Mooresville, NC | 09-19-2005

With less than 30 laps remaining in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Sylvania 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway, Kyle Busch and the No. 15 ditech.com Chevrolet charged from 22nd position to capture seventh place honors when the checkered flag waved.  A late pit stop cost the Billy Ballew Motorsports team valuable track position, but Busch forged ahead and made the most of what he had to gain 15 spots within 28 laps.

Busch’s first laps on “The Magic Mile” were Friday morning under overcast skies.  Within minutes on the track, Busch radioed in to crew chief Richie Wauters.  “I like it,” said Busch.  “It’s really good.  I’m a little loose off, but it’s good.  I’m afraid if you try to fix the loose condition, it’ll hurt the center.”  The only changes made during the practice session were for new front shocks.  A serious chance of threatening rain showers forced the Billy Ballew Motorsports team to make their mock qualifying run during the first practice where they posted the third fastest time.  During the second practice, Busch and the No. 15 Chevrolet made several laps on the one-mile oval, seeing how the tires and truck would react to long green flag runs.  Busch had no complaints and was ready for qualifying on Saturday.

An early draw for qualifying hurt Busch’s chances of getting a top-10 starting position.  The track got faster as the session continued.  A lap of 30.084 seconds placed Busch in the 16th starting spot for the 200-lap race.

By lap 10, Busch had gained four positions, but was complaining the No. 15 ditech.com Chevrolet was super tight.  “The right rear tire is not as responsive as it used to be.  I’m still tight in the center and up off the corner.”  When the second caution flag waved on lap 56, Busch brought the No. 15 down pit road to the attention of the Billy Ballew Motorsports team.  The crew changed four tires, adjusted the track bar and air pressure, and pulled one piece of tape off the nose.  Unfortunately, Busch lost four spots on pit road after being blocked in by another competitor and had trouble getting out of his stall.

Busch restarted in 19th place and within 10 laps had moved up to the 11th position.  Busch radioed into the crew during the third caution on lap 74 saying the truck was a lot better. “It’s still a bit snug off, but we’ll keep messing with it and see.”  By the halfway mark of the race, Busch had charged up to the fifth position.  Knowing they wouldn’t be able to make it on fuel, the team pitted during the fifth caution on lap 108 for four sticker tires and fuel.  When the race resumed, Busch was on a rampage to make his way to the front.  He went three wide for fourth position, and by lap 125 had taken the lead.  The lead was short-lived, as a caution flag waved on lap 129 for an incident on the track.  Still going to be short on fuel, Wauters made the call to bring Busch back down for a gas-only stop.  Busch restarted in 12th position and was up to ninth when the yellow flag waved for the eighth time.  Thinking most of the leaders were going to be unable to make it on fuel, the call was made to come back down pit road for tires and a trackbar adjustment.  The stop proved costly, as the leaders didn’t pit and moved the No. 15 ditech.com Chevrolet to the 22nd position for the restart.

Busch was determined to make his way back up to the front with less than 30 laps remaining.  One last caution on lap 193 helped Busch make up some ground and from the restart on lap 196, he gained five spots in four laps to complete the race in seventh position.  The top-10 finish moved Billy Ballew Motorsports up from ninth place to sixth place in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Owners Points Standings.

“We got killed on track position when we pitted on lap 170,” said Busch.  “We thought more were going to pit and we’d be in good position.  The guys did a great job with the No. 15 ditech.com Chevrolet.  We were a little tight during the race, and we had a better truck than that, but we’ll go get them at the next one.”

Busch’s next race with Billy Ballew Motorsports will be October 22 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va.  The next race for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is this Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.