For the second week in a row, Kurt Busch was able to overcome a setback that could have been catastrophic for the No. 41 Haas Automation team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), as he rallied and came home with a hard-fought eighth-place finish in the 22nd annual Jeff Kyle Brickyard 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Photo Credit: stewarthaasracing.com
“I thought we had speed in the car,” Busch said. “Track position was tough. We chiseled away on each green flag run and each restart, except for the last two. Overall, I was pleased with the car’s performance. We were missing a little bit with leaning on the right-front tire and not having the car bust loose on me; but overall, the Haas Automation Chevy was a good car. Eighth is a little bit worse than what I thought we would have finished, but we weren’t a winning Chevrolet today. All in all, these are those types of days that you really have to find something and learn from it, and that way you can turn an eighth into a third into a shot to win.”
Busch started 14th and held his position until he made slight contact with the outside retaining wall, resulting in right-rear quarter panel damage. The contact caused a tire rub and eventually cut the right-rear tire on lap 26, forcing Busch to pit road for an unscheduled stop. He rejoined the field in 28th, one lap down, but – just like last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon – Busch didn’t panic. He climbed to 16th by lap 32 and held the spot until lap 44 when the caution waved for debris. Crew chief Tony Gibson elected to stick to his planned pit strategy and left Busch on the racetrack, a move that vaulted the No. 41 to fifth for the restart.
Unfortunately, Busch wasn’t able to hang at the front of the field for long. He fought a lack of right-rear grip that saw him drop to 18th by lap 58. Over the next several pit stops, Gibson made slight air pressure adjustments for the Haas Automation Chevrolet, which helped Busch work his way back toward the top-10.
Busch found himself mired in the 20th position after making his final pit stop of the race on lap 121; however, adjustments to the Haas Automation Chevrolet brought it to life. Busch joined the top-10 on lap 133 and ran as high as sixth on lap 153. He did what he could to maintain the position over three separate late-race restarts, but the final one proved tricky for Busch. Although two cars snuck by him in the green-white-checkered overtime finish, Busch held on to score his 12th top-10 finish in 17 races this season.
There were nine caution periods for 36 laps, with two drivers failing to finish the 164-lap race around the 2.5-mile oval, which was extended beyond its scheduled 160-lap distance by a green-white-checkered finish.
With round 20 of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR in the championship point standings. He is first with 777 points, 69 ahead of second-place Logano. Busch is eighth with 612 points, 165 out of first. With two wins apiece, teammates Harvick and Busch are locked into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Patrick is 22nd with 433 points, 86 out of 16th, the cutoff position to make the 16-driver Chase field on points. Stewart is 26th with 382 points, 137 out of 16th.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Windows 10 400 on Sunday, Aug. 2 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The race starts at 1:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC Sports Network.
