Dear New England...

A letter to our beloved region on behalf of Kyle Busch ...

Dear New England Sports Fans:

As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Loudon, N.H., for Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, it would be entirely appropriate for you to jump on the Kyle Busch bandwagon.

Why, you ask? Much like your Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and even your Bruins, Busch has been winning, and he’s been winning big. In fact, he’s notched 11 wins in all so far this season between NASCAR’s top three series – Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

We know your appetite for winning doesn’t stop with pro sports, either. You’re quite proud of recent winning seasons by Boston College football, Boston University hockey, and let’s not forget Boston College’s 2008 NCAA hockey championship.

If winning isn’t reason enough for you New Englanders to back Busch, the 23-year old will sport the familiar green-and-black colors of longtime Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) sponsor Interstate Batteries on his No. 18 Toyota Camry this weekend at New Hampshire, as well as next weekend at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Can you say “Celtics Green?”

Busch hopes to continue his winning ways at a track that sits about 70 miles outside of Boston. What might be comforting to you New England fans: Busch hasn’t had to endure years of suffering like you have prior to your teams’ recent title deluge. The only suffering for this Las Vegas native has come during a recent two-race skid, when victory lane eluded him at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and Michigan International Speedway.

We’re betting Busch’s most recent triumph last Sunday at the 12-turn, 1.99-mile road course in Sonoma, Calif, caught your attention. It sure impressed us as he proved he can win on any type of race track in capturing his series-high fifth win of the season. And how about his wins earlier this season at the tricky egg shaped oval of Darlington, S.C., the high-banked Monster Mile of Dover, Del., the lightning-fast Atlanta Motor Speedway, and his first-ever restrictor plate-race win at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

While Busch has won seemingly everything but the lottery this season, our guy has led an impressive 869 of the 4,979 total laps (17.45 percent) run in Sprint Cup races. And now he’s now headed back to your “Magic Mile,” where he captured his second Sprint Cup victory in July 2006 and has led 176 laps in six career starts. Moreover, all of Busch’s nine career Sprint Cup victories have come at different venues, so he’d like nothing better than to make New Hampshire his first multiple-win track.

How about nicknames? We know you love chanting “Big Papi” and “KG.” Our guy goes by “Rowdy.” We can just hear it now – “Row-Dee, Row-Dee, Row-Dee.” Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?

Still not convinced? Let’s talk championships, since your beloved Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics have six since 2002. “Rowdy” Busch currently leads the Sprint Cup title chase by a wide margin. And not only can you root for him in the green Interstate Batteries Toyota at New Hampshire this weekend, Busch will be back in September to begin the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.

So, New England fans, it’s time to jump on the Kyle Busch bandwagon. We know you love a winner.

Sincerely,
Your friends at Interstate Batteries