In Ricky's honor
By Bob Pockrass
Monday, June 06, 2005
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Kyle Busch had won at Lowe's Motor Speedway before the Carquest Auto Parts 300 on May 28. It was a year earlier when he grabbed a Busch Series victory, then celebrated by appearing through the burnout smoke with his Lowe's sponsor logo in the background.
That was cool for him and his sponsors.
Busch, 20, won again on May 20, in another special moment for him and his family. He earned his first Craftsman Truck Series win, a triumph he had waited for since being booted out of the series for being too young in 2001.
Then came the Carquest 300, and he won again. And it was cool again. Cool for pretty much everyone.
Busch and the rest of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team couldn't escape the emotions of the moment, the first win for the No. 5 team since the Hendrick airplane crash that claimed 10 lives, including Ricky Hendrick, who first drove for and then owned and ran the No. 5 team. If there was a part of Hendrick Motorsports that belonged to Ricky, it was the No. 5 Busch Series program.
Kyle Busch had finished second twice last year after the October 2004 accident and left the track devastated both times.
"It really means a lot to me to dedicate this race to Ricky and the rest of the nine [people] who were on that flight," Busch said. "I tried so hard last year in order to get it done. ... To come out here again and get another Busch Series win was big."
The team members wore their hats backward in victory lane, the way Ricky used to. And they yelled Ricky's name during the celebration.
"That is his team," Rick Hendrick said about his son. "He and Kyle had a great relationship. I miss him every single minute of every single day. I'll never see that car on the track or guys on that team or anything with motorsports where I don't think about him.
"It was neat to do our hats on backwards, or to see Kyle come in or Brian [Vickers] in [Ricky's trademark] flip-flops. It's a special deal, and it's special here. It always will be."
The team that Ricky had assembled has broken up somewhat, with crew chief Lance McGrew now on the Nextel Cup circuit, where he brought a couple of people with him. But new crew chief Jim Long got emotional, too.
He knew Ricky when he was young and obviously knew engine builder Randy Dorton, who was also killed, for 18 years.
"It's really tough, and it will always be tough, more so for Rick than probably anybody," Long said. "We just keep doing what they hired us to do, [following] their passion. We keep working on race cars, and that helps a lot.
"A win like this helps a lot. Ricky and [his late grandfather] Papa Joe did so much. I wouldn't be here if they hadn't done all that."
The win also was special in other ways. The No. 5 team hadn't come close to a win in 2005. It has used five drivers this year and only could muster a best finish of 10th - by Adrian Fernandez, who had never driven a stock car in his life. The Busch team also helps in the preparation of other Hendrick cars that participate in the series, and they had three cars competing at Charlotte.
So Busch's win, where he led 65 of 200 laps, including the final 46, was a much-needed win for a team that has done a lot of work with little to show for it.
"There's been so many personnel changes on the Busch side this year, and the guys are working tremendous hours in the shop," Busch said. "We've been tearing some stuff up this year. It hasn't been easy on them guys."
For once, everything went right. The cautions fell at the right time for Busch, who stayed out when many others pitted on laps 72 and 86, then got a caution about 11 laps before he needed to pit for fuel.
"We wasted a few sets of tires at the beginning of the race, and we had to make sure we conserved a little bit to get back on the tire strategy everybody else had," Busch said. "We wanted to make sure everything was going to be good for the end."
Busch pitted for the final time on lap 144 and came out third behind Kevin Harvick, who didn't change tires, and Sterling Marlin, who changed only two. He got past them on lap 155 and then survived three restarts with Marlin on his tail.
Marlin could get close, but could never pass Busch before getting held up by lapped traffic.
"I got close to him, I guess, with three to go, two to go, whatever it was, and we got a car, a slow car, that about wrecked us down here in between [Turns] 3 and 4," Marlin said. "I thought Ryan was going to get back by me. I reeled him in that far and just lost my momentum."
Marlin held on for second with Ryan Newman finishing third in front of Greg Biffle and Reed Sorenson. Newman, Biffle and Sorenson all had strong cars, but 13 caution laps over the final 33 laps slowed their charges.
"I was just waiting for Sterling to shake up Kyle and have a good run ... and have a shot at the win, but that never happened," Newman said. "If it had went green, I think we would have been in good shape.
"We had a lot of yellow flags there at the end and track position was still a big thing as far as advantage. Sterling had a good car, whether he had two [tires] or four, it didn't seem to matter a whole lot."
Busch had none of the trouble the other contenders had. Biffle had a loose lug nut midway through the race and fell to the rear. Brian Vickers had a strong car but a lug nut got stuck in a brake caliper and ruined his day. Polesitter Kasey Kahne blew a right front tire and crashed after leading the first 40 laps.
Those first 40 laps weren't great for Busch, who started 19th and fell as far back as 33rd. It was only by staying out and holding on to a car with old tires that Busch was able to leapfrog to the front.
"We just kept trying to free it up all night long," Busch said. "I don't know if we were chasing the track as much as we were the car."
That Long was able to get the car right for Busch was a good sign, considering they had only worked together for three races this year. Long has had to adjust to every driver, from Nextel Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson to Busch rookies Boston Reid and Blake Feese to Mexican open-wheel star Fernandez.
"I get a lot of feedback from the Cup guys and [their crew chiefs]," Long said. "Our practices are a thrash; we throw the kitchen sink at it every practice because I'm not sure where they want to be at.
"We changed more stuff [this weekend] for a race than I've ever changed in my life."
And it never felt so good.
"It kind of gets the monkey off your back," Long said. "We have torn up so many race cars it's been unbelievable. We've been competitive, but we always seem to get a penalty or get in somebody else's wreck or even cause a wreck.
"It's great. We needed it. It's a good shot in the arm and it gives everybody confidence."
Hendrick had originally planned on Reid and Feese to share most of the races this season, but that plan fell apart. Reid and Feese were at the race and they will get their chance again when the Cup and Busch Series go to different venues three times in June.
"You look at the Busch Series right now, and you almost had a Cup race tonight with [19] guys," Hendrick said. "The competition level has really stepped up. We've learned a lot, and we've got to get the cars as good as we can get them.
"We came back probably as good as we were last year, but last year [second in points] wasn't good enough."
Hendrick made that statement with Busch sitting right next to him, making sure that he heard. Hendrick often talks about winning, but maybe he was also sending a message to a driver in whom he sees so much potential. Busch has realized his potential in many races, especially at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
"The guy that he reminds me of a lot ... is Tim Richmond, and the way Tim, the first time he got in a Busch car here, just kind of figured it out," Hendrick said. "He has, just like Jimmie [Johnson] has in the Cup car. He likes this place a lot, like Tim did."
By getting the No. 5 team back in the limelight, Busch once again raised expectations for the team, which placed second in the points with Busch last season and won the title with Vickers in 2003.
"What impressed me more than anything I've seen with Kyle was the first time he sat in a Busch car in a race and finished second against eight or 10 Cup guys," Hendrick said. "He has been able to adapt into anything he gets in. I thought he was going to be good, but he has been better faster than I thought he was going to be."
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Brian Vickers
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