LIFELONG HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS GET SURPRISE OF LIFE FROM KYLE BUSCH

RELATED: Busch gets awesome fan reaction on the road

Kyle Busch will have VIP guests on hand this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, fresh from a Homecoming Dance where the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champ played a role in making it an unforgettable moment.

Auburn (Alabama) High School students Holman Head and Taylor Johnson celebrated this weekend at homecoming after Johnson asked her longtime friend to the dance earlier this month with a NASCAR-themed proposal. Johnson decorated her car with Busch's No. 18 and a makeshift M&M's paint scheme, asking Head, "Will you race to homecoming with me?"

Busch apparently got wind of their special date and Head's status as a dedicated fan in a story first broadcast by WTVM in Columbus, Georgia. The Joe Gibbs Racingdriver arranged for a chauffeured ride to homecoming in an Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, and surprised the couple in a personal video message.

With both students already overjoyed, Busch sweetened the gift.

"I also think that since we are racing Talladega in a couple of weeks, you two should come out and join us for the race weekend," Busch said, making plans to meet the two this weekend before the sixth of 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.

"When I saw the video I cried," Taylor's mom told WTVM. "I just want to say thank you to Kyle Busch for making their dream come true."

Busch tweeted Monday morning about the two:

Chase Elliott:I don t know what to do following another bad finish

Chase Elliott looked like one of the drivers to beat for the better portion of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, but things quickly took a turn for the worst.

After starting 13th, Elliott methodically made his way toward the front early, wrestling the lead from eventual race winner Kevin Harvick on Lap 169. Five laps later, Elliott relinquished the lead for a green-flag pit stop.

Immediately after, Elliott was forced to give up the lead once gain to come back down pit road for a left-rear tire rub. The problem eventually caused him to hit the wall and finish 31st.

Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, told him over the radio during the race that he thought he knew what the problem was, but didn’t go into detail.

“I don't know if we got the left rear getting up on the race track, or something and it got into the fender and cut it down,” Elliott said of the issue after the race. “I don't know what to do man, we were trying as hard as we can. We had such a good car today (Sunday) again, and....I don't know what to do. Just keep after it and try to move on."

The rookie is now 25 points behind eighth-place Joey Logano in the Chase standings. Heading into Talladega, it’s not mathematically impossible for Elliott to advance to the Round of 8 on points, but he certainly has his back against the wall in a likely must-win scenario.

"I just will go there, and race our hearts out and try to win I guess,” Elliott said. “That's about all we can do.”

Despite another tough race following a 33rd-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway a week prior, a dejected Elliott still managed to look at the positives.

“We have something to be proud of in the way we have been running,” he added. “There are just some things we can't control. I don't know how to fix that stuff. These guys deserve better on this SunEnergy1/ NAPA team.  We are bummed, but what do you do. You just have to move on."

Jeffrey Earnhardt to drive for BK Racing at Talladega

Jeffrey Earnhardt will drive the No. 83 car for BK Racing at Talladega Superspeedway, the team announced Monday.

Earnhardt, the grandson of Dale Earnhardt Sr., will have Starter as a sponsor.

He’ll be in one of three BK Racing cars entered this weekend. David Ragan is in the No. 23 car, and Matt DiBenedetto, who regularly drives the No. 83 car, will be in the No. 93 car this weekend.

“I’m really excited to drive the No. 83 Starter Toyota Camry for the fall race at Talladega,” Earnhardt said in a statement from the team. “It’s my first Cup Series race at Talladega, my first race with BK Racing, the first time anyone from our family competes in a Toyota and it’s the 25th anniversary of my grandfather’s victory at Talladega. Having this opportunity with an iconic American partner like Starter is an incredible honor. I can’t remember being so pumped up for a race and sincerely appreciate our friends at Starter for their support.”

Dale Earnhardt Sr. won a record 10 Cup races at Talladega. His first victory there came in 1983. He won five of nine Talladega races from 1990-94.

Doug Richert, who served as Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s crew chief when he won the first of his seven titles in 1980, will be Jeffrey Earnhardt’s crew chief this weekend.

“I’m looking forward to once again returning to the track as crew chief with an Earnhardt behind the wheel,” Richert said in a statement from the team. “The Earnhardt family has played such an important part in my racing career; starting in 1978 with Dale Sr. and then winning a championship with him in 1980, it’s very cool to work with the fourth generation of the family.”

Jeffrey Earnhardt regularly drives the No. 32 for Go Fas Racing but Bobby Labonteis driving that car this weekend, giving Earnhardt the opportunity to drive for BK Racing.

Jeffrey Earnhardt’s appearance at Talladega will continue the family’s streak of starts at the track. An Earnhardt family member has started every Talladega Sprint Cup race there since 1980.

Brad Keselowski involved in wreck at Kansas(video)

NASCAR Chase driver Brad Keselowski‘s bid for a win came to an early end when he wrecked on Lap 189 of the scheduled 267-lap Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Keselowski slid up in front of Denny Hamlin, got loose and Keselowski’s Ford Fusion was tapped in the rear by Hamlin’s Toyota Camry, sending the 2012 Sprint Cup champion flying.

