No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota News and Notes:
- Defending Race Winner: Kyle Busch returns to the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) NASCAR XFINITY Series team and the No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota this week at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway. Last year at this venue, Busch crossed another “first track win” off his and JGR’s XFINITY Series win list, with a first series victory on the 1.5-mile home track for Busch, who grew up 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas strip, close to his childhood home. The 2016 win was a dominant run, from the pole, with 119 of 163 laps completed.
- Last race in the No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Camry: Last week Busch tackled and conquered the Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway (AMS) when from a first-place qualifying position he was poised for a strong run. Busch led twice for 26 event laps and took the checkered-flag grab to accomplish his second XFINITY series win at AMS. The win was Busch’s 87th victory, extending his position as the series’ winningest driver.
- New NOS Colors for Hometown Start: This week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Busch will make his 330th XFINITY Series start piloting new colors in the No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry featuring a newer NOS Rowdy Energy Drink flavor. Busch looks to achieve victory Saturday for the Joe Gibbs Racing XFINITY Series program, what would be their second Las Vegas Motor Speedway track win. The Nevada-track start will be the driver’s second of 10 scheduled XFINITY Series races with partner NOS Energy Drink in the No. 18 Toyota in 2017.
- Busch at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: In addition to the 2016 LVMS XFINITY Series victory, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) veteran is no stranger to victory lane at the 1.5-mile home track. He has one MENCS win there in 2009, when in dominating fashion he brought home the victory from the pole-qualifying position. XFINITY Series Loop Data Statistics at Las Vegas over the last 10 races record Busch #1 in Highest # of Quality Passes (258, 23.5%), Highest # of Fastest Laps (251, 11.3%), Highest # of Laps in Top 15 (1501, 67.7%) and Highest # of Laps Led (473, 21.3%).
- Poles: With last week’s pole-qualifying position earned at Atlanta Motor Speedway Busch notched his 58th first-place start in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The accomplishment continues a 14-year streak of pole grabs by the champion that stems back to 2004.
- Joe Gibbs Racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: In 41 races JGR has recorded one win (Busch, ’16), 11 top-five finishes, 18 top-10 finishes, two poles (2) and 617 laps led at the Nevada track.
- Interim Crew Chief Matt Lucas’ XFINITY Series statistics: Dating back to 2012 Matt Lucas has sat in the crew chief position with various drivers and accumulated 97 races, two wins (both with Matt Kenseth), 21 top-five and 36 top-10 finishes, including four XFINITY series pole positions. Over that time Lucas has not tackled Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the crew chief position, until this week.
- Race Info: Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, broadcast at 4:00pm EST live on FOXSports1, covering 200 laps, 300 miles.
Kyle Busch Las Vegas Motor Speedway Results:
| Series | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Led | AvSt | AvFn |
| MENCS | |||||||
| 12 races | 1 (’09 from pole) | 5 | 6 | 2 (’09, ’08) | 230 | 9.5 | 13.5 |
| XFINITY | |||||||
| 12 races | 1 (’16 from pole) | 4 | 4 | 1 | 473 | 9.3 | 16.8 |
| NCWTS | |||||||
| 1 race (’01) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 9.0 |
Kyle Busch NASCAR XFINITY Series Career Results:
| XFINITY Series | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Led | AvSt | AvFn |
| 329 races | 87 | 201 | 236 | 58 | 17,844 | 7.7 | 9.1 |
From the Cockpit, Driver Kyle Busch:
What are your expectations going into this week’s Las Vegas XFINITY series race?
“Las Vegas is obviously a track I know and always enjoy coming back to from my starting grounds in racing. I think it is a fun racetrack. Until last year it eluded us, but we got the ‘W’ last spring and hope to get another one this week. We’ll keep working hard at it.”
From the Pit Box, Matt Lucas substituting for Scott Graves :
How will you prepare for the Las Vegas Motor Speedway XFINITY Series race with veteran driver Kyle Busch?
“It will feel good to get back to the racetrack again. This week I get to work with a proven team and a great driver. I was Kyle’s engineer back in 2011 and 2010 and was lucky enough to be part of a good team unit then too. I look to support this No. 18 team how it normally runs, without upsetting the standard flow of things. It’s going to be a good weekend.”
No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota / Joe Gibbs Racing Team Members:
| Driver – Kyle Busch | Crew Chief – Matt Lucas | 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 | Spotter – 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 and tag #NOSEnergy #NOSRowdy.
-JGR-
