taken from this and the best I can do is just try to move along past it for this weekend and take my course of action during the week in what might lie ahead.”

What did you mean when you said the Lexus was, ‘just a toy?’

“Well it was a car that was on loan to me from Lexus and it wasn’t that it was a toy, it’s a high performance vehicle and that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Should be driven with caution. Obviously, I didn’t have caution and I had a lack in judgment and there’s probably a reason why on TV commercials and such they always show at the bottom, professional driver, closed course. Mine was not that. Again, I apologize sincerely to all those affected and that all I can do is try to make sure it doesn’t happen again and that I make sure that lack of judgment doesn’t overcome me.”