Kyle Busch No. 54 NNS Monster Energy Kansas Preview

Working off a successful weekend at Dover (Del.) International Speedway where Kyle Busch and the No. 54 Monster Energy team led over half the race then captured the checkered flag, the now six-time winning unit turns their attention to the 1.5-mile oval of Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. To date, across all three of NASCAR’s top racing series, Busch has entered 26 events at the Missouri facility and earned two wins, one victory in 2007, in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and a second one just last season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with Busch’s own Kyle Busch Motorsports team, who started from the pole and dominated for the win. Additionally, Busch has two runner-up finishes (2010, 2009) and a pair of third-place runs (2010, 2006).

This Saturday, in race 29 of the 33-week season, the Monster Energy athlete will work towards his second Nationwide Series victory at Kansas Speedway, on a track surface that has seen changes. Following the 2012 spring events at Kansas Speedway, NASCAR and track officials conducted a repaving project on portions of the intermediate-size race track, changing the oval from 15 degrees of uniform banking to 20 degrees of variable banking in the track turns. Despite the still young track surface, Kansas Speedway has challenged Busch in the Nationwide Series, having recorded the one win and five top-five finishes in nine races.

The 2013 fall event didn’t complete the way Busch and this JGR team hoped for either, when an engine change on practice day forced the team to start in the rear of the field. The No. 54 Monster Energy Camry was fast, but a late-race incident with another competitor hindered the team’s ability to reach the front of the field and they came home with a fourth-place finish. Team crew chief Adam Stevens hasn’t experienced victory lane yet on the 1.5-mile oval, but he hopes to change that statistic this week and take another ‘chip’ out of the deficit his No. 54 team currently holds in the Owner’s Points Championship battle against the No. 22 Penske Racing Ford, who are now 32 markers ahead.

KBM PR