Autostock
Kyle Busch became the first driver to sweep the season at LMS since Mark Martin in 1996.Busch plays a high-Lowe's racing game at Charlotte
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Kyle Busch made his first Nationwide Series start at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May 2003 in the No. 87 Chevrolet of Joe Nemechek. Busch started fifth, finished second and hasn't looked back.
One year later Busch won at LMS in the No. 5 Chevrolet of Hendrick Motorsports and did so again the following spring. Then in 2008, he swept the season in the Toyotas of Braun Racing (No. 32) and Joe Gibbs Racing (No. 18). Busch's four wins at LMS are the most he has at any track in the series and put him in select company.
3Wins in the May race at LMS for Kyle Busch, tied with Mark Martin for most.
5Drivers to win consecutive races at LMS: Harry Gant, Rob Moroso, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch. Moroso (1988-89) and Martin (1995-96) are the only drivers to win three in a row.
6Wins by Mark Martin, most of any driver. Kyle Busch is tied with Harry Gant for second-most.
7Top-fives for Kyle Busch in 11 career starts. Only three other drivers have had as many top-fives in their first 11 races at LMS: Dale Earnhardt (8), Bobby Allison (7) and Darrell Waltrip (7).
8.8Average finish for Kyle Busch, best among all drivers with more than 10 starts.
448Laps led by Kyle Busch, third-most among all drivers: 1. Mark Martin (737 in 27 starts); 2. Matt Kenseth (597 in 18 starts).
Overall, Busch has 24 series wins, tied for fifth all time.
Coverage of the Carquest Auto Parts 300 (Entry List | Tickets
) begins at 7 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2.
1Times in the past nine races there have been fewer than 10 cautions: seven in May 2007. In the 42 races prior, there had been more than 10 cautions only twice. The track record for cautions is 14 set in October 2005.
3Top-fives for Carl Edwards in eight starts including a win in this race in 2006 and a fifth-place finish last time out (October 2008). Edwards best finish otherwise is 13th last May but he has three finishes of 27th or higher including two DNFs (crashes).
5Top-fives for Dale Earnhardt Jr. including a fourth-place finish in this race last year, his first spring race at LMS since 2002. Junior hasn't finished better than 29th in four other starts including two DNFs (crashes).
6Drivers entered in this year's race with a previous win at LMS: Kyle Busch (4), Jeff Burton (3), Greg Biffle (2), Mike Bliss (1), Carl Edwards (1) and Joe Nemechek (1).
11.2Average finish for Kevin Harvick in five races in his own car including three top-10s and only one finish higher than 12th -- he finished 19th in this race last year after starting 41st. Overall, in 16 starts, Harvick has two top-fives, nine top-10s and a 12.1 average finish.
29Starts for Morgan Shepherd. He has three top-fives and seven top-10s, the latter marking the only races he has been running at the finish. Among the reasons for the 22 DNFs: engine (8), crash (3), handling (3), rear end (1), oil leak (1), oil pressure (1), ignition (1), electrical (1) and most recently, brakes (1), in May 2008. There also were two DNFs for unknown reasons. Shepherd's average finish in those 29 starts: 29.0.
The Wow Factor
30Races at LMS for Jeff Burton, who will make his 300th series start on Saturday becoming the 13th driver to reach that mark. Only two drivers, Dale Jarrett and Michael Waltrip, have made more starts at LMS with 33 each. Burton has three wins, eight top-fives, 14 top-10s and a 15.6 average finish. Overall, the self-described "Nationwide driver who happens to be running on Sundays" has 27 wins (fourth-most of all time), 88 top-fives and 147 top-10s in series competition.
The Super Looper
1,232Series-high Laps in the Top 15 for Kyle Busch in the past eight races, a 76.8 percent clip. Of that total he has led 300 and had 164 Fastest Laps, also series-bests.
