By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

OXFORD – The celebration was relatively brief, the thrill of victory just momentary.

When Kyle Busch uncorked the champagne bottle Sunday, he indulged in a small taste of success. With one race completed, Busch was preparing to move on to another challenge.

After visiting Victory Lane on Sunday in Loudon, N.H., Busch was back at work on the oval at Oxford Plains Speedway on Monday.

Busch tested his Lux Enterprises/Pullen Heavy Industries Chevrolet with the upcoming TD Banknorth 250 less than two weeks away.

“I was actually able to pop the champagne bottle this time,” said Busch, 21, who wasn’t of drinking age when he won his other Nextel Cup trophies. “The other two champagne bottles that I had, they’re still closed. I wasn’t 21. So I just left them closed.”

While Busch’s crew had the chance to celebrate all night on the trip home from New Hampshire, Busch shortened his festivities to travel to Maine. He finished sixth last year in the 250 and led the race with 60 laps to go.

“I had a very fast car here last year,” said Busch, who is a career-best fourth in the Nextel Cup standings. “We led a lot of laps. We probably had the dominant car and probably could have won the race, but we had a pit stop issue. We got a lug nut stuck in a caliper which then bent the bracket. So our car wasn’t handling correctly at the end of the race.”

Busch hopes to take the lessons learned from last year’s race and turn this year’s 250 into another bottle-popping experience. “I think I learned more in the race last year than I did through practice,” he said. “It’s just a matter of execution and getting the deal done. We’ll just have to put it to work when we get back here.”

Though SP2 Motorsports is providing Busch a car once again, he won’t have the same machine as last year. That ride is used as a spare. Instead, Busch will race the car Mike Rowe steered to victory in last year’s 250.

“We’re just trying to get the car to feel right,” said Busch, who shaved nearly three-tenths of a second off his lap times in the morning’s test drives. “We’re not really worried about where we’re at on the speed chart. I’m concentrating on making my car handle the best and not how fast everyone else was when they raced last. It’s trying to make sure my car handles right to where I can make moves and pass and do what I need to do to get myself worked up front.”

Busch discovered that passing wasn’t easy last year. The infamous inside groove made it a challenge to move up through the pack. Busch started seventh in his heat and couldn’t crack the top four. In the consolation race, he got stuck behind Donnie Whitten and settled for second.

He ended up starting 28th in the 250, reaching the leaders by lap 77.

This year should be just as challenging, Busch said. Joining him are fellow NASCAR drivers Denny Hamlin, J.J. Yelley and local favorite Ricky Craven, who won the 250 in 1991.

“It’s going to be tough. I won’t say it’s going to be easy to get in.”

Track owner Bill Ryan told Busch about improved traction on the second groove and that he’d see “a big difference.” Busch was excited about the possibilities.

“If Bill is right about the outside being good, we’ll have to run up there and do it,” said Busch. “I’ll be pleased with that, if there are two grooves out here.”

Busch won’t have an easy time making it to the 250. Former Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch, Kyle’s older brother, is getting married that week. Kyle will be in Virginia Beach for rehearsals, fly to New York for a bachelor party, fly back to Virginia Beach for the wedding, then compete in Joliet, Ill., for a Busch Series race Saturday.

Then he’ll travel to Maine early Sunday morning, the day of the race.

“It’s going to be one heck of a week, I’ll tell you that,” he said.

Because Busch had such a fine car and enjoyable time last year, he didn’t think twice about planning another appearance, even if it only added to a hectic week.

“Last year, I had a great time running up here. Bill and the staff here at Oxford treated me very well, as well as my team. I had a great time working with these guys and working with Mike Rowe. I had a very fast car. I figured if we could get the same car or the same kind of speed and what not, we’d have a chance to win it again this year.”