Kurt Busch seeks sixth Bristol title Saturday night

Posted Friday, Aug 22, 2008, 8:09 am in Motorsports Comments Off

Last modified on Wednesday, Nov 26, 2008, 1:53 pm.

BRISTOL, Tenn., (August 21, 2008) – With only three races remaining until the Chase for the Championship begins, all eyes are focused on Saturday night’s Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Eleven Dodge Chargers are scheduled to tackle the famed .533-mile concrete surface that features 24- to 30-degree variable banking.

Kasey Kahne dominated last year’s August race at the world’s fastest half-mile track. He started from the pole, posted the fastest lap of the race and led 305 of the 500 circuits. His second-place finish to event winner Carl Edwards was a career-best for Kahne in nine BMS starts. Kahne, who currently sits 11th in the driver standings, hopes to leverage last year’s runner-up finish into a trip to Victory Lane on Saturday night.

“It’s just a different track to race,” said Kahne. “I’ve probably gotten more comfortable racing there during the last couple years and it’s a place I look forward to racing just because you really never know what to expect, which makes it fun and challenging.”

Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) loves Bristol Motor Speedway. The half-mile “bull ring” has been the site for five of Busch’s 17 career wins. He leads all active drivers with most wins at Bristol and understands how to achieve success on the high-banks of BMS. And despite dwindling hopes of making the 2008 Chase, the former NASCAR Series champion knows how special it is to race on the .533-mile track with more than 160,000 fans looking on.

“Bristol is Bristol and there’s nothing else like it,” said Busch. “This weekend’s night race is the hottest ticket in all of motorsports. Where else can you see 160,000 screaming fans all sitting around a track that looks more like a huge stadium or arena with the grandstands and sky boxes that circle the place?

It’s a place that carries so much electricity in the air. You never get tired of racing there and always look forward to coming back. I’ve often said that I wish we ran five races a year there and not just the two. I just truly love the place.”

Virginia native Elliott Sadler (No. 19 Stanley Tools Dodge Charger) returns to the site of his first NSCS win as he claimed victory in the 2001 spring event. Sadler will be driving an all-new car (chassis 244) at BMS.

“The No. 19 team is running the best it has since I arrived here two years ago,” Sadler said. “It has been a successful year on so many fronts. We have learned a ton about this new car and we are only going to get better in the weeks to come.”

Other Notes:

• Ryan Newman (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger) looks to earn his third career pole at BMS. Newman sits 17th in the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series point standings. He is 211 points away from the 12th-place cutoff for drivers making the Chase.
• Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger) welcomes Travis Geisler as crew chief of the No. 77 team beginning this weekend. Hornish is currently in second place in the 2008 Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings. He trails leader Regan Smith by just one point and leads third place driver Patrick Carpentier by eight points.