Driver Rating at LMS (since 2005, eight races)
| Pos. | Driver | Rating | Starts | Wins | Top-5s | Top-10s | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ryan Newman | 138.3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 171 |
| 2. | Kyle Busch* | 112.6 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 300 |
| 3. | Matt Kenseth | 107.3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 174 |
| 4. | Jeff Burton* | 106.9 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 94 |
| 5. | Joey Logano* | 101.4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| 6. | Carl Edwards* | 99.5 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 201 |
| 7. | Dale Earnhardt Jr.* | 97.7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 8. | Brian Vickers* | 96.3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 26 |
| 9. | Kevin Harvick* | 93.6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 50 |
| 10. | Greg Biffle* | 92.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 81 |
• Loop Data Statistics: Season-to-Date Box Score | * Entered in this race
Blast from the Past
10Cases of Sun-Drop Citrus Soda that Dale Earnhardt was known to buy at a time. For the first time in a decade, Sun-Drop will adorn a race car since it was an associate sponsor for Earnhardt's 3 car. Sun-Drop will be the primary sponsor at LMS for the No. 01 Chevrolet of JD Motorsports and driver Danny O'Quinn Jr. O'Quinn has one top-10 in three starts at LMS, finishing fifth in the fall race during his rookie-of-the-year season of 2006.
Series winners at LMS
| Year | Driver | Make | Year | Driver | Make | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Harry Gant | Pontiac | 1995 | Mark Martin | Ford | |
| Darrell Waltrip | Pontiac | 1996 | Mark Martin | Ford | ||
| 1983 | Dale Earnhardt | Pontiac | Mark Martin | Ford | ||
| Sam Ard | Oldsmobile | 1997 | Joe Nemecheck | Chevrolet | ||
| 1984 | Bobby Allison | Oldsmobile | Jimmy Spencer | Chevrolet | ||
| Darrell Waltrip | Pontiac | 1998 | Mark Martin | Ford | ||
| 1985 | Tim Richmond | Pontiac | Mike McLaughlin | Chevrolet | ||
| Terry Labonte | Pontiac | 1999 | Mark Martin | Ford | ||
| 1986 | Tim Richmond | Pontiac | Michael Waltrip | Chevrolet | ||
| Dale Earnhardt | Pontiac | 2000 | Jeff Burton | Ford | ||
| 1987 | Harry Gant | Buick | Matt Kenseth | Chevrolet | ||
| Harry Gant | Buick | 2001 | Jeff Green | Ford | ||
| 1988 | Dale Jarrett | Oldsmobile | Greg Biffle | Ford | ||
| Rob Moroso | Oldsmobile | 2002 | Jeff Green | Chevrolet | ||
| 1989 | Rob Moroso | Oldsmobile | Jeff Burton | Ford | ||
| Rob Moroso | Oldsmobile | 2003 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | ||
| 1990 | Dale Jarrett | Pontiac | Greg Biffle | Chevrolet | ||
| Sterling Marlin | Oldsmobile | 2004 | Kyle Busch | Chevrolet | ||
| 1991 | Dale Earnhardt | Chevrolet | Mike Bliss | Chevrolet | ||
| Harry Gant | Buick | 2005 | Kyle Busch | Chevrolet | ||
| 1992 | Jeff Gordon | Ford | Ryan Newman | Dodge | ||
| Jeff Gordon | Ford | 2006 | Carl Edwards | Ford | ||
| 1993 | Michael Waltrip | Pontiac | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | ||
| Mark Martin | Ford | 2007 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | ||
| 1994 | Phil Parsons | Chevrolet | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | ||
| Terry Labonte | Chevrolet | 2008 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | ||
| 1995 | Chad Little | Ford | Kyle Busch | Toyota |
Also
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Nationwide Series
Standings
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Kyle Busch | 1,539 | -- |
| 2. | -- | Carl Edwards | 1,502 | -37 |
| 3. | -- | Jason Leffler | 1,386 | -153 |
| 4. | -- | Joey Logano | 1,340 | -199 |
| 5. | -- | Brad Keselowski | 1,331 | -208 |
| 6. | +1 | Jason Keller | 1,181 | -358 |
| 7. | -1 | David Ragan | 1,139 | -400 |
| 8. | +1 | Scott Lagasse Jr. | 1,095 | -444 |
| 9. | +3 | Justin Allgaier | 1,089 | -450 |
| 10. | -- | Steve Wallace | 1,088 | -451 |
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