Busch back in No. 51 truck at one of his favorite tracks

Kyle Busch wants to spend his third anniversary with Billy Ballew Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series the same way he did in their inaugural race together -- celebrating a victory at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Busch will be in the No. 51 Toyota for Friday's North Carolina Education Lottery 200, and everything points to him being a serious contender at the 1.5-mile track in Concord, N.C.

Busch has wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., this season -- both high-speed tracks similar to Lowe's -- in four starts. Busch also has been impressive at Lowe's. He followed the 2005 win, his first in the Truck Series, with another victory in 2006. Busch had a wheel problem last year and finished 11th.

Fast facts

What	N.C. Education Lottery 200
When	Green, 8:19 p.m. ET Friday
TV	SPEED, 7:30 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 8 p.m. ET

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With eight victories in 40 career races, Busch, 23, ranks first in CTS history in winning percentage (20) among those with at least 25 starts.

Busch missed the fifth race of the Truck season at Kansas Speedway because of a scheduling conflict with the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races at Talladega. His plan at the start of the season was to run just more than half the 25-race schedule, but Busch says he may add to it.

"We are really out here to get Billy Ballew Motorsports an owners' championship," Busch said. "If we can get close enough with having to miss a few races, we have every intention of running for a drivers' championship as well. These guys every day are working so hard to bring this equipment to the track, and Bill has really stuck in there for all those years. I would love to win a championship for them."

Ron Hornaday Jr.'s win at Kansas boosted him and Kevin Harvick Inc. into the points leads. Busch is sixth, 130 behind Hornaday, but Ballew is only 21 behind KHI in the owners' standings. Shane Sieg finished 18th in the No. 51 at Kansas.

Hornaday dominated at Kansas, driving a Chevrolet that the team said had improved aerodynamics. He led 136 of 167 laps. Hornaday, 49, a three-time CTS champion, ranks third in winning percentage at 16.6 with 34 wins in 205 starts.

Hornaday won last year's race at Lowe's, leading 98 of 136 laps. He was fifth in 2006.

"We've had some good races at Lowe's the past couple of years," Hornaday said. "We had a top-five run in 2006 and won last year. That was the first win for me and [crew chief] Rick Ren both at that track. Lowe's is a lot like Atlanta and Texas, where you can carry really good speed out of the turns. We have a lot of momentum going into this race, and we're looking for another strong run."

Rick Crawford is second in points, 61 behind Hornaday. As with most of the teams, Crawford's Circle Bar Racing is based in the Charlotte area and that makes Lowe's a home track.

"A lot of history in NASCAR is built here in Charlotte and the Concord area with Lowe's Motor Speedway," Crawford said. "It is home for 90 to 95 percent of the race teams. It's important as far as history is concerned. It's important as far as a win. It's just an important race. Each race is important, but Charlotte is among those that are rated higher than others."

Father of Truck Series pioneer dies
Delwin "D.J." Smith, father of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pioneer Jimmy Smith, died May 12 in Temecula, Calif., where he resided for the past 15 years. Smith was 83.

D.J. Smith

Smith was born on Jan. 6, 1925, in Crookston, Neb. He served in the Navy, was stationed in San Francisco and later settled in Southern California. He married and had three children: Joan, Jimmy and Wendell Smith.

Smith became involved with auto racing in the late 1950s, promoting all types of racing and later became a car owner. After retiring, he began his second career with his sons at Ultra Wheel Company and devoted 100 percent of his time to Ultra Motorsports, which fielded cars in both the Craftsman Truck Series and the Cup Series.

Smith developed relationships with many of the NASCAR greats such as Tiny Lund, A.J. Foyt, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Parnelli Jones and Junior Johnson, to name a few.

His son, Jimmy, was one of four off-road racing owners who came to NASCAR in 1994 with the concept of racing pickup trucks on paved ovals and road courses. The Craftsman Truck Series debuted the following year and currently is in its 14th season. In 2005, Smith's team won both owner and driver championships fielding Dodges driven by Ted Musgrave.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. PT Monday, May 19 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 4471 Lincoln Ave., Cypress CA 90630, telephone 800-204-3131.

Donations can be made to Victory Junction in memory of D.J. Smith, 4500 Adams Way, Randleman, NC, 27317. Please request Victory Junction to send donation cards to: The Smith Family, 75 Linda Isle, Newport Beach, CA 92660