Pit Pass Radio

Kyle Busch (Shrub) had just enough fuel in his tank to make it to the end of the Lenox Industrial Tools 300, a race in which he led 107 of the 300 laps.
Oh yeah, and enough for several extra caution flag laps tacked onto the end of the event…and a green-white-checkered dash to the finish trying to hold off a fast closing Carl Edwards…
…and a victory burnout.
Sometimes I wonder if these crew chiefs are really telling us what’s really going on.
The #38 car of Elliott Sadler was also gambling on fuel mileage. They stopped for gas the last time at lap 201. The estimated fuel window for the race was 85-95 laps. His crew chief Tommy Baldwin immediately began cautioning Elliott to, “Save as much fuel as you can for me, bud…”.
Busch’s team pitted during the next caution some 11 laps later. That proved to give Kyle enough gas to get to the end, including the overtime period.
Sadler’s team wasn’t so lucky. They ran out just as the field took the green for the final time. This after the cleanup for a spin by the #07 car of Clint Bowyer and for an unexplainable confrontation between the front end of Michael Waltrip’s car and the rear of Robby Gordon’s, under caution.
How did Shrub get where he is now so quickly?
From 1999 to 2001, Kyle Busch was driving Legends cars at his home town track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He moved to Late Model stock cars in 2001. In August of that same year, Busch was tapped to drive a Craftsman Truck for Jack Roush, following in the footsteps of his brother, Kurt.
Kyle was 16 years old.
He was performing well in the truck until NASCAR came up with an unexpected rule: You must be 18 years old or older to compete in its top three series’. The Shrub’s NASCAR aspirations would have to be put on hold for a while.
Kyle competed in the ASA Series in 2002, earning 5 top 5’s and 10 top 10’s. He also graduated with honors from high school one year early.
Instead of following his brother Kurt into the Roush Racing family, Kyle decided to accept an offer from Hendrick Motorsports in February of 2003, when he ran a combination of ARCA and Busch Series events. In 2004, he became the youngest top rookie ever in the series at age 19. Busch won 5 times in his inaugural Busch Series season. It was apparent Shrub was destined for greatness.
In 2005 Kyle was tapped to replace Terry Labonte in the #5 Kellogg’s Chevy. He went on to capture victories at California and Phoenix…becoming the youngest winner in series history.
Prio to his sophomore season of 2006, some in the media (me included) had tapped the younger Busch to claim one of the coveted top ten spots for the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Finding himself in and out of the top ten at various times throughout the season, he hadn’t posted a victory, until today.
The win boosted him four positions to 4th in points heading into the 2nd Pocono race.
The Shrub is proving he has the consistency and the team it takes to compete for championships in NASCAR’s top series.
At age 20.
Man, do I feel old.