Kyle Busch sits second in the Busch Series standings. Credit: Autostock

Strong runs not helping Busch's title hopes

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The NASCAR Busch Series points lead is slipping away from Kyle Busch.

And it's happening in frustrating fashion. Busch has finished in the top 10 in the past six races, yet he's managed to lose ground to Martin Truex Jr.

Busch trails leader Martin Truex Jr. by 152 points in the championship standings. Credit: Autostock

Truex Jr. leads by 152 points with seven races remaining in 2004, and he's made it difficult on Busch by finishing in the top 10 in the last seven races. Truex Jr. has finished ahead of Busch in four of the last seven races, and in the three he didn't, he was never more than seven spots behind.

"It's definitely frustrating when you can finish third and he finishes fifth, or when you win and he finishes third," Busch said. "It's very hard to gain any points when that happens. This past race, he won and we finished ninth, so that sure didn't help us any."

The No. 5 car has been in a championship battle before. Brian Vickers won the Busch Series title in that machine last year in a battle that went down to the last race. Therefore, Busch and crew chief Lance McGrew aren't about to give up.

"It's definitely achievable," Busch said. "All we need is to be on top of our game from here on out, and we need the 8 car to have one or two bad races and we're right back in it."

This weekend, Busch tackles Kansas Speedway in the Mr. Goodcents 300. Vickers crashed there in 2003, but Busch hopes for more.

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"We just have to keep digging at it and see what we can get," Busch said. "Obviously, (Truex's team) is a really strong team, and they've won a championship before, a couple of years ago, two in a row with Dale (Earnhardt) Jr.

"We're going to go after it wide open, and hopefully we can get it like Brian Vickers did last year. It doesn't matter if you win it by one point or 100 points."

To get ready for Kansas, Busch turned to Jeff Gordon, his Hendrick Nextel Cup teammate. Gordon has won two of the three Cup races at the 1.5-mile track, so the four-time champion clearly knows something about getting around that place.

"With Jeff, he really drives the car off into the corner here and uses a lot of brake, while I don't drive it in as hard and I use very little brake," Busch said. "It's kind of difficult sometimes, because when you jump out of what you're doing to try something else, you have to change the car's setup.

"You can do a number of things differently to the car and try to build into something that's comfortable for you, or you can just try a couple of things (another driver) has done to try and come up with a mixture of his and your setups to try to make something work. Sometimes it's difficult, but other times you can find something that works for you just by testing another line."

Jason Keller will make his 350th Busch Series start this weekend, 13 years after making his first appearance. Keller finished 29th at Lanier National Speedway in that first start back in 1991. He took home $575.

Jason Keller makes his 350th Busch Series start this weekend. Credit: Autostock

"I remember back to that first race at Lanier Speedway in 1991," Keller said. "I remember finding out how much money I won that first race and then walking over to pay my first tire bill for $2,000. I just about cried handing it over."

Keller is third on the Busch Series all-time starts list, behind only Elton Sawyer (392) and Tommy Houston (417).

"Well I don't really think of it as a milestone, I guess," Keller said. "It's nice to have such a long and successful career in the Busch Series, but I feel like there are many more of these to come. I guess because I started racing in this series at such a young age, it seems like I'm a lot older than I really am, but gosh, I'm only 34."

Tony Stewart will be back in the Busch Series at Kansas, driving Chance 2 Motorsports' No. 81 as a teammate to Truex Jr. Stewart was supposed to drive the car at Michigan, but qualifying was rained out, leaving Stewart out of the lineup.

Tony Stewart didn't have the chance to qualify for the Busch Series event at Michigan. Credit: Autostock

"When we headed to Michigan last month we had every intention of going in there and winning that race," Stewart said. "But just as the rain screwed up our chances of winning last year's race at Michigan, it prevented us from even qualifying for this year's race."

Stewart is still looking for his first Busch Series victory.

"We have another chance to win with Bass Pro Shops on the hood at Kansas," Stewart said. "I have a great relationship with them and wanted to do well for them last month. Since we can't control the weather, we decided that Kansas would be our next best opportunity to go for that win."