From WhoWon.com

-- It wouldn’t take long to rattle off the select group of drivers who have won races in NASCAR’s top three series: Nextel Cup, Busch Grand National and Craftsman Truck. That triple crown was no problem for Kyle Busch, who achieved the feat in the same season as a 20-year-old in 2005.

There’s one race last season that Busch didn’t win last summer, however, and that unfinished business is a primary reason that he has entered the TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway for the second year in a row on Sunday, July 30.

Busch, the rising superstar from Las Vegas, Nev., who turned 21 on May 2, will once again compete in the #5 SP2 Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by businessmen Scott Pullen and Steve Perry of Saco, Maine. Lux Enterprises and Pullen Heavy Industries are the team’s primary sponsors.

Having never seen the historic, 3/8-mile OPS oval until five days before the 2005 TD Banknorth 250, Busch parlayed some sage advice from teammate Mike Rowe and his own enormous talent into a stellar debut at the Late Model/Pro Stock extravaganza.

Busch qualified 28th by finishing second in a consolation race. In the main event, he needed only 77 laps to charge to the lead. Busch led the race twice for a total of 61 circuits before pitting for fuel and fresh tires under caution on lap 190.

He wound up finishing sixth, while Rowe tied a race record with his third TD Banknorth 250 win.

“I had so much fun in my first TD Banknorth 250. It takes a little luck to get into the race and a lot of patience to win it,” Busch said. “We learned a lot last year. Hopefully I can take advantage of that experience and put the SP2 guys in victory lane again.”

Since climbing into a Legends car at age 13, Busch has enjoyed a rapid and remarkably successful climb to a place among racing’s elite. He was NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year in 2004 and won the same award in Nextel Cup in 2005.

Last year’s visit to Oxford came just as Busch was turning the corner in his rookie Cup campaign aboard the Kellogg’s Chevrolet. Busch led laps in six of the final 14 races. In September, he became the youngest race winner in series history, claiming the checkered flag at California Speedway. Two months later, he picked up another victory at Phoenix International Raceway.

Busch posted nine top-5 finishes and 13 top-10 performances in his rookie campaign. He combined for five wins between the Cup, Busch and Truck divisions.

There has been no sophomore slump in 2006. Busch is ninth in Nextel Cup points, putting him in good position to qualify for the Nextel Chase for the Championship in the fall. Busch also stands seventh in the Busch Series, where he drives the Lowe’s Home Improvement Chevrolet, on the strength of a convincing win in the Sharpie Mini 300 at Bristol, Tenn.

Most recently, Busch dominated and won in his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start of the season at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., on May 19.

“Kyle is very coach-able and talented,” said Rowe, whose victory in last year’s TD Banknorth 250 was the 150th of his Oxford career. “I took him around the track in a pickup truck before his first test session last year, and by the middle of the afternoon he was turning some of the fastest Pro Stock times of the season. I always say if I can’t win the race, I want my son Ben to win it, but I think Kyle has to be the favorite going in this year.”

Busch followed his brother, Kurt, to the TD Banknorth 250. Kurt competed in the race during his NASCAR Nextel Cup championship season of 2004.

He is the fourth driver with Nextel Cup connections to enter this year’s race. Busch joins J.J. Yeley, Denny Hamlin and Maine’s Ricky Craven in the prospective field.

“It’s great news for us that Kyle has decided to return to the TD Banknorth 250,” said OPS president Bill Ryan. “What he has accomplished in Nextel Cup since he joined us last July makes it an even bigger deal that he is coming back. He showed our fans that he was serious about not just being here but winning the race, and I think the fact that he came so close will make him hungrier and even tougher to beat.”

The NASCAR delegation will face no shortage of challengers. Past race champions expected to take their shot at another title include Craven, Mike and Ben Rowe, Gary Drew, Scott Robbins and Canadian racing legend Junior Hanley. And that doesn’t include a lengthy list of short-track stars who have yet to solve the toughest short track race in America, including Johnny Clark, eight-time OPS champion Jeff Taylor, Tracy Gordon and Dale Shaw.

Mike Rowe is attempting to become the first four-time TD Banknorth 250 champion after also winning the race in 1984 and 1997.

“The TD Banknorth 250 has been the highlight of our season since we were fans,” said Perry. “When we started our race team with (driver) Donnie Colpritt and then Mike Maietta Jr., it was like winning the Daytona 500 just to qualify. Now we have a legend like Mike Rowe trying to defend the championship and a future Nextel Cup champion in Kyle Busch driving our car again. It’s a dream come true for all of us.”

TD Banknorth 250 tickets are priced at $50, $40 and $30. A seating chart is available on online at www.oxfordplains.com. For more information about specific seat availability or to purchase tickets, please stop by the Speedway office on Route 26 or call (207) 539-8865 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Oxford Plains Speedway is a 3/8-mile asphalt oval located on Route 26 in Oxford, Maine. With main grandstand seating for 13,000, it is the largest spectator sports facility in the state. More than 350 men, women and children compete weekly at OPS throughout the summer in a variety of racing endeavors on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights and selected Sunday afternoons. For a full schedule of 2006 events, log on to www.oxfordplains.com.