The front end of Keselowski’s car was heavily damaged when it appeared to hit part of the concrete rumble strip near the entrance to pit road. His team is attempting to put the car back together and back on the racetrack.

Keselowski will now have to win or have a very high finish in next Sunday’s race at Talladega to be able to advance to the Round of 8 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

UPDATE: Keselowski returned to the track on Lap 219 with a new front end, but he also was scored 29 laps off the lead in 37th position. Two laps later, heavy smoke billowed from the rear of Keselowski’s car and he was ordered off the track, also bringing out a caution. Keselowski’s day was over at that point and he finished 38th.

“If my team keeps putting out this kind of effort, I’m not going to worry about today,”said Keselowski, who has four wins at NASCAR’s largest superspeedway. “We’re going to win another race or we’re going to race Talladega or other races. We’ll be fine.”

Chase Elliott: ‘I don’t know what to do’ after poor Kansas finish, Talladega looming

For about 40 laps in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 the talk of Chase Elliottgetting his first Sprint Cup win once again intensified.

Then it – and possibly his championship hopes – disappeared in the smoke from a fender rub.

Elliott had chased down Kevin Harvick for about 30 laps when he caught the No. 4 and passed him for the lead on Lap 169.

Elliott led four laps and then gave it up as green flag pit stops began. But immediately after his pit stop, smoke began pouring from the left rear of his car as sheet metal rubbed against a tire. Elliott was forced to pit on Lap 175.

The No. 24 never returned to the top 20 and was plagued by multiple brushes with the wall the rest of the afternoon. Elliott finished 31st, three laps down.

As to the cause of initial tire rub, Elliott said: “We really don’t know. I don’t know if we got the left rear getting up on the race track, or something and it got into the fender and cut it down. I don’t know what to do man, we were trying as hard as we can. We had such a good car today again.”

Combined with his DNF last week at Charlotte, Elliott is last on the Chase grid among the 12 remaining drivers and 25 points out of eighth, the final transfer spot.

“I don’t know what to do,” Elliott said. “Just keep after it and try to move on.”

Moving on means going to Talladega Superspeedway, site of the last race of the second round.

“I just will go there, and race our hearts out and try to win, I guess,” said Elliott, who won the pole at Talladega in the spring and led 27 laps before finishing fifth. “That’s about all we can do, I guess. We have something to be proud of in the way we have been running. There are just some things we can’t control. I don’t know how to fix that stuff.”

Despite tough day at Kansas, Hamlin confident he can win at Talledega

It’s been a rough Round of 12 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship for Denny Hamlin.

In the first two races of the second round , he’s finished 30th (Charlotte) and 15th (Sunday at Kansas).

That leaves Hamlin below the Chase cutoff line heading to Talladega in 10th place, 43 points behind series leaderJimmie Johnson and six points short of eighth-ranked Joey Logano.

Even so, Hamlin is confident he can win at Talladega, which would advance him to the Round of 8.

“I’ve got confidence I can win every single week on the race track,” said Hamlin, who won this year’s Daytona 500. “It’s just – this is a team sport and you’ve got to have every facet of the car and the team all put together and we’ve just got to execute. I’ve got full confidence we can go to Talladega and win next week and we’ll show that when we get there.”

Crew chief Mike Wheeler also remains confident.

“We had a lot of challenges today, more than we were expecting,” he said. “We were hoping for a smooth day and a top-three finish and ended up having three or four issues, and battled back from all of them and had a top 15 out of it, which isn’t too bad. We still have a chance to go into next week and we’ll try to make the most of it.

“We knew going into Talladega that we would probably have to have a win to get in (to the Round of 8). At this point right now, we probably need that, but honestly if we go run top three, things can fall our way. It’s not going to stop us from doing the best we can and our speedway program is pretty good for us, so I’m actually okay with going there and looking forward to it.”

Kyle Busch fades late to finish 5th at Kansas, ready for Talladega’s ‘racing gods’

It seems rare that Kyle Busch doesn’t have a car to win, but that was the case Sunday as he tailed off in the second half of the Hollywood Casino 400.

Still, Busch came home with a fifth-place win, which allowed him to hold on to his third-place ranking in the Chase for the Championship standings, 10 points behind series leader Jimmie Johnson.

“We had really good short-run speed, we just didn’t have long-run speed,” Busch said. “I hated that we weren’t able to go up there and race the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and get more out of it, but we just had to fade gracefully there towards the end and didn’t have enough to chase those guys down. I wish we did. Our car was fast all through practice and everything this whole weekend, we just missed it here for the race. We just didn’t get our race adjustments right.”

While he is sitting in a strong position heading to Talladega, the younger Busch isn’t taking anything to chance, given how unpredictable NASCAR’s biggest superspeedway is.

“You never can have any comfort and you do what you need to do in order to transfer through,” Busch said. “It’s all about the racing gods in that story in Talladega.”