Team NOS Member Kyle Busch Dominates In Daytona!

9 Jul, 2008 NOS Energy Drink

On Saturday, July 5th, Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, rallied from a near accident on lap 83 to win the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

It was Busch’s series-high sixth win of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, the 10^th of his Sprint Cup career and his first at Daytona.

“Man, I can’t believe that we’re here right now,” Busch said. “We didn’t have the best car tonight, but these guys never gave up and we never gave up out there on the race track. We just had to get up to the front, and luckily we were leading there when it mattered the most when the caution came out. There was just a ton of wrecks behind us. I hate it for all of those guys in torn up equipment. I’m glad to have this Interstate Batteries Toyota up front.”

Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Denny Hamlin made contact on lap 83, causing Busch to nearly lose control of his Interstate Batteries Toyota. But Busch – in a masterful piece of driving – kept control of his car by going to the apron of the race track as the pack of cars behind him screamed past.

“When I got hit from Denny and I pulled out of line to try to pass, the air pinned the nose and it just got me squirrely down the straightaway,” Busch said. “And there was really no rear grip in the tires while I was going straight for whatever reason. So just had to slow it down and get it straight and rode the apron there.

After recovering from the minor incident, Busch worked his way from 37^th to the front of the field and managed to pass Jeff Gordon for the lead on lap 156 just before a multi-car accident in turn three caused NASCAR officials to extend the race two laps beyond the original 160-lap distance.

“I knew it was the green‑white-checkered, and yeah, I did see the ‘24’ (Gordon) go around,” Busch said. “And I was kind of waiting for the caution and the caution never came. I just kept my foot in it, and I was like, ‘All right, I guess we’re going to be racing.’ I just kept my foot in it and tried to beat (Edwards) and finish the race up front.”

Busch was just ahead of Edwards when the caution came out again for a multi-car accident in turn one on lap 162. Busch was declared the winner by NASCAR officials, as it was determined his car was in the lead when the caution came out.

“What an amazing night tonight. This is something that we have all dreamt about for a long time. We raced this race extremely hard, and my whole crew wanted this win as bad as I did. They worked harder than anyone making sure to give me every chance in the world to win this race. Jumping out of the car and spraying them down with NOS Energy Drink was a highlight for me, because they deserve the NOS bath in victory lane tonight,” said Kyle Busch.

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2008 Sprint Cup Victories

Kobalt Tools 500 – Atlanta Motor Speedway – 03/09/08

Aarons 499 – Talladega Super Speedway – 04/27/08

Dodge Challenger 500 – Darlington Raceway – 05/10/08

Best Buy 400 – Dover International Speedway – 06/01/08

Toyota/Save Mart 350 – Infineon Raceway – 06/22/08

Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola – Daytona International Speedway – 07/05/08

2008 Nationwide Victories

O’Reilly 300 – Texas Motor Speedway – 04/05/08

Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 – Phoenix International Raceway – 04/11/08

Corona Mexico 300 presented by Banamex – Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez – 04/20/08