Photo by: Stewart Haas Racing
KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (July 24, 2018) – The Triangle Offense.
How do you stop the triangle offense? Well, no one stopped it when Phil Jackson coached the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles, then followed that up with five more championships as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Triangle Offense was formed by Sam Barry, who coached at the University of Southern California in the 1940s. One of his players was a young Tex Winter, who further developed the offense. Once Winter started coaching with Jackson, they went on to win 11 NBA titles.
The system is the best way to spread the five players on the floor and produces a great chance at victory.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), hopes to use the triangle offense in this week’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway – aka “The Tricky Triangle.”
Busch is fifth in points and all but guaranteed to be in the 16-driver playoffs with just six regular-season races remaining. The only thing that has eluded him in 2018 is a victory. Perhaps Pocono is the place to score that win.
He first won at Pocono in July 2005, driving for Roush Fenway Racing, when he led 131 of 203 laps after starting second. Busch then dominated in August 2007, driving for Roger Penske. He started second again but led 175 of 200 laps en route to victory at the 2.5-mile triangular racetrack. Both races were 500 miles in length.
In June 2016, driving for SHR, he started ninth and led 32 of 160 laps of the now 400-mile race to score his third career Pocono victory.
Perhaps Busch’s success is tied to the track’s unique design. The three-cornered layout was designed by two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Rodger Ward and remains unlike any other track in the world, with a trio of unique turns each modeled after a different track.
Turn one, which is banked at 14 degrees, is modeled after the legendary Trenton (N.J.) Speedway. Turn two, banked at eight degrees, is a nod to the turns at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And turn three, banked at six degrees, is modeled after the corners at The Milwaukee (Wis.) Mile.
Busch’s first-ever NASCAR victory came on July 1, 2000 at Milwaukee, when he started on the pole and led 156 of 200 laps to win the Camping World Truck Series race. Former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Greg Biffle was third, while a young Jamie McMurray finished 31st. Joe Ruttman, who is the brother of Troy Ruttman, the 1952 Indianapolis 500 winner, finished 24th. Troy Ruttman competed against Ward 10 times in the Indianapolis 500 during the 1950s and 1960s.
The No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Fusion will be led by crew chief Billy Scott. Both Busch and Scott hope they can use the triangle offense and score the kind of success Barry, Winter and Jackson did for so many years.
KURT BUSCH, Driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:
You’ve won three times at Pocono, but the 2007 win was so dominant. Can you describe that race?
“The win in 2007 with Penske Racing – that was the fastest car that I’ve ever driven. That car would turn, stick, drive down the straightaway – that car did everything. It didn’t have a single flaw. I knew how good that car was on the first lap of the race. I remember telling myself, ‘Don’t screw this up.’ I ran the rest of the race more nervous than I had in years prior. I’ve never dominated a race like that. We led 175 of 200 laps. That was, by far, the best car I have ever driven. It was a great race to show the balance of that team and the strength of where we were at that point. I think the 25 laps that we didn’t lead were from a bad pit stop at one point. My first win at Pocono in 2005 was pretty great, too. It’s fun to win at a racetrack that is so unique because of how different that track is compared to all the other oval tracks. Pocono is a little bit like Darlington in that all the corners are different, so you have to manage them the best that you can and not be perfect in one corner versus another.”
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you go to Pocono?
“How unique the place is. You drive in through the Tunnel Turn and that corner to me is one of the most unique corners of all the tracks that we go to. When you go to Pocono, the first thing you really think of is compromise – you have to juggle all three corners being different. It’s called the Tricky Triangle for a reason.”
Of the three turns, which is the most important to you and why?
“It’s weird, I’ve had winning cars there a few different times and turn two always feels the best when my car has a chance to go to victory lane. But, I think turn three, if you are able to pass cars and maneuver around them, you’ve got to get a good run off turn three to be ready to pass them in turn one. All of them are important. You can’t exclude one from another.”
Haas Automation Racing Team Report
Round 21 of 36 – Gander Outdoors 400 – Pocono
Car No.: 41 – Haas Automation Ford Fusion
PR Contact: Joe Crowley, True Speed Communication (704) 875-3388 ext. 808 or Joe.Crowley@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)
Primary Team Members:
Driver: Kurt Busch
Hometown: Las Vegas
Crew Chief: Billy Scott
Hometown: Land O’ Lakes, Florida
Car Chief: Tony Cardamore
Hometown: Bristol, Virginia
Engine Builder: Roush-Yates Engines
Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina
Engine Specialist: Evan Cupples
Hometown: Hudson, Illinois
Spotter: Tony Raines
Hometown: LaPorte, Indiana
Over-The-Wall Crew Members:
Gas Man: Rick Pigeon
Hometown: Fairfax, Vermont
Front Tire Changer: Ryan Mulder
Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois
Windshield: Kyle Anderson (also serves as interior mechanic)
Hometown: Jewell, Iowa
Rear Tire Changer: Coleman Dollarhide
Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina
Jackman: Sean Cotten
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
Tire Carrier: Dwayne Moore
Hometown: Griffin, Georgia
Road Crew Members:
Truck Driver: Tim Hussey and Larry Lush
Hometowns: Asheboro, North Carolina, and Waynesville, North Carolina
Tire Specialist: Nathan McGuire
Hometown: Palmyra, New York
Shock Specialist: Aaron Kuehn
Hometown: Kensington, Connecticut
Engineers: Scott Bingham and William Lee
Hometowns: Lawrenceville, Georgia and Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
Mechanic: Nick McIntosh
Hometown: Harve, Montana
Mechanic: Joe Zanolini
Hometown: Sybertsville, Pennsylvania
Pocono Notes of Interest:
- The Gander Outdoors 400 will mark Kurt Busch’s 633rd career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start and his 35th career NASCAR Cup Series start at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Busch has two poles, three wins, 14 top-five finishes and 19 top-10s in 34 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono. Additionally, Busch has led 538 laps, has an average starting position of 10.3, an average finish of 14.3 and has completed 95.8 percent (5,883 of 6,125) of the laps available.
- Busch has career totals of 29 wins, 25 poles, 134 top-fives, 269 top-10s and 9,300 laps led in 632 career starts.
- His most recent Cup Series win came 56 races ago in the Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (Feb. 26, 2017).
- His last Cup Series pole came last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (July 20, 2018).
- Busch’s two poles at Pocono came in June 2011 and 2015.
- Three Times a Winner – Busch has raced his way to victory lane at Pocono three times. His first win came in July 2005, when he started second and led a race-high 128 of 203 laps before claiming his 13th NASCAR Cup Series victory. His second win came in August 2007 in record-setting fashion as he led 175 of 200 laps en route to claiming his 16th NASCAR Cup Series victory. His most-recent Cup Series victory at Pocono came in June 2016, when he won the rain-delayed Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400.
- 9,000 and counting – By leading 98 laps in the April race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, Busch became just the 21st driver to lead 9,000 laps in his NASCAR career. He is now 20th in the laps-led standings, having led 9,300 laps, and he’s 444 laps behind Buddy Baker while he is 218 laps ahead of 21st-place Denny Hamlin. Busch is fifth among active drivers in laps led.
- Get to the Points – With his eighth-place finish Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, Busch is fifth in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings with 646 points. He has three top-five finishes, 11 top-10s and 14 top-15s in 20 races.
- Busch has been in the top-10 in points for 15 consecutive weeks. The last time he was in the top-10 for 15 consecutive weeks was when he was in the top-10 for the first 27 races of the 2016 season.
