Kurt Busch Riding High into Loudon
Kurt Busch has benefited from perspective. He’s enjoyed being competitive and working with a variety of teams, not just his current stint with Chip Ganassi Racing. The veteran driver has had a better time managing the bad days. Conversely, “to enjoy the big days with more excitement, and more of a passion and more fun,” Busch said.
He cited NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin about balancing the good and bad days.
Fresh off a victory last Saturday at Kentucky, the No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro driver, he discussed the fun he is having in his 20th season.
“Each week is fun because there’s speed to be found and teamwork to work on to make sure we’re going to have the best weekend. And it brings it back to that passion and desire when I was younger to go out there each week and try to make sure we’re getting the most out of each session.”
You’re still nervous that you don’t know if you’re going to make it stick or make it to where you’re going to be around for a long while.
Busch looked to the team for improvement entering the halfway point. Busch nearly won at Daytona before pitting from the lead and the race ended by rain. He won at Kentucky last weekend in a thrilling finish. The discussion with management and some engineers brought areas to improve on, including building cars for each type of track, like Gibbs and Penske do, instead of using the 1.5-mile superspeedway cars on short tracks.
“We have to apply it the best way that we can. … It’s been well received. You can’t just completely tip over the apple cart mid-season, especially when things are going good. But, it’s looking ahead to the future and what we can do to make sure that we make the best Playoff run this year; and look at things for 2020 and beyond.”
This weekend’s race will help tell the team which direction they’re going after 301 laps on the “low-grip” 1.058-mile oval. Either their program is improving or it’s a weakness to focus on.
Busch didn’t have an answer on whether he would extend with Chip Ganassi Racing.
“You’re asking me all these fun questions when everything is on a high. When everything is great and we’re coming out of Victory Lane and having fun scavenging rides home and just living at the top level. We’ll see how things all piece together. I don’t have all the full answers, but things are all pointing in the right direction to be teamed-up together and to continue to race and to win races and to run at a championship. I mean I haven’t thought about other than through your question.”
Busch won at Loudon in his seventh start back in 2004. He went on to win the Chase race in the fall and his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. The summer race he finished second in. His second-best run at the track started with his most recent win in 2008 for Roger Penske. He recorded five consecutive top 10s, ending with a third-place effort in 2010.
Rookie Jimmie Johnson was the first driver to win consecutive races in 2002. Busch followed with his sweep. Former champion Matt Kenseth is the only other driver to win back to back races at Loudon.
Busch has 3 wins tied for most by an active driver (Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin. Busch is tied for most starts by an active driver here with 35.
“There are certain tracks that when you find a nice setup, that it stays hot for a while and you’re able to use it the next time you come back because not much changed; whether it’s been aero or the tires. I remember in 2004 when I swept the two races here, the second race had a lot of weather issues and we didn’t get a lot of practice time. So, we were all forced to use the set-up that we used at the first race. That helped us as a race-winning team to be able to sweep the races that year.”
Busch has done well through the years with a variety of teams, advancing James Finch and Barney Visser’s teams. Busch traces that to the beginning of his career racing with his dad as a 16-year-old driver. His dad emphasized communication and thoroughly answering questions about the car. By understanding the changes he wanted in the car, it allows the team to make better changes.
“It’s just a matter of trying to help the crew chief and engineering and everybody. I want their jobs to be easier because if their jobs are easier, they are doing better and ultimately the car that I’m driving will have better results.”
As the former Cup Series champion and Daytona 500 winner achieves more, he’s enjoyed it more. Busch pointed to his first pole on a superspeedway at Talladega last fall, which gave him a pole on every type of track the series has. He also won the pole for the inaugural race on the Charlotte roval, one of 5 poles last year with Stewart-Haas Racing. If sponsorship returns to the team, Busch would be interested in continuing another season, especially to select his successor.
Busch still has goals he wants to achieve: leading more laps, playoff wins, and foremost, his second championship.
“I’m checking the boxes off. I have yet to win the Southern 500 and yet to win at Indianapolis. Those are the top two. And if I can find a third for my trifecta, I want to win at Watkins Glen really bad.”
Kentucky represented an important milestone for the No. 1 team. It was their first win since 2013, in only Busch’s 18th start with the team. He has made the playoffs since 2013 with Furniture Row, Stewart-Haas and Chip Ganassi. Since the inception of the Chase/playoff format in 2004, Busch has only missed it 3 times (2006, 2008, and 2012), despite driving for 7 different teams. It’s also his sixth consecutive winning season.
Chevrolet also has momentum with their third consecutive win for the first time since 2015. Chevrolet has the most wins in 47 series races at New Hampshire (19). The last time the bowtie won four in a row was the end of the 2014 season.
Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 will be the latest edition of the Busch brothers competition. Kurt won at Kentucky last week, while Kyle won at Bristol in the spring with the roles reversed. But growing up, racing together was a rarity since they were 7 years apart competing in different divisions. Kurt’s father helped him, while he was able to continue that guidance with Kyle and mentor his younger brother.
“Family has always been there. It’s great to race Kyle (Busch) at this top level. … “This is where we’ve had the most races against one another. The family-side is still there. It’s fun. Kyle and I have got to deal with each other a lot and that’s why it’s no sweat for him to drop me on a plane ride because I’m going to see him the next week and I can give him some flack for it. So, it’s really fun. The family aspect, the team aspect, and everything that goes into all this and there’s a lot to it.”
By: Nicholas Teto, YankeeRacer.com
Sources: Team Chevy Advance
NASCAR notes
Racing-Reference.info