Rain turned Busch's Friday into a 13-hour marathon

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Kyle Busch opened the window Friday morning, peeked outside and saw the drizzling rain, and then immediately turned back over for some more sleep

Nobody welcomed the overnight shower that soaked Atlanta Motor Speedway more than Busch. His day had originally been scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET and would surely last past midnight. So the precious hours of jet dryers circling the racetrack were akin to multiple slaps on the snooze button.

Nearly three hours later, Busch was out of his motorcoach, dressed in his brown Snickers firesuit and climbing into Billy Ballew's No. 51 truck for opening practice. Meanwhile, his Cup machine was sitting idle with crewmen leaning over the roof, its place secured in the long line of inspection.

It was a mere scratch of the surface on what would turn out to be a 13-hour workday in three different offices: the No. 51 in the Craftsman Truck Series, the No. 20 in the Nationwide Series, and the No. 18 in the Sprint Cup Series. Busch sat in three different pieces, drove in three different practices, dropped two separate qualifying laps and then ran 200 miles in one race.

That's a Friday for Kyle Busch.

Busch's No. 18 during Cup practice.

9 a.m. -- Craftsman Truck Series practice is officially delayed due to the rain. Busch gets the word in his motorcoach, parked like one of the many sardines packed in the lot just down from the Sprint Cup garage. No new schedule is posted at the time. Overnight rain has stopped, but the forecast calls for a 90 percent chance throughout the day.

Busch is not a morning person, so he decides to get an extra hour or so of sleep. Kelly and Susie, his two West Highland White Terriers that travel with him to the track, settle back down and relish the extra time with their owner.

11:30 a.m. -- Busch heads to the Truck Series garage, a decent golf-cart ride from his motorcoach. There, he gets a briefing from his Billy Ballew Motorsports crew. Busch won here driving the same truck last fall. It's also the same truck that he drove to victory at California two weeks ago. This particular truck, Chassis No. 11, has won six races so notes are a premium.

11:40 a.m. -- Busch's Cup car sits in the inspection line. The Joe Gibbs Racing crew pushes the No. 18 Toyota up the ramps and into the inspection bay, where "the claw" is lowered onto the car. Officials examine the gaps carefully.

12:02 p.m. -- Truck Series practice begins. Within 30 minutes, Busch has his truck ninth on the practice chart after six laps around the speedway.

12:42 p.m. -- Busch's No. 18 Cup car is pushed back to the garage after passing all of the inspection stops. Busch is still on the track for Truck practice.

1:01 p.m. -- Truck Series practice is over and Busch pulls his No. 51 into the garage, jumps out and gives up the reins to his crew. He was ninth on the speed charts with a speed of 174.653 mph. He hustles next door to the Nationwide Series garage.

1:06 pm. -- Nationwide Series practice begins. Busch is still on his way to the garage.

1:30 p.m. -- Busch is in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

"I missed the first little bit of Nationwide practice just trying to get over there, get to the car, get in it for the first time and set the steering wheel."

He pulls out of the Nationwide garage, makes the left turn down pit road and begins practice about 25 minutes late.

Fatigue will make you do silly things.

2:45 p.m. -- Busch, who got the late start, also decides to end the two-hour Nationwide Series practice session early, and with good reason. He tops the charts with a speed of 179.406 mph.

2:55 p.m. -- Nationwide Series practice officially ends while Busch is in his Cup hauler eating some cold leftovers from the lunch hour.

"The biggest thing is trying to find time to eat. I didn't have time to eat lunch really. We ended practice on the Nationwide side early enough, thankfully, so I could grab a bite to eat there and get going."

2:57 p.m. -- Cup Series practice begins. If the car feels good, Busch may end this practice early, too. But it's doubtful considering the weather concerns for the weekend.

4:30 p.m. -- Cup Series practice officially ends with Busch posting a decent time. He's 10th on the chart with a speed of 178.995 mph. He gets out of the car and hops on a golf cart for a quick ride to the Truck Series garage.

"The tires have really thrown us all a curveball this weekend with how hard they are. The truck was a handful there. The beginning was very good, but then it became a handful; we just got frustrated there at the end. With the Nationwide car we got frustrated on that side, too, trying to get some changes made. But we got it going better. The handling characteristics were the same -- tight from the center off. The Cup car has been loose in, tight center, loose off, so we've been trying to battle that."

4:45 p.m. -- Truck Series qualifying begins and Busch is scheduled to go out 19th.

5:15 p.m. -- Busch pulls onto the racetrack to make his two laps of qualifying. His best lap is 174.735 mph, good enough for third on the grid when qualifying ends. Ron Hornaday gets the pole, followed by Chad McCumbee.

5:35 p.m. -- Time for dinner. The menu: steak, mashed potatoes, fruit and vegetables. Busch is a healthy eater, but he's loading up on carbohydrates to withstand the night's Truck Series race.

6:25 p.m. -- Busch steps outside his Cup hauler and has a brief chat with the media. He talks with half a dozen reporters and one radio station.

6:30 p.m. -- Cup qualifying begins as Busch is still taking questions from the media at his Cup hauler. A photographer asks Busch for a couple of shots once the interview is done. The man kneels down, aims the camera up and Busch poses with his hands on his hips.

