High Sierra Photo

Kyle Busch returned to the seat of the No. 15 Bowen Family Homes/Manheim Central Fla. Auto Auction Chevrolet Silverado for Billy Ballew Motorsports Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway and placed sixth in the final running order of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series' O'Reilly 200. Busch started in the seventh position, but quickly fell victim to a flat tire forcing the No. 15 entry to fight its way back up to the front.

Busch, who had driven for Billy Ballew Motorsports twice this season, picking up the victory at Lowe's Motor Speedway, made his return to drive the No. 15 this time around. Busch had previously piloted BBM's second entry, the No. 51, and hence dubbed himself as "Rowdy" Busch, after the "Days of Thunder" movie character Rowdy Burns who also drove the No. 51.

Complete with a new "Rowdy" uniform, Busch hit the track for the 200-lap race after qualifying seventh. Misfortune struck early after Busch ran over something during the first caution and was forced to pit on lap seven for a flat right rear tire. Busch restarted the event in the 31st position, his lowest of the night. Busch quickly radioed in saying he was loose everywhere, especially the center of the turn off.

The second caution waved on lap 27 and Busch had picked off 10 spots already. During the caution, Busch radioed, "The track's going to tighten up. We're still on the BFG tires." Busch was referring to the BF Goodrich tires that the USAR Hooter's Pro Cup cars utilize, which raced prior to the start of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. A round of pit stops for some of the leaders moved Busch up to the 10th position for the restart on lap 33.

The third caution came on la 65 and Busch had made his way up to sixth place in the No. 15 Bowen Family Homes/Manheim Central Fla. Auto Auction Chevrolet. Busch and crew chief Richie Wauters decided to bring the machine down pit road for four tires with only one small air pressure adjustment to the right rear and fuel. Busch restarted in 20th place, but quickly made work of some of the competition by the time the next caution came around.

By lap 120, Busch had moved up to 13th place. When the sixth caution came on lap 127, Busch radioed in asking what was too hot for the motor to be running. Engine tuner Bobby Dell replied back, "240." Busch calls back, "I'm at 260 and smell water." Wauters called for Busch to bring in the No. 15 for the crew to change four tires and rip four pieces of tape off the front end to cool down the motor. Busch, once again, was relegated to the rear and restarted 22nd. By lap 149, he had maneuvered his way up to 14th and still complaining of being loose through the corner, but that the temperature had gone down to 200. The condition of his truck wasn't the only thing Busch was complaining about. He wasn't too pleased with how long it was taking to go back to green after a caution. Busch knew he had a machine capable of getting to the front if given enough green flag laps to do it.

A final caution on lap 192 caused a green-white-checkered finish for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event when they restarted on lap 198. Busch restarted in eighth but quickly got a jump to the outside and picked up two positions by the time the field got to the second turn. Busch wasn't able to get past anymore competitors and brought Billy Ballew Motorsports their first top-10 finish in the No. 15 Bowen Family Homes/Manheim Central Fla. Auto Auction Chevrolet by finishing in sixth place.

"The first caution, I tried to go low, and I thought I missed it, but I caught some debris with the right rear, and I heard the tire, and all the air blew right out of it, so it was a good thing that I heard it and we caught it before we got going," Busch said following the race. "We just fought all night long, trying to fight our way through. It was tough that way, because all the leaders pitted on lap 20, we pitted on lap 6, lap 66 and lap 128. We made twice as many stops as anyone else, so coming from the back like that. The race truck was pretty good though. I didn't have anything to lose; we are just fighting for owner's points. I just put it on the outside to see what we could do and was able to pick up a couple more spots."