Can life be any better for 23-year-old Kyle Busch?
Few drivers have ever experienced the season Busch has enjoyed through the halfway point of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He is the Cup points leader and has 10 wins across NASCAR's three national series in 2008 - four in Cup (Atlanta, Talladega, Darlington and Dover), four in the Nationwide Series (Texas, Phoenix, Mexico and Charlotte) and two in Craftsman Truck Series (California and Atlanta).
If that wasn't enough, Busch has led a total of 1,876 laps across the three series this year.
After this weekend, he'll also be the NASCAR leader in frequent flier miles. By Sunday evening, he'll most likely will have raced 1,050 miles and flown 4,500 miles.
He was part of the NASCAR contingent Wednesday night at Tony Stewart's `Prelude to the Dream' race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Stewart's goal was to raise $1 million to benefit the construction of the new Victory Junction Gang Camp in Kansas City and the Tony Stewart Foundation.
Today, Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing will visit the Mars North American headquarters in Hackettstown, N.J., for `NASCAR Appreciation Day.' M&M's is Busch's primary sponsor on his Toyota Camry in Cup.
On Friday, Busch will be in Long Pond, Pa., at Pocono Raceway for practicing and qualifying for Sunday's Cup race. Late in the day, he'll travel to Ft. Worth for the night Craftsman Truck Race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Busch will then fly back to Pocono for Cup practice on Saturday morning, before heading to Nashville to compete in Saturday evening's Nationwide race at Nashville Speedway in Lebanon, Tenn.
Following that race, Busch will return to Pocono for Sunday's Cup race.
"Really, it just comes down to the fact that I love to race,"
Busch said about the weekend. "I want to race as much as I can and I want to win as much as I can. I love to compete and fortunately we can do that three times this weekend. Luckily we have the resources to make it happen."
"And honestly, it couldn't work without the help of everyone involved. All three teams are so supportive and work so hard, so I definitely have to thank them for helping to make this happen. I just hope we can be competitive in every race and hopefully have a chance to pay those guys back with three trophies."
LOCAL TRACKS
Orange Show Speedway will host Super Late Models, Pro 4's, Factory Fours, Ford Focus Midgets and Street Stocks Saturday night in San Bernardino.
Barry Karr of Redlands is the Super Late Model leader, five points ahead of Colton's Linny White and six ahead of Glen Cummings of Highland. Andrew Reed of Bloomington and Art Ramirez of Walnut are tied in the Factory 4's while Don Minut of Riverside holds a four-point edge over Chuck Becker II of Cabazon in Pro 4.
Ryan Daniel of Mentone not only set a track record last Saturday and then won his first-ever main event in the Late Model race. ...
Perris Auto Speedway will host a custom car and motorcycle show beginning at 2 p.m. in addition to the Saturday night doubleheader Sprint Car show featuring the USAC/CRA and the Lightning Sprint cars.
The festivities will include an auction featuring two autographed Tony Stewart helmets, with proceeds from the auction and from a collection designated for veterans, who will be admitted free with proper ID. ...
Glen Helen Raceway will host the Loretta Lynn Southwest Regionals Saturday and Sunday for motocross riders. ...
Race fans 15 and under will be admitted for free at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale. The program will include Late Models, Super Stocks, Legends, Pure Stocks and the ASA Speed Truck Challenge.
Chino's Tommy Agosta won his first Pure Stock main his last time out and trails points leader Chad Kelly by 20 points, with Redlands' Jeff Elder in sixth. In Legends, Rancho Cucamonga's Tom Landreth is in first with Michael Smith and Brent Scheidemantle seventh and eighth, respectively.
CORR RETURNS
Championship Off Road Racing will return to Fairplex Saturday and Sunday for the third stop of the eight-race season. CORR will also race Aug. 16-17 at Pomona.
Rick Huseman is the class leader in the 860-horsepower, four-wheel drive Pro 4 class. just ahead of Scott Douglas and Johnny Greaves. In the competitive Pro 2 class, Rob MacCachren leads Carl Renezeder and fellow ex-Supercross competitors Ricky Johnson and Jeremy McGrath.
In Pro Lite, nine points separate Rodrigo Ampudia from Jeff Kincaid and Robert Naughton.
"Fairplex has proven itself to be a great venue with challenging pavement areas combined with jumps, dirt, and `the big dig' where we've actually dug a huge hole in the ground to give the track challenging terrain,"
said Cissy Baldwin, COO of CORR.
Gates open at 9 a.m. on both days and racing begins at noon.
