Kyle Busch ‘History Meets Horsepower’ at Richmond

Before Kyle Busch heads to Richmond (Va.) International Raceway for Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 behind the wheel of his No. 18 M&M’s/American Heritage Chocolate Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), he’ll make a stopover Thursday in historic Colonial Williamsburg to take a turn at a different kind of horsepower.

Busch’s visit to Williamsburg is part of the “History Meets Horsepower” program – a unique partnership between Colonial Williamsburg, Richmond International Raceway and Mars Chocolate North America with its American Heritage Chocolate brand. The three parties have come together to celebrate our country’s storied transportation past and rich culinary history, showcasing the evolution of both through modern times.

As a part of his visit, Busch is scheduled to meet with fans in Merchants Square, take part in a colonial chocolate history demonstration by American Heritage Chocolate, and explore the “Revolutionary City” with his wife Samantha. And, at the racetrack this weekend, Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s/American Heritage Toyota will be adorned with the American Heritage logo in addition to the usual colorful M&M’s paint scheme to celebrate the unique and exciting partnership.

While Thursday’s visit to Colonial Williamsburg will involve riding in horse-drawn carriages, Busch will quickly transition back to horsepower of a different variety for Saturday night’s 26th and final race of the Sprint Cup’s regular season.

Busch sits in an entirely different position than a year ago when he arrived at the 2012 fall race at Richmond on the bubble for making the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, not only did Busch lock himself into this year’s Chase, he did so by winning his fourth race of the season. Busch’s Atlanta win also marked two other significant milestones – it was his 100th overall NASCAR victory in a Toyota in NASCAR’s top three series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck), and it was the manufacturer’s 250th overall NASCAR win in those three divisions combined.

Heading into the weekend, let’s not forget that Busch’s record at Richmond is not too shabby. The Las Vegas native has won four of the last five spring events from 2009 through 2012 at the .75-mile oval. And his Richmond resume also includes four runner-up finishes and an amazing 12 top-fives in just 17 career Sprint Cup starts in Virginia’s capital city.

That gives Busch an average finishing position of 6.5 at Richmond, tops among all active drivers, including JGR teammate and Virginia native Denny Hamlin, whose average finish is 8.1. Busch has completed all but one of the 6,815 laps available to him in his 17 Richmond starts. Of those laps completed, Busch has run in the top-15 for 5,934 (87.1 percent) of them – second-most among active drivers at the track.

So while the focus will shift from horse-drawn carriages at the start of the weekend to 750-horsepower racecars at track, Busch will hope that when history meets horsepower this weekend, the combination will result in his fifth Sprint Cup win at Richmond with NASCAR’s postseason next on the docket.

TSC PR