Dear
NASCAR: Don't sleep on Kurt Busch
Send a link to a friend
[September 01, 2018]
Maybe it took that victory lane
celebration two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway to remind fans
and competitors that Kurt Busch is a player in the 2018 Monster
Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship run.
It was the first win for Busch, 40, since the 2017 Daytona 500, but
it capped off a summer run where the former Cup champion has earned
six consecutive top-10 finishes and moved up from seventh in the
championship standings to fourth with two races remaining before the
Chase. He has 15 top-10s on the year -- eight since the start of
June.
Not surprisingly, Busch arrived at Darlington Raceway for Sunday's
Bojangles' Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR
Radio) feeling good. But he's far from satisfied.
"We're not here to win one, we're here to win a bunch and it's not a
relief to win one," said Busch, the 2004 Cup champion. "You want to
win seven, eight -- those guys are strong right now that are up in
the top three and for us we've been very consistent this year.
"Bristol was a perfect race where pit stops were solid, restarts --
eight out of 10 of them went our way and luck was on our side, and
if we continue to do that, to be in position to win, you have to
have good pit stops and good restarts with fast cars, so we just
want to continue to build on it.
"(Winning at Bristol is) not a relief at all. We just want to keep
going on the 41 group. So Billy Scott, my crew chief, it was his
first win and that's special. It proves to him and all of his new
guys, all the guys on this 41 car to get that first win, that puts
that stamp on it and now they want to go and get more. I like the
way that our win happened and when it happened this season."
With the victory, Busch becomes the third driver on the four-car
Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team to formalize his playoff berth.
Teammate Kevin Harvick leads the series with seven wins and teammate
Clint Bowyer has two wins -- one of only four drivers with multiple
wins in 2018.
The newest member of SHR, Aric Almirola, has come close to victory
this season and is almost certainly playoff bound (he can secure his
qualification on points this weekend). It would make SHR the largest
multi-car team to sweep playoff positions -- a first for the team.
Penske Racing has secured berths for all three of its cars, as well.
[to top of second column] |
"For us on the 41 car, we had such a big point cushion that we were
virtually locked into the playoffs, we just had to have -- only two
or three races left of getting that certification of being locked
in," Busch said of his win.
"Almirola's cushion is plus-100 (points over 17th place) very easily
and that's a two-race cushion, so there's not a lot of stress at
Stewart-Haas.
"There's almost more of a celebration of our 10-year history at
Stewart-Haas and the four cars are most likely going to make the
playoffs. I think there's even a team photo scheduled next week with
all the crew, all the haulers, all the cars, all the drivers and
it's a big moment because right now Stewart-Haas is definitely one
of the hottest teams out there and to be doing it in the 10th
season, it's kind of a cool situation."
Busch has particular -- and dramatic -- reason to keep the focus
forward. His true photo finish runner-up to Ricky Craven at
Darlington in 2003 (he was second by 0.002-seconds) is still one of
the most remarkable and talked-about finishes in NASCAR history. And
the SHR team is honoring the feat with a throwback paint scheme to
that day.
That was the year before Busch went on to win a Cup championship --
all in the midst of a 10-season winning streak. With the Bristol
win, his current streak is up to five years.
The "throwback" theme is all positive for the No. 41 Stewart-Haas
Racing Haas Automation Ford.
"We're in a perfect spot and it's fun to come to Darlington and
celebrate throwback weekend," Busch said. "For us on the 41 car, we
have a perfect sign of age. For me, I get to have my own throwback,
it's 2003 of that closest finish paint scheme, where I finished
second to Ricky Craven.
"I've got some T-shirts to throw out tomorrow night at the big fan
event and it's a fun weekend to celebrate the past of our sport, the
heritage."
--By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |