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 NASHVILLE,
TN (April 11) -- Kyle Busch, the younger brother of Winston Cup star
Kurt Busch, won the ARCA RE/MAX Series PFG 150 Friday night at
Nashville Superspeedway. The 17-year-old driver was making just his
second start in the series. The Las Vegas native led four times for 84
laps en route to his first win in the series.
A stout 40-car field took the green flag on the
1.33-mile concrete track. Kyle Busch started on the pole after setting
a new track record in qualifying. Busch's time of 30.094 seconds
(159.460 mph) eclipsed the mark (158.267 mph) set by Frank Kimmel two
years ago. Busch led from the outset and was the class of the field.
Four others led during the event, but Busch was on his game in taking
the win. Other drivers leading during the race were Frank Kimmel (3
laps), Christie Passmore (5 laps), Ron Cox (14 laps) and Keith Murt (7
laps).
Finishing in second place behind Busch was defending
series champion Frank Kimmel. Brent Sherman, Jeff Fultz and Darryl
Sage rounded out the top five. Sherman's third place finish was a
career-best.
Rick Hendrick, Busch's car owner, was quoted on Kyle's
victory saying, "I don’t know
that I’ve seen anybody with more talent, including Jeff Gordon at
this stage of his life," (Hendrick also owns Gordon's NASCAR
Winston Cup cars). "He's got a tremendous amount of talent and
tonight he showed a lot of poise."
Hoosier ARCA Track Service Manager Doug Barnes
commented about the race, "The concrete surface is dynamically
different than the typical asphalt track we are use to seeing. While
we had success with this same tire last year in the August race, the amount of wear
experienced during this race was more than what was experienced then
and we feel further testing is appropriate." Barnes added,
"Our engineering staff was here and assisted the teams during the
competition." Barnes concluded, "Hoosier is committed to
providing the best tire available to the ARCA RE/MAX Series and will
work tirelessly to achieve that goal."
OTHER RACE NOTES: Two female drivers competed
in the event. Christie Passmore was the highest finishing rookie and
finished ninth (a career-best), while Deborah Renshaw finished 38th.
Former NFL coach Jerry Glanville finished sixth and earned the Hoosier
Tire Hard Charger Award after starting 23rd. Japan's Hideo Fukuyama
also competed and finished 34th. The race had seven cautions for a
total of 51 laps.
Frank Kimmel currently leads the ARCA Series standings
with 650 points followed by Mark Gibson (610), Brent Sherman (600),
Billy Venturini (570), Ron Cox (535).
The ARCA Series next races on April 27th, at Salem
Speedway's .555-mile paved track in Salem, IN.
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