Kyle Busch returns after two races off, earns pole for tonight’s Trucks race at Kentucky, seeks 5th win of 2014

By Jun 26, 2014, 6:31 PM EDT
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After a couple of races off, Kyle Busch is back racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in Thursday’s UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

And not surprisingly, Busch, who has won four of the first seven NCWTS races this season, is ready to go out and win his fifth after earning the pole position during Thursday afternoon’s qualifying session.

Busch’s best lap around the 1.5-mile tri-oval at was 175.884 mph (30.702 seconds).

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., who won the last NCWTS race two weeks ago at Gateway Motorsports Park in suburban St. Louis, qualified on the outside of the front row (175.615 mph).

That puts two Kyle Busch Motorsports trucks side-by-side at the front of the field for tonight’s race, the first time that has happened in team history.

“I can’t say enough about the KBM guys, another nice job this weekend,” Busch said on Fox Sports 1. “I’m also proud to see Bubba right there with us, as well, too. Hopefully, we can finish it the way we started like we should have been last week (Erik Jones drove for Busch in the No. 51 truck at Gateway, but was involved in a late wreck while leading the race, preventing a 1-2 finish with Wallace).”

Jeb Burton qualified third (175.194 mph), followed by Ben Kennedy (175.046), points leader Johnny Sauter (174.978) and German Quiroga Jr. (174.893), who was fastest in both practices earlier in the day.

“It’s good. When we start there, it’s fine,” Quiroga said. “We know we have a very good truck, have been very fast all day long and am pretty confident we can make a very good start, run in the top three all night and hopefully finish winning the race. I’m hoping to get my first win here.”

Quiroga said after finishing second to Wallace at Gateway that he felt his first career NCWTS win may be right around the corner. If he can get by Busch tonight, no easy feat obviously, that’s a distinct possibility.

Quiroga’s Red Horse Racing teammate, Timothy Peters, qualified seventh (174.814), followed by Ron Hornaday Jr. (174.160), Joey Coulter (173.667), Ryan Blaney (172.966), Matt Crafton (171.892) and Tayler Malsam (174.379).

Also of note, Busch, Keselowski and Joe Nemechek are entered in all three races this weekend at Kentucky — the Truck Series, Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup events.

Busch is also hoping to win all three for only the second time in NASCAR history, having become the first and only driver to date to do so back in August 2010 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Here’s how the field for tonight’s UNOH 225 will take the green flag:

Row 1: Kyle Busch, Darrell Wallace Jr.

Row 2: Jeb Burton, Ben Kennedy

Row 3: Johnny Sauter, German Quiroga Jr.

Row 4: Timothy Peters, Ron Hornaday Jr.

Row 5: Joey Coulter, Ryan Blaney

Row 6: Matt Crafton, Tayler Malsam

Row 7: Max Gresham, Brad Keselowski

Row 8: Corey Lajoie, Bryan Silas

Row 9: John Wes Townley, Joe Nemechek

Row 10: Chase Pistone, Mason Mingus

Row 11: Caleb Holman, Tyler Young

Row 12: Austin Dillon, JJ Yeley

Row 13: T.J. Bell, Jimmy Weller

Row 14: Jennifer Jo Cobb, Justin Jennings

Row 15: Charles Lewandoski, Norm Benning

Row 16: Adam Edwards, Ryan Ellis

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With throaty roar, NASCAR Next Gen Camaro is taking Le Mans by storm on global stage

Associated PressJun 8, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT
Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
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LE MANS, France — The V8 engine of the NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro has a distinct growl that cannot go unnoticed even among the most elite sports cars in the world at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

When the Hendrick Motorsports crew fired up the car inside Garage 56, NASCAR chairman Jim France broke into a huge grin and gave a thumbs up.

“The only guy who didn’t cover his ears,” laughed seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.

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France has been waiting since 1962 – the year his father, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., brought him to his first 24 Hours of Le Mans – to hear the roar of a stock car at the most prestigious endurance race in the world.

A path finally opened when NASCAR developed its Next Gen car, which debuted last year. France worked out a deal to enter a car in a specialized “Innovative Car” class designed to showcase technology and development. The effort would be part of NASCAR’s 75th celebration and it comes as Le Mans marks its 100th.

Once he had the approval, France persuaded Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear – NASCAR’s winningest team, manufacturer and tire supplier – to build a car capable of running the twice-around-the-clock race.

