Seeking Three-Peat at Chicagoland Speedway

Being a Chicago Bulls fan, Kyle Busch is very familiar with the term three-peat. Busch’s beloved Bulls made the term prevalent in the 90’s after they won three consecutive NBA Championships from 1990 to 1993 and then repeated the feat from 1995 to 1997.

Busch will be looking to make like “Da Bulls” and three-peat as the winner of Friday’s Fast Five 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. The 26-year-old has breezed through the competition in each of the first two Truck Series races held in the Windy City. He led 121 of the 154 laps in last year’s race and 79 of the 150 laps in the inaugural Truck Series race at the 1.5-mile D-Shaped oval.

The Bulls three-peat was led by Michael Jordan, viewed by many as one of the most talented players in the history of the NBA, but equally as important to Chicago’s success was the supporting cast of players and coaches the team built around their superstar. Busch, viewed by many as one of the most talented drivers in NASCAR, has assembled a strong supporting cast on the No. 18 Dollar General Tundra team, including two of the most successful crew chiefs in the history of the Truck Series.

General Manager Rick Ren, from Tilton, Ill, is the winningest crew chief in the history of the Truck Series. As a crew chief, Ren led his drivers to 27 wins before moving into a managerial role at Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) in 2010. Since moving into his role at KBM, Ren has help guide the team to 14 wins in just 52 races. Crew chief Eric Phillips, from Canton, Ill., is the Truck Series’ active leader in wins with 24 trips to Victory Lane in his career.

Not only does Busch have a strong team behind him, the Las Vegas native will have a strong Toyota Tundra underneath him. The No. 18 Dollar General Racing team will be unloading chassis KBM-4, which has been to Victory Lane seven times in 11 starts since making its debut at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May of 2010. KBM-4 is the same Tundra that Busch drove to victory lane in last year’s Truck Series race at Chicagoland.

Kyle Busch, Driver of the No. 18 Dollar General NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Toyota Tundra:

Are you looking forward to racing at Chicago?

“Chicago is a great city, one that I always enjoy when I visit. Chicago fans are very passionate about their sports and with this weekend being the first race of the Chase, I think it will be a great atmosphere. I’m definitely looking forward to not only the racing at Chicago, but all the festivities going on Wednesday and Thursday to promote the start of the Chase. Once all the off-track festivities are over, it will be like any other race weekend and my focus will switch to the action on the track. We had a strong Toyota last year and we’re confident that we can get the Dollar General Tundra back in Victory Lane Friday night.”

Do the track conditions change a lot from day to night at Chicagoland?

“The track conditions at Chicagoland don’t seem to change much from day to night. You gain some grip when the temperatures get cooler, but the balance of your truck remains pretty consistent. At Atlanta, it was really hot during practice, the track was very slick and as practiced progressed we weren’t able to get a feel for the changes we were making. Once you reached a certain point in practice, you were just out there making laps. This weekend, we’ll be able to use the practice time in the morning to make quality laps and really dial in our Dollar General Tundra for the race.”

Eric Phillips, Crew Chief of the No. 18 Dollar General NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Toyota Tundra:

Being from Illinois, is the Chicagoland race one that you look forward to?

“I grew up about two and a half hours from the track and spent a lot of time in the Chicago area, so this is a race I look forward to each year. With Samantha (Busch) being from the area as well, I know this is a race that Kyle and Samantha would like to win. We’ve changed a few things around on our setup since Atlanta and feel like we’re bringing an improved Dollar General Tundra this weekend. We’re putting our best foot forward and ready to get on the track Friday to see the results.”

Kyle Busch Motorsports PR