NASCAR Sprint Cup Series leader Kyle Busch battled back from 37th place to take the top prize at the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona (FL) International Speedway Saturday. Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, rallied from a near accident on lap 83 to claim his first Daytona win.
"There was just a ton of wrecks behind us. I hate it for all of those guys in torn-up equipment," Busch said after the race. Busch has won six of the first 18 Sprint Cup races – two more races than he won in three full seasons with Hendrick Motorsports and leads the standings by 182 points. Across all three of NASCAR’s national divisions, Busch has won 12 times in 2008 on SPICER Chassis.
“We utilize the adjustability built into the SPICER line of chassis parts to fine tune the handling of our racecars, to better suit our drivers and track conditions,” said David Holden, Research and Development Engineer, Joe Gibbs Racing. “We feel that we’ve been able to do this to good effect, especially to meet the demands of the new NASCAR racecar, and we’ve been fortunate to have the results to back up our tuning decisions.”
In Friday’s Nationwide Series, Busch finished second behind JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. Hamlin’s win in the Winn-Dixie 250 was his eighth career Nationwide Series victory and his third of the season. It also marked the ninth win for the No. 20 team and its third straight restrictor-plate win, as Stewart drove the No. 20 to victory in February at Daytona and in April at Talladega (AL) Superspeedway.
JGR began using SPICER Chassis products at the beginning of the 2007 racing season. Drivers like Stewart, Hamlin and Busch rely on SPICER Chassis racing ball joints and tie rod ends that utilize the latest technology and offer lower friction and superior performance. The upper and lower ball joints are available in 1/2 inch short and 1/2 inch long specifications to provide flexibility from track to track.
SPICER Professional Grade chassis parts are manufactured by Affinia Under Vehicle Group of McHenry, IL, a global supplier of top quality automotive components for under vehicle applications. The SPICER Chassis product line is the most extensive on the market and includes tie rod ends, ball joints, idler arms and alignment products for both domestic and foreign vehicles. Affinia Under Vehicle Group is part of Affinia Group Inc. For more information about SPICER Professional Grade chassis parts, visit www.spicerchassis.com.
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is one of the premier organizations in NASCAR, currently fielding three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams, two NASCAR Nationwide Series teams and a driver development program. Its driver lineup consists of Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch in the Sprint Cup Series; Stewart, Hamlin, Busch and Logano in the Nationwide Series; and Marc Davis in the NASCAR Camping World Series East. Based in Huntersville, NC, and owned by Joe Gibbs – a three-time Super Bowl winner as head coach of the Washington Redskins and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame – JGR has competed in NASCAR since 1992, winning three Cup Series championships and 80 NASCAR races, including three Brickyard 400s and the 1993 Daytona 500.