Kyle Busch works hard for the money

Last year, Kyle Busch hardly thought about racing on the eve of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. He and his girlfriend, Samantha Sarcinella, spent the weekend by going to Target to buy “Family Guy” DVDs then watched television in their hotel room when they weren’t hanging out by the pool.

Relaxed and refreshed, Busch led 78 of the 110 laps and won the race on Sunday.

This year, Busch won’t have much time to relax. After practicing at the Sonoma track on Saturday morning, he hopped on a helicopter to fly to Napa to get on a private plane to fly to Milwaukee to race in the Nationwide Series series there on Saturday night. After that, Busch planned to fly back and arrive in Napa around 4 a.m. on Sunday so he could defend his title in NASCAR race at Infineon Sunday afternoon.
If there was any benefit to it it’s that Busch got to leave the track in Milwaukee about an hour sooner than Carl Edwards, who outran him to win the race and had to stick around for media and sponsor obligations.

Still, Busch suspects he won’t catch a break.

“I’ll probably get ridiculed if I lose the (Sonoma) race this year or struggle in it because I went to Milwaukee. I don’t feel that way,” Busch said earlier this week. “Last year I set the tone that I do know how to road race and if my car is good enough I can make it happen and if we’ve got the right pit strategy we can make it happen. This year it will just be about making sure I get enough sleep.”

Busch planned for shut-eye. He said he had a comfortable spot on the private plane picked up.

“In the bathroom,” he quipped.

Well, don’t be surprised that even with forces against him – jet lag, sleep deprivation, Busch-bashing fans – that the Bad Boy of NASCAR makes good on Sunday. Then he can relax.