"It's been all over the place, especially with the rain. That kind of jumbled it up a little bit where there wasn't time between practices."

6:37 p.m. -- Busch walks to the infield media center adjacent to the Cup garage to attend the Truck Series drivers' meeting.

Taking the lead in the Truck race.

7:30 p.m. -- Busch arrives on pit road after the short walk from the media center. He has a brief television interview with Dick Berggren from SPEED.

7:35 p.m. -- Busch is inside his No. 18 Toyota, places his helmet on and straps his belts tight. He awaits his turn to qualify.

7:46 p.m. -- Busch pulls onto the track to make his Cup qualifying lap. He's fast -- he clocks a lap of 182.910 mph but as he crosses the finish line under the checkered flag he relays more changes need to be made for Saturday: "Tight, tight, tight, tight, tight, tight, tight."

8:15 p.m. -- With all the jostling back and forth between the three series, Busch finally changes clothes, getting out of his brown Cup driver's suit and into his black and orange Truck Series uniform.

8:45 p.m. -- Driver introductions begin for the Truck Series on pit road. Busch walks across the stage, down the stairs and back to his truck on pit road. His biggest cheer comes from Section 249 in the Champions grandstand, direction behind the flagstand.

As part of the Kyle Busch Foundation, Busch visited the Carrie Steele-Pitts Home on Thursday, an Atlanta area home for abandoned children and children from abused families. So on Friday, Busch invited about 60 kids from age 6 to high school to attend the Truck race, along with a group of about 20 staff members.

"They were a lot of fun to hang out with on Thursday when we were able to visit and hang out with them. That is what makes it happen for me."

9 p.m. -- Busch is in his truck, helmet on and belts strapped.

9:11 p.m. -- The command is given for the drivers to fire engines.

9:13 p.m. -- Trucks begin to pull onto the racetrack following the pace car. Busch is on the inside of the second row -- his final event of the day.

"After the Truck race gets done -- and hopefully we can win that thing -- and when Victory Lane is over, that will be the end of the night, finally. I'll be ready for bed as soon as time comes; as soon as I lay my head down, I'm out."

9:18 p.m. -- The green flag is in the air to begin the American Commercial Lines 200. Thirty seconds later, Busch comes back around the tri-oval section as the leader after passing McCumbee and Hornaday.

9:30 p.m. -- Busch comes down pit road under caution after shuffling the lead multiple times. He gets tires and adjustments. But two laps later he returns to his stall, saying they didn't get the appropriate rounds of wedge placed in the truck. He also gets fuel and restarts near the back of the pack.

9:45 p.m. -- Busch spins Colin Braun on Lap 28 as he's working his way back up to the front. No caution.

Capping the night with a victory.

"I went down there and it stuck. I tried to make a move on the apron in Turn 3, but that was a little stupid. I'm glad the 6 truck [Braun] ended up being all right. I was either going to run into the back of him or go low, so I tried going low but edged up on him a little bit and turned him sideways."

10:33 p.m. -- On Lap 111 rain begins falling at the track and the yellow comes out.

10:34 p.m. -- On Lap 112 Busch comes down pit road to make a pit stop during the yellow flag. None of the leaders follow him. Crew chief Wauters calls for four tires and some major adjustments to the truck with just 18 laps remaining.

"That baby was evil-loose -- it was all over the place. But we got it handling really well on that last pit stop, and from that point on, it was a rocket ship.

"I was surprised that nobody followed me, and Ron didn't come down. Normally, you do what the leader does, but I think Richie made a great call coming down pit road for those four tires."

10:35 p.m. -- On Lap 113 several other leaders follow Busch's lead and make their own pit stop. Busch stays on the track. The race is red flagged for 9 minutes, 51 seconds.

10:44 p.m. -- The race restarts on Lap 116 with Busch third behind Matt Crafton and McCumbee. In Turns 3 and 4, Busch moved around both drivers to take the lead with 14 laps remaining.

10:52 p.m. -- Busch wins the American Commercial Lines 200, his fifth consecutive finish in the series of second or better (read more).

"It wasn't that tough when you've got Kyle," Wauters says after the race of his crucial pit stop. "We knew we had a better truck on new tires. The only way to win the race was to come in for tires."

10:58 p.m. -- Busch pulls his truck into Victory Lane for the celebration. He climbs out of his truck, stands on the door and raises his arms in victory. He talks with television and radio, then poses for the cameras while switching lids during the traditional "hat dance."

11:30 p.m. -- Busch walks behind Victory Lane to the infield media center for a media Q&A. He takes his seat at the front of the room and talks about his eighth series victory.

11:50 p.m. -- Busch leaves the media center and exchanges a few last congratulations.

12:30 a.m. -- Busch heads back to his motorcoach, just down from the garage area, changes and gets ready for sleep.

"It's going to be a schedule like this for the rest of the year. The Truck Series, we're going to have to give up at some point. It's just not feasible. There will be a Truck race in Las Vegas during the Nationwide race in Dover, so there's just no way. If it was possible, I'd do what I could."

Another Friday in the books.