No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota News and Notes:
- Kyle Busch returns to Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) team: The No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota appears this week at Richmond (Va.) Raceway with series veteran Kyle Busch, for series race 25 of 33 scheduled events. Busch will attempt 2017 XFINITY win number six on the Virginia short track where he has seen much success. The Saturday start will afford the No. 18 NOS Energy Drink team the chance to work towards victory lane once more, coming off a string of victories including one with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver Denny Hamlin last week at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. This week’s XFINITY Series race will complete Busch’s anticipated 10-race schedule with NOS Energy Drink in 2017.
- Working towards another “W”: Last race in the No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Camry at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for a Friday night race event JGR veteran Kyle Busch and the No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota team started from row one, a first-place pole-qualifying lap at 127.157 mph captured in 15.09 seconds. The pole start was Busch’s 63rd first-place starting spot in 337 series starts. During the race Busch led the field eight times over 186 event circuits and was uncontested in the final race stage, earning the veteran series driver his fifth win in nine series races this year. The accomplishment was Busch’s 91st career victory in 337 XFINITY series events. The series win was number nine in 25 races for Busch at BMS. Last race at Richmond Raceway with the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing XFINITY Series team, Busch was paired with then crew chief Chris Gayle when the team dominated the race with 197 of 250 laps led. From a seventh-place qualifying position Busch drove to the front of the field then earned his 84th series victory and sixth win in 21 series races at Richmond Raceway.
- Busch continues a 14-year streak of pole grabs: The champion continues a streak of pole wins that stems back to 2004, now numbering an all-time high 63 first-place starts in the XFINITY Series.
- Joe Gibbs Racing in the XFINITY Series at Richmond Raceway: At Richmond Raceway JGR’s XFINITY Series outfit has entered 87 races with seven wins earned (four with Busch, three with Denny Hamlin), 22 top-five finishes, 41 top-10 finishes, six poles and 1,482 laps led.
- Crew Chief Eric Phillips’ RR Track Experience: Phillips’ Richmond races cover five events, no wins, no top-five finishes, one top-10 finish, no pole positions or laps led with two former drivers Parker Kligerman and Daniel Suarez.
- 2017 Points: With their recent Darlington Raceway winning result the No. 18 JGR team sits in fourth place in NASCAR’s Owner’s Championship point standings, 167points behind the series leading No. 22 Penske team.
- Richmond Raceway Statistics: Busch is the Youngest Pole Winner and Youngest Race Winner on May 14, 2004 at the age of 19 years and 12 days. The series veteran also holds the qualifying record from 2004 at 129.348 mph. Busch has the highest number of Laps in the Top 15 at RR with 4,076 laps at 85.6%. Busch is the XFINITY Series leader among 2017 events with the Highest Number of Miles Led (722.994, 12.68%) and Laps Led (549, 13.43%).
- Race Info: Virginia529 College Savings 250, broadcast on NBCSN at 7:30pm, covering 250 laps, 187.5 miles. The three stage formats will complete at laps 75, 150 and 250.
Kyle Busch Richmond Raceway Results:
Series | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Led | AvSt | AvFn |
CUP | |||||||
24 races | 4 (’09, ‘10 from pole, ’11, ‘12) | 15 | 17 | 1 | 1021 | 12.2 | 7.3 |
XFINITY | |||||||
21 races | 6 (’09, ’11, ’04-’07-’14 from pole) | 15 | 18 | 5 | 1,315 | 7.6 | 5.5 |
TRUCK | |||||||
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.0 | 26.0 |
Kyle Busch NASCAR XFINITY Series Career Results:
XFINITY
Series |
Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Led | AvSt | AvFn |
337 races | 91 | 207 | 243 | 63 | 18,367 | 7.6 | 9.0 |
From the Cockpit:
How will you and this18 team prepare for this week’s XFINITY Series race, your last one together for this season?
“It’s been a good run for this No. 18 team this year and for me with them, so we look to get another one to finish out my planned XFINITY Series schedule. Eric and these guys have good momentum so we’ll go into the weekend with a lot of planning. It’s a one-day show for the XFINITY Series which has it’s own challenges, but it should be fun for the fans and for us to see how the night turns out.”
From the Pit Box:
What do you look forward to most on Friday night, competing with Kyle Busch on a track where he’s seen much success?
“Richmond always presents some challenges, you always fight free-in and free-off and being tight in the center. That is the most challenging thing to fix as a crew chief so it’s always a compromise on each portion of the corner. The team is excited about Richmond this weekend being the last race for Kyle this year and the last race before the playoffs start. With this being the first race of the new era in the XFINITY series with the composite body cars, our team would really like to start out with the win and carry that momentum into the playoffs.”
No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota / Joe Gibbs Racing Team Members:
Driver – Kyle Busch | Crew Chief – Eric Phillips | Car Chief – Chris Meyers |
Race Engineer – Chris Whitenight | Shocks/Engineer – Dustin Zacharyasz | Front Mechanic – Tyler Paxton |
Rear Mechanic – John Egbert | Tire Specialist – John Lanham | Engine Tuner – Roger Purcell |
Truck Driver – Steve Fiedler | Spotters – Tony Hirschman | Jackman – TJ Ford |
Gas Man – Tom Lampe | Front Tire Changer – Josh Leslie | Front Tire Carrier – Brad Donaghy |
Rear Tire Changer – Jake Seminara | Rear Tire Carrier – Kenny Barber |
About NOS:
Based in Corona, California, NOS is part of the Monster Energy Company, acquired from The Coca-Cola Company in 2015. Launched in 2005, NOS Energy Drink fuels performance by providing high performance energy and enhanced mental focus you need to stay ahead of the pack. Whether on the track, tuning a favorite car in the garage, or conquering your day, NOS delivers a kick. Rooted in auto-culture, NOS is a proud partner of Kyle Busch, Brian Deegan and Chris Forsberg. High Performance Energy. High Performance Athletes. For more information, visit www.drinknos.com or facebook.com/NOSEnergyDrink.
-JGR-