Texas Race Will Be 'Biggest Test' For Kurt Busch and Shell Team

Kurt Busch will use his Las Vegas chassis this week at Texas

--Kurt Busch and his Steve Addington-led Penske Racing “Double-Deuce” team will be racing their “PRS-744” Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. “This is the car we debuted at Las Vegas,” said crew chief Addington. “It was a pretty strong car in its only race so far at Vegas. It responded well to our adjustments during the race. We spun out early in the race, but came back up through the field for a solid top-10 (finished ninth) finish. It should be a good match for the demands of the Texas track.”

--The “Double-Deuce” Penske Racing Dodge will carry its popular yellow and red Shell-Pennzoil colors this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The trunk deck will feature the “Speedco” logo, representing the only national network to specialize in quick lubes and tire services for the trucking industry. For additional information, please visit www.speedco.com .

--April is National Safe Digging month, and Penske Racing will be supporting Shell and the Common Ground Alliance to increase awareness for 811 and encouraging fans to ‘Call Before You Dig.’ During all four April races, Kurt Busch will run ‘Call 811’ logos on the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge to help educate fans about the importance of following the proper safety procedures when digging. A quick call to 811 can help avoid damage to underground utilities, which can cause injuries, environmental incidents, and disruption of services. Every digging job requires a call to 811 – even small projects like planting trees or shrubs. Visit www.call811.com for additional information.

--Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch has completed all but one possible lap so far during the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. “That’s so important when it comes to the big picture and the points,” Busch offered. “If you’re not winning the races, you better be at least finishing all the laps.” Busch’s only unfinished lap came in last Sunday’s Martinsville battle and, according to crew chief Steve Addington, it was just a stroke of luck that caused it. “We went down a lap early in the race and were able to get the ‘lucky dog’ and get back in the lead lap. We had such a long stretch of green there with 100 laps to go and nobody really knew just how long the tires would last. Some of the leaders had already started pitting under the green. When our teammate (Brad Keselowski) had a problem, I just had to call Kurt down pit road. As our luck would go, just a couple of laps later the 78 car had a problem and the caution came out. You never know; if we’d chanced it and not had problems, we’d had us another strong top-10 finish instead of finishing 16th. Just a crap shoot deal that didn’t work out our way there.”

--Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch says this weekend’s Samsung Mobile 500 is the “biggest test” so far for his Steve Addington-led Penske Racing team and that’s because it is another of the intermediate track races. Yet he is quick to point out that Texas Motor Speedway certainly is not a clone of any other track. “It’s its own animal,” said Busch. “Each place may look the same, but each driver and crew chief will tell you that it drives very different and requires you to work hard on your race setups. It’s a tough track, that’s for sure and it’s so fast. With this race being at night under the lights, I guarantee you that Texas will feel like it’s the fastest one of them all. There's just a lot of high speed action at Texas. You really have to get up on the wheel and grit your teeth. You have to push your car extra if you're going to make it stick and get that extra speed out of it."

Busch was the 2009 fall Texas winner 

--Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch’s margin of victory in the November 2010 Texas Motor Speedway 500-mile race was 25.686 seconds over runner-up Denny Hamlin. That is the largest margin of victory for any Cup race to date at TMS and was one of the largest in modern history at any track? So, what was the largest ever margin of victory in NASCAR’s big-league series? The record book shows that the largest MOV by laps occurred at the old Spartanburg Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds track (half-mile dirt), when Ned Jarrett finished a whopping 22 laps ahead of runner-up G.C. Spencer. Jarrett also holds the record for largest MOV by miles; 19.25 miles over runner-up Buck Baker in winning the 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The most-recent race that saw the victor win by a full lap came in the October 1994 race at North Wilkesboro Speedway when Geoffrey Bodine completed all 400 laps to runner-up Terry Labonte’s 399 laps.

--In 16 career Cup races on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway, Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch has recorded one win, three top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. He has been running at the finish in all but one (15) of the races and has a 97.8 percent lap completion average (5,234 of 5,354 laps). He has finished on the lead lap in 11 races. He has a career average start of 16.1 and career average finish of 13.8 in the Texas races.

Kurt Busch “Quick-Stats” entering Texas (Courtesy of NASCAR PR):
· One win, three top fives, 10 top 10s
· Average finish of 13.8
· Average Running Position of 14.2, 12th-best
· Driver Rating of 91.3, 10th-best
· 159 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
· 779 Green Flag Passes, fourth-most
· Average Green Flag Speed of 172.506 mph, 13th-fastest
· 2,475 Laps in the Top 15 (61.6%), 10th-most
· 390 Quality Passes, ninth-most

--Going through April 30th, fans can enter for a chance to win many great prizes from Pennzoil including autographed sheet metal, $20 gift cards, autograph cards and even an autographed piston from one of the “Double-Deuce” Dodge Chargers. Plus, you and a guest could win a VIP trip to both big Memorial Day races, the Indy 500 and Coke 600. It’s all part of the exciting Pennzoil “Shift to Clean” Promotion. Visit a participating installer location and ask for Pennzoil and receive a game piece with a code to enter online. Or go to your local auto parts retailer and purchase Pennzoil and the entry code is right on the bottle. For more details visit www.pennzoil.com

--The NASCAR Sprint Cup tour heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend and No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver, Kurt Busch, will not only be racing to make the Chase, but he’ll also be racing to save his fans money at the pump. This promotion – known as “WINSday” – will benefit Shell $aver Card holders by offering them a savings of 22 cents per gallon any time Kurt wins a points race during the 2011 season. The savings will be available to cardholders who purchase Shell Nitrogen Enriched gasolines and Shell diesel on the Wednesday following his victory. To learn more or apply for a Shell Saver Card, visit www.shell.us/savercard .

--The full 2011 Kurt Busch No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil racing media guide is available online this season. Log on to www.shell.us/racing to find all the information you need in one convenient location. You can follow the Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Team on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/ShellRacingUS

--Follow Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kurtbusch22 . You can also follow Kurt Busch as well as all the Penske Racing drivers on Facebook and Twitter by simply logging on to www.penskeracing.com and click on the respective links. TR is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/22carPR

--Don’t forget that Shell-Pennzoil Dodge crew chief Steve Addington is a regular on Wednesday editions of the popular radio program, “The Morning Drive” on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128. Addington is scheduled for Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m. ET. The show is hosted by veteran race announcer Mike Bagley and racing insider Pete Pistone. You can participate by e-mailing the guys at themorningdrive@siriusxm.com or calling 1-866-PIT-LANE (866-748-5263).

--Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch is scheduled for his “top-12 points” media interview opportunity/Q & A session on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. CDT in the Texas Motor Speedway infield media center. He continues his effort in reaching out to the media rather than making them come to him at the team transporter.

--Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch will be signing autographs at his souvenir trailer this Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. He is scheduled to be signing from 2:30 p.m. till 3:00 p.m. CDT. You must have tickets to join the line. Tickets are free of charge and available at the trailer on Saturday morning.

-“Baseball is like driving; it's the one who gets home safely that counts.” -Tommy Lasorda

- TRPR