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Kyle Busch will be looking to add a national touring series sweep at Chicago to his resume.

Drive for five under way; Chicago next opportunity

By Duane Cross, NASCAR.COM
August 27, 2009
02:58 PM EDT

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Judging the headline, fans may presume this is a Sprint Cup Series story about Jeff Gordon's quest for a fifth series championship.

However, the focus is on Kyle Busch, who is looking to chalk up a victory on Friday night at Chicago. If he wins, it would mark the fifth track at which Rowdy has won a Cup, Nationwide and Truck series race. He already has victories in the three national touring series at Bristol, Dover, Fontana and Phoenix.

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"The biggest thing I learned last year was the track didn't change much," said Busch, who swept the Nationwide and Cup series races in 2008. "It just got cooler and gained grip. The balance didn't change a lot -- that was pretty cool to see."

Last week at Bristol, Busch ended Ron Hornaday's five-race winning streak. Busch now leads Hornaday by .29 percent in career winning percentage (.1904 to .1875) with 12 wins in 63 Truck Series starts; Hornaday has 45 victories in 240 races.

"Overall, winning five in a row ... it has been a lot of fun," Hornaday said. "We will just start all over again."

Busch's victory at Bristol marked the sixth consecutive season in which crew chief Richie Wauters has at least one victory, equaling the series record shared by Dennis Connor (1996-2001) and Mike Hillman Jr. (2004-09).

1Point, the separation between Tayler Malsam (156) and Johnny Sauter (155) in the Truck Series' rookie of the year standings.

2Points, the separation between Toyota (111) and Chevrolet (109) in the Truck Series' manufacturers championship standings.

3Drivers have competed in all 13 Truck Series races held in Illinois: Terry Cook, Rick Crawford and Dennis Setzer. Cook has the only victory, at Gateway in 2002.

4National touring series wins at Chicago for Kevin Harvick, tops among all drivers. He has two victories in both the Cup (2001, '02) and Nationwide (2005, '07) series.

5Brian Scott's average finish in the past six races, since a season-worst 34th-place finish on June 13 at Michigan.

6Series-leading consecutive years in which Todd Bodine has won a Truck Series races. Kyle Busch, Ron Hornaday and Mike Skinner have active five-year streaks.

7Drivers who have won a Truck Series race this year, led by Ron Hornaday's six, after 15 of 25 races. The most winners win a season: 14 (27 races in 1998 and 25 races in 2005). The fewest winners in a season: 7 (20 races in 1995 and 24 races in '96).

8Major Loop Data categories led by Ron Hornaday in addition to his 125.5 Driver Rating, among drivers who have raced in 75 percent of scheduled point-paying races: 1) Laps Led -- 748 ... 2) Laps In Top 15 -- 2,193 ... 3) Average Running Position -- 5.444 (position on each lap, divided by the laps run in the race) ... 4) Fastest Early In a Run -- 2.444 (during the first 25 percent of laps run since a pit stop) ... 5) Fastest Late In a Run -- 3.429 (during the last 25 percent of laps run since a pit stop) ... 6) Fastest Laps Run -- 379 (driver had the fastest speed on the lap) ... 7) Fastest on Restarts -- 5.467 (speed of first two laps under green conditions) ... 8) Green Flag Speed -- 2.444 (green-flag lap speed throughout the race).

9Times that Ron Hornaday has won the inaugural Truck Series race at a track. Mike Skinner (6), Mike Bliss (3), Butch Miller (1) and Ken Schrader (1) also have won the first series race at a track.

10Um, make it a not-so-perfect 10: Ricky Carmichael is featured in X-Games 3D: The Movie. (Download the trailer at: www.xgames3dmovie.com.) "I competed in the X-Games the weekend of Nashville; it was fun," Carmichael said. "I received a co-gold medal in the step-up competition, but I also took a pretty wicked fall."