The race doesn’t start until Saturday, but NASCAR’s arrival has already been wildly embraced and France could not be more thrilled.

“Dad’s vision, to be able to follow it, it took awhile to follow it up, and my goal was to outdo what he accomplished,” France told The Associated Press. “I just hope we don’t fall on our ass.”

The car is in a class of its own and not racing anyone else in the 62-car field. But the lineup of 2010 Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller, 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button and Johnson has been fast enough; Rockenfeller put down a qualifying lap that was faster than every car in the GTE AM class by a full three seconds.

The Hendrick Motorsports crew won its class in the pit stop competition and finished fifth overall as the only team using a manual jack against teams exclusively using air jacks. Rick Hendrick said he could not be prouder of the showing his organization has made even before race day.

“When we said we’re gonna do it, I said, ‘Look, we can’t do this half-assed. I want to be as sharp as anybody out there,” Hendrick told AP. “I don’t want to be any less than any other team here. And just to see the reaction from the crowd, people are so excited about this car. My granddaughter has been sending me all these TikTok things that fans are making about NASCAR being at Le Mans.”

This isn’t NASCAR’s first attempt to run Le Mans. The late France Sr. brokered a deal in 1976, as America celebrated its bicentennial, to bring two cars to compete in the Grand International class and NASCAR selected the teams. Herschel McGriff and his son, Doug, drove a Wedge-powered, Olympia Beer-sponsored Dodge Charger, and Junie Donlavey piloted a Ford Torino shared by Richard Brooks and Dick Hutcherson.

Neither car came close to finishing the race. McGriff, now 95 and inducted into NASCAR’s Hall of Fame in January, is in Le Mans as France’s guest, clad head-to-toe in the noticeable Garage 56 uniforms.

“I threw a lot of hints that I would like to come. And I’ve been treated as royalty,” McGriff said. “This is unbelievable to me. I recognize nothing but I’m anxious to see everything. I’ve been watching and seeing pictures and I can certainly see the fans love their NASCAR.”

The goal is to finish the full race Sunday and, just maybe, beat cars from other classes. Should they pull off the feat, the driver trio wants its own podium celebration.

“I think people will talk about this car for a long, long time,” said Rockenfeller, who along with sports car driver Jordan Taylor did much of the development alongside crew chief Chad Knaus and Greg Ives, a former crew chief who stepped into a projects role at Hendrick this year.

“When we started with the Cup car, we felt already there was so much potential,” Rockenfeller said. “And then we tweaked it. And we go faster, and faster, at Le Mans on the SIM. But you never know until you hit the real track, and to be actually faster than the SIM. Everybody in the paddock, all the drivers, they come up and they are, ‘Wow, this is so cool,’ and they were impressed by the pit stops. We’ve overachieved, almost, and now of course the goal is to run for 24 hours.”

The car completed a full 24-hour test at Sebring, Florida, earlier this year, Knaus said, and is capable of finishing the race. Button believes NASCAR will leave a lasting impression no matter what happens.

“If you haven’t seen this car live yet, it’s an absolute beast,” Button said. “When you see and hear it go by, it just puts a massive smile on your face.”

For Hendrick, the effort is the first in his newfound embrace of racing outside NASCAR, the stock car series founded long ago in the American South. Aside from the Le Mans project, he will own the Indy car that Kyle Larson drives for Arrow McLaren in next year’s Indianapolis 500 and it will be sponsored by his automotive company.

“If you’d have told me I’d be racing at Le Mans and Indianapolis within the same year, I’d never have believed you,” Hendrick told AP. “But we’re doing both and we’re going to do it right.”

Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
Fans gather around the NASCAR Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that is the Garage 56 entry for the 100th 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe (Chris Graythen/Getty Images).

General Motors is celebrating the achievement with a 2024 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 Edition and only 56 will be available to collectors later this year.

“Even though Chevrolet has been racing since its inception in 1911, we’ve never done anything quite like Garage 56,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “A NASCAR stock car running at Le Mans is something fans doubted they would see again.”

The race hasn’t even started yet, but Hendrick has enjoyed it so much that he doesn’t want the project to end.

“It’s like a shame to go through all this and do all this, and then Sunday it’s done,” Hendrick said. “It’s just really special to be here.”