KYLE BUSCH XFINITY RACE ADVANCE: Richmond

XFINITY RACE ADVANCE: RICHMOND (Kyle Busch)

No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota News and Notes:

Kyle Busch celebrates a NASCAR Nationwide (now
XFINITY) Series victory at Richmond International
Raceway in Richmond, Virginia in 2011.

• Kyle Busch returns to Richmond International Raceway (RIR) this week to drive the No. 54 Monster Energy Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Toyota Camry under the lights Friday for the NASCAR XFINITY Series’ 25th race of the season. The historical Virginia short track will be the driver’s eighth start in the XFINITY series in 2015. To date this season in only seven XFINITY Series races Busch has earned three victories, six top-five finishes, three poles and 309 laps led. 

• Last week in the No. 54 Camry Busch tackled the “Lady in Black” at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and produced a 36th-place qualifying effort, due to a qualifying session miscue. Busch wasted no time driving his way to the front of the field, and while his Camry was strong, teammate Denny Hamlin secured the RIR victory while Busch came home in a close second-place. 

• Busch will make his 304th XFINITY Series start piloting the black Toyota Camry Friday night at RIR and works to offer the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 team their fifth taste of victory this year. JGR’s Monster Energy unit earned wins earlier this season, first at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn with Busch and again the following week at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet with young driver Erik Jones. More recently at the famed “Brickyard” that is Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Busch started from the pole-qualifying position, led over half the amount of race laps (53) and brought home the checkered flag in style. Busch then followed up the team’s Indy win, with a recent trip to victory circle at the “World’s Famous Half-Mile” on a Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. 

• While Busch has accumulated nine wins across all three of NASCAR’s top-tier series at Richmond International Raceway, his most recent victory came in the XFINITY Series this race last fall. The 2014 event was domination when Busch earned the pole-qualifying position, led every race lap and took the checkered flag win. 

• The now 30-year old Busch holds a 12-year streak from 2004 to 2015 of consecutive poles within the XFINITY Series, a 44-career total. Busch captured the pole-qualifying position at Richmond International Raceway five times; four of those captures came within the XFINITY Series. In 2015 as an XFINITY Series driver Busch has already recorded three wins, six top-five finishes, six top-10 finishes, three poles and 309 laps led. 

• Joe Gibbs Racing at RIR in the NASCAR XFINITY Series covers 75 races, six wins, 13 top-five finishes and 35 top-10 finishes, five poles and 1188 laps led, 1040 of those by Busch. 

• Crew Chief Chris Gayle’s Richmond International Raceway statistics include five races, one top-five result, five top-10 finishes and 19 laps led. In the 2015 spring Richmond XFINITY Series event, Gayle directed substitute JGR driver Erik Jones, who was filling in for the injured Busch since his February accident. Jones started from row two, a third-place qualifying position run at 122.984mph. The JGR entry ran between third place and sixth place through the night, battling the car’s changing balance, before bringing home a fourth-place result, Jones’ fifth top-five finish in five weeks. 

• With last Saturday’s Darlington Raceway top-5 result, the No. 54 Monster Energy team now sits tied for second place in the NASCAR Owner’s Championship point standings, 85 points from the series leading No. 22.

• At RIR, Busch holds the qualifying record of 129.348mph earned May 14, 2004, the same year Busch secured two other records at the Virginia short track as Youngest Pole and Race Winner at 19 years, 0 months and 12 days. 

• Race Info: Virginia529 College Savings 250, September 11, 2015 at 7:30pm EST live on NBCSN, covering 300 laps, 159.9 miles.