Notes: Busch keeping new Truck crew chief happy

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Doug George arguably is the happiest crew chief in the Camping World Truck Series garage. And who can blame him with a driver like Kyle Busch behind the wheel?

Winless as a crew chief entering the season, George now has gone to Victory Lane two races running following Busch's record-matching fourth victory Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Busch

George, who this season moved to Billy Ballew Motorsports' No. 51 from the team's No. 15 truck, is rare among crew chiefs with a pair of NASCAR driving championships in hand. The Atwater, Calif., native is a Camping World Series West titleholder as well as champion of the old Southwest Series.

The 48-year-old George meshes well with his 23-year-old driver having been there, done that. But not on the same level, George is quick to point out.

George figured victory was out the window when his truck lost second and third gears on the Atlanta race's final restart.

"I just closed my book and dropped my head down a bit," George admitted before watching Busch rocket from ninth place to victory in just four laps. "That kid's just a heck of a driver."

George isn't doing too bad a job on top of the pit box either.

In the Loop

T.J. Bell launched a Camping World Truck Series career in 2008 after several tough seasons of hit-and-miss competition. Bell ran 17 races last season, and now looks like a Victory Lane threat on a weekly basis.

Bell

He joined the series at Race 9 of last season, scoring a 31st-place finish at Michigan. It took him six races to score his first top-10 finish. The success then snowballed. He posted seven top-10s in nine races, including five in a row.

And this season, he's a legitimate title contender.

Bell, who sits eight in the standings, already has a fifth-place finish -- the first of his career -- and has finished inside the top 15 in all three races this season.

He also has some of the top stats in the series. Over the first three races, he has a Driver Rating of 92.1, an Average Running Position of 9.6, 295 Laps in the Top 15 (89.4 percent) and has more passes than any other driver -- 191.

The leader in most of those categories is Kyle Busch, winner of the last two races. Busch has a Driver Rating of 132.6, an Average Running Position of 4.1 and a Pass Differential of plus-45 (passes minus times passed).

Etc. ...

• Three drivers now have won four times at a single track following Kyle Busch's Atlanta victory. Brendan Gaughan and Todd Bodine each have four wins at Texas.

• Toyota continues to lead series manufacturers' championship standings winning for the third consecutive time in 2009 (and fourth going back to the 2008 finale). Chevrolet currently is No. 2.

• Thorsport Racing, which fields entries for Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter, appeared in its 275th consecutive race Saturday in Atlanta. The team ranks third in consecutive starts behind Roush Fenway Racing (327) and Circle Bar Racing (301).

• Kevin Harvick's second-place finish was the fourth consecutive Atlanta runner-up performance for the Kevin Harvick Inc. team dating to October 2007.

• Series champions have begun to make their moves three races into the 2009 season. Bodine, Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday rank 2-4 behind leader Busch.

• Sprint Cup Series drivers have won four of the last six Truck Series races. Bodine, who won the Homestead-Miami season finale and this year's Daytona opener, split wins by Harvick (Phoenix) and Busch.

• It's all smiles at SS Greenlight Racing where driver Chad McCumbee added a sixth-place finish in Atlanta to the team's best performance of third two weeks earlier in Southern California. McCumbee left Atlanta ranked fourth a year ago driving for a different team. "It [would] be really cool if we can keep this momentum going," said McCumbee, giving credit to crew chief Bobby Dotter, who kept enough fuel in the truck to order a single trip down pit road near the race's conclusion. "[It was] strategy there at the end; four tires and no fuel." Dotter scored the team's previous best finish of fourth in Martinsville, the track the series visits next. The Kroger 250 marks the team's 200th consecutive start.

• After finishes among the top 10 in the season's first two races, rookie of the year contenders had to settle for top-20 performances at Atlanta. Tayler Malsam was best in 13th, a spot better than James Buescher. "It's hard but with Slugger [Labbe] up on the tower and Doug [Wolcott] on the box, it's pretty easy," Malsam said. "They kind of explain everything in a 20-year-old's mind so it makes it a little bit easier for me." The Washington driver is the third different rookie of the race in 2009 and ranks third in current standings.

Up next

Fan favorite Martinsville Speedway, a .526-mile paved oval known as an "action track," hosts the first of two 2009 races on Saturday, March 28. Dennis Setzer is the defending winner of the race, notching his third Martinsville victory a year ago. At least five previous Martinsville winners are expected to compete in the Kroger 250, including triple winner Skinner. The race will be broadcast live by FOX at 2 p.m. ET.

Next Race: Kroger 250
The Place: Martinsville Speedway
The Date: Sat., March 28, 2009
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
Race Distance: 250 laps / 131.5 miles
TV: FOX, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM.
Track Layout: .526-mile oval
2008 Winner: Dennis Setzer
2008 Pole: Jack